Hill Baffles Hawkeyes; Wolverines to Face Nebraska Saturday

Friday, May 23

Omaha, Neb.

7:30 PM CT

Michigan

30-28-1

Iowa

30-23

Iowa

Michigan

Hill Baffles Hawkeyes; Wolverines to Face Nebraska Saturday

5/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 23, 2014

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Site: Omaha, Neb. (TD Ameritrade Park)
Event: Big Ten Tournament
Score: Michigan 7, Iowa 1
Records: U-M (30-28-1), Iowa (30-23)
Attendance: 7,580
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 24 -- vs. Nebraska - Big Ten Tournament (Omaha, Neb.), 9 a.m. CT [ TV: Big Ten Network ]

OMAHA, Neb. -- Sophomore Evan Hill (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) struck out a career-high eight batters in a solid 7.2-inning start, and the University of Michigan baseball team scored seven runs in the middle three innings as the Wolverines stayed alive in the Big Ten Tournament with a 7-1 win over Iowa Friday night (May 23) at TD Ameritrade Park.

With the win, Michigan will now play second-seeded and No. 20-ranked Nebraska Saturday morning (May 24) at 9 a.m. The Maize and Blue will need to defeat the Cornhuskers twice on Saturday to advance to Sunday's (May 25) championship game.

Hill allowed just five hits and a run and did not walk a batter for his fifth win of the season. He had 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and seventh frames.

Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth with back-to-back hits, a fielder's choice and a double steal that included a steal home from Jake Yacinich. Michigan responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the inning. Freshman Carmen Benedetti (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South) and junior Kevin White (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) both had one-out singles. Junior Eric Jacobson (Chicago, Ill./St. Ignatius) came through with a clutch two-out single to score Benedetti. Sophomore Travis Maezes (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) broke the 1-1 tie with a two-run triple to the gap in right, his third three-base hit of the year.

The Wolverines took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth as Benedetti hit a two-run moonshot just to the left of the bullpen in right field; it scored senior Cole Martin (Bay City, Mich./John Glenn), who had a one-out single to right. U-M made it 7-1 in the sixth as Maezes tripled for the second time in the game and scored on sophomore Jacob Cronenworth's (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) double. Junior Jackson Glines (Coarsegold, Calif./Fresno City College) then had a broken-bat single that plated Cronenworth.

Maezes had three hits to lead the Maize and Blue offense. He joined Benedetti with a pair of runs batted in, and Benedetti, Cronenworth and White had two hits apiece in the win.

Contact: Kent Reichert