Postgame Notes: Michigan at Ohio State
5/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Michigan (23-21, 6-11 Big Ten) dropped into seventh place in the Big Ten with its two losses to Ohio State (34-10, 13-4) on Saturday. The Wolverines have lost four straight games for the first time since 2005. OSU pulled back into a tie for first place with Illinois (13-4) despite the 15-12 win by the Fighting Illini at Northwestern. Third-place Minnesota (12-4) blasted Iowa 26-9, while fourth-place Indiana (11-5) and sixth-place Purdue (6-10) split two games. Host Purdue won the opener 15-8 before IU took the second game 7-6. Michigan State (10-7) remained fifth with a 9-1 win over Penn State. Purdue (6-10) moved into sixth ahead of Michigan (6-11), while PSU (5-12) is eighth, Northwestern (3-12) is ninth and Iowa (3-13) is 10th.
With the losses in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader at Ohio State, it marks the first time ever that the Wolverines have lost five consecutive Big Ten series. After opening the 2009 conference schedule by taking two of three at Iowa (March 27-29) the Wolverines have lost two of three to Penn State (April 4-5), Illinois (April 10-12), Michigan State (April 17-19) and Indiana (April 24-26) and lost the first two game to OSU. The only other time U-M lost five Big Ten baseball series was in 1992, losing three out of four games to Minnesota, Indiana, OSU, MSU and PSU.
Saturday marked the first doubleheader sweep against the Wolverines in 2009. Michigan is 1-1-4 in six twinbills this season, with a sweep of Siena (March 7) and splits with Jacksonville (Feb. 28), Penn State (April 4), Eastern Michigan (April 15) and Notre Dame (April 22).
Saturday's first-game no-hitter for Ohio State's Alex Wimmers was the first nine-inning no-hitter in OSU history. The no-hitter was the first against Michigan since Western Michigan's Buster Sunde threw a seven-inning no-hitter on April 14, 1982 in a game actually won by the Wolverines, 1-0.
OSU's Wimmers fanned 14 in his no-hitter Saturday, marking the most U-M strikeouts since May 11, 2008 when 14 Wolverines fanned in an 11-5 win in the first game of a doubleheader at Minnesota.
Senior RHP Chris Fetter pitched 6.2 innings and allowed nine hits and five runs (four earned) while striking out five in the 6-0 loss to Ohio State in Saturday's first game. Fetter is 6-2 on the season with a 2.44 ERA, and he has 87 strikeouts in 81.0 innings.
Fetter pushed his career strikeout total to 265. He ranks third on U-M's career strikeout list and is chasing Mike Ignasiak (286, 1985-88) in second place. The record is held by Jim Burton (288, 1969-71).
With the five strikeouts Saturday at OSU Fetter pulled into a tie for seventh place with former teammate Zach Putnam (87 K's, 2007) on U-M's single-season K's list. Fetter needs just 13 more strikeouts to become the fourth Wolverine to reach 100 K's in a season.
Fetter has a 27-9 career record and remains tied for third place with Steve Howe (27 wins, 1977-79) on U-M's career wins list. Second place is held by Rich Stoll (1981-83) with 30 wins, and the record is 33 by Mike Ignasiak (1985-88).
Junior 1B Mike Dufek collected Michigan's first hit on Saturday at Ohio State with his team-leading 18th double of the season, giving Michigan a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the second game. Dufek was 2-for-4 in the second game to notch his 15th multi-hit game of the season. Dufek is hitting .302 (51-for-169) with his 18 doubles, 12 homers and 45 RBI.
Junior OF/2B Nick Urban, who was robbed of a single on a fielder's choice in the eighth inning of the opener on a great diving stop by OSU SS Tyler Engle to save the no-hitter, collected a run-scoring single in the first inning of the second game. Urban launched his second homer of the year in the fourth inning for his ninth multi-hit game of the season and his fourth in the past five games. Urban, who was 2-for-4 with two RBI in the second game, is hitting .287 (35-for-122) for the season.
Freshman C/DH Coley Crank, who did not see action in game one, singled to center in the fourth inning of game two, extending his current team-leading hitting streak to five games. Crank is hitting .288 (19-for-66).
Junior C Chris Berset was 2-for-4 in the second game Saturday at Ohio State for his third multi-hit game of the season.
