Fellows Steals Wolverines a Win at Iowa

Sunday, March 29

Iowa City, Iowa

4:00 PM CT

Michigan

16-7, 0

Iowa

9-12, 0

Michigan

Iowa

3/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Site: Iowa City, Iowa. (Duane Banks Field)
Result: Michigan 7, Iowa 5
Records: U-M (16-7, 2-1), Iowa (9-12, 1-2)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, March 31 -- vs. Bowling Green (Wilpon Baseball Complex), 3:05 p.m.

Boxscore | Postgame Notes

IOWA CITY, Iowa. -- The University of Michigan baseball team waited through a three-hour weather delay to pound out 12 hits and use five Iowa errors to earn a 7-5 win over the Hawkeyes on Sunday evening (March 29) at Duane Banks Field. The triumph gives the Wolverines the series victory two games to one in their Big Ten opening series.

Senior leftfielder Kenny Fellows(Holt, Mich./Holt) posted a career-high 4-for-5 day with a pair of RBI and career-best four stolen bases, while junior first baseman Mike Dufek(Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) went 3-for-5 with three RBI in the win.

The Wolverines pounced on top first, scoring a pair of runs in the third inning on RBI singles by Fellows and Dufek to take a 2-0 lead.

The Hawkeyes answered quickly, scoring three in their half of the third off senior starter Mike Wilson(Pickering, Ontario/Pine Ridge), eventually chasing him from the game in favor of sophomore reliever Travis Smith(Austin, Texas/Stephen F. Austin), who came on to record the final two outs as Iowa took a 3-2 lead into the fourth.

Michigan responded with three runs in the top of the fourth as Fellows singled home sophomore shortstop Anthony Toth(Lorain, Ohio/St. Ignatius), who had reached on a bunt single, and Dufek provided a two-run single to put the Maize and Blue on top 5-3.

Smith kept the Hawkeye bats at bay, striking out three over the next four-and-two-thirds innings of work en route to his fourth win of the season.

U-M added a pair of unearned insurance runs in the eighth when the Hawkeye defense committed three errors in the inning. Senior second baseman Kevin Cislo(Novi, Mich./Novi) reached on a two-out throwing error and then scored when Hawkeye second baseman Mike McQuillen dropped a pop fly by Fellows, who later stole third and scored when the throw to third sailed into leftfield, giving U-M a 7-4 lead.

Iowa got back on the board with a run in the eighth off sophomore reliever Tyler Burgoon(Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) to get within two, 7-5, but it was as close as the Hawkeyes came as Burgoon allowed just one hit and induced four groundouts over the final two innings, including a huge double-play ball in the ninth to preserve the 7-5 win.

Cislo and sophomore centerfielder Ryan LaMarre(Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi) joined Fellows and Dufek with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 apiece.

The Wolverines return home on Tuesday (March 31) to face Bowling Green at the Wilpon Baseball Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.

N O T E S

In Big Ten action on Sunday, Illinois swept a doubleheader from Michigan State 3-2 and 3-0 to grab first place in the conference standings with a 3-0 record, while MSU starts the season in 10th place at 0-3. Michigan's 7-5 win today moves the Wolverines into a tie for second with Ohio State at 2-1 after the Buckeyes lost at Penn State on Sunday, 15-11. PSU is tied with Iowa for eighth place at 1-2 after one weekend of Big Ten action. The Minnesota at Indiana and Purdue at Northwestern games were rained out on Sunday, leaving those four teams all at 1-1 and tied for fourth place.

Senior OF Kenny Fellows grabbed the team-hitting lead, going 4-for-5 and scoring three times while stealing four bases. It was the first four-hit and four-stolen base game for Fellows, who pushed his batting average to .363 (29-for-80). He shares the team lead with eight stolen bases. The four stolen bases are the most since career stolen-base leader Eric Rose (2004-07) had four in a game at Eastern Michigan on May 9, 2007.

Fellows, who had his career-best hitting streak snapped at six games, collected his seventh multi-hit game of the season. Fellows has hits in 13 of his last 15 games.

Senior co-captain 2B Kevin Cislo went 2-for-4 to earn his eighth multi-hit game this season and has reached base in all 23 games in 2009 and in 68 consecutive games the past two seasons. He shares the team lead in stolen bases (8) with Fellows. Cislo is hitting .345 (30-for-87).

Junior 1B Mike Dufek extended his team-leading and career-best hitting streak to 14 games with a run-scoring single in the third inning. Dufek was 3-for-5 with three RBI for his 10th multi-hit, third three-hit and seventh multi-RBI game of the season. Dufek's two-run single in the fourth inning snapped a 3-3 tie and proved to be his third game-winning RBI of the season. Dufek, who has six career 'gamers', is hitting .348 (31-for-89) with 10 doubles, seven homers and 23 RBI. Dufek is U-M's top hitter in Big Ten play at .500 (6-for-12).

Sophomore CF Ryan LaMarre was 2-for-4 to collect his team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the season; he shares the team lead in the category with Dufek. LaMarre is hitting .344 (31-for-90) and leads the team with 28 RBI.

Junior/sophomore SS Anthony Toth used a fourth-inning bunt single to extend his career-best hitting streak to nine games. Toth, who is hitting .304 (24-for-79), has hits in 13 of his last 14 games.

Sophomore RHP Travis Smith pitched 4.2 innings out of the bullpen to earn the win. Smith allowed two hits, one unearned run and had three strikeouts in his sixth appearance of the season. Smith is 4-2 for the season with a 5.32 ERA with 26 Ks in 23.2 innings. Smith, who has nine career wins, is tied for the team lead in victories (4) with senior RHP Chris Fetter.

Sophomore RHP Tyler Burgoon made his team-leading 11th appearance of the season and pitched the final two innings to record his team-leading third save of the season. Burgoon is 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 23 innings during the 2009 campaign. Burgoon has eight career saves and needs one more to pull into a tie for ninth on U-M's all-time saves list.

Contact: Matt Fancett (734) 763-4423