Michigan Heads to Ohio State for Penultimate B1G Series
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2016
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Armed with an impressive 34-13 record, the No. 19-ranked University of Michigan baseball team will head to Columbus, Ohio, for a Big Ten series at Ohio State (May 13-15). After Wednesday's road loss at Central Michigan, the weekend series will wrap up a four-game road swing for the Wolverines.
Series History vs. Ohio State
All-time record against: 163-96-1
First meeting: 4/17/1895 -- W, 9-0
Last meeting: 5/11/2014 -- W, 4-1
» Michigan recently wrapped up a perfect 5-0 week with a home-and-home sweep of Eastern Michigan and a Big Ten series sweep of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Despite an impressive 16-3 home record, the Wolverines are 13-9 while on the road with Michigan's most-recent loss coming at unranked Central Michigan.
» The Buckeyes come into the weekend series with a 32-16-1 overall record and a 19-4 home record. OSU most recently defeated No. 16 FAU (May 9) in 10-2 fashion and is on a two-game win streak. Additionally, the Buckeyes have have won three of their last four Big Ten series and rank sixth in the Big Ten at this time. Ohio State finished the 2015 season with a 35-20 overall record before dropping two games in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes are currently batting at a .264 clip and the pitching staff has a combined 3.08 ERA on the season.
» After going a perfect 5-0 last week, Michigan is still holding strong in numerous top-25 collegiate baseball rankings. The Wolverines currently rank the highest in the Perfect Game Poll with a No. 16 ranking while also earning a No. 19 selection to the NCBWA Poll and a top-30 selection to the Collegiate Baseball News Poll.
» Through 47 games this season, sophomore Jake Bivens currently leads Michigan's offense with a .387 batting average on the year and 28 multi-hit games. The infielder has 75 hits on the year with 49 runs scored. Junior Harrison Wenson is Michigan's go-to power hitter with a .536 slugging percentage and six homers on the season, including a grand slam against Rutgers. Junior Carmen Benedetti also ranks second in the Big Ten Conference with team-leading .486 on-base percentage, while Bivens, senior Cody Bruder (.374), Benedetti (.343), Wenson (.330) and sophomore Drew Lugbauer (.313) are also all hitting over .300 for the year. In addition, freshman Ako Thomas leads the Big Ten Conference with eleven sacrifice bunts.
» With 6.0 IP and 11 Ks last weekend, junior LHP Brett Adcock has surpassed the 230 career-K mark and now ranks sixth all-time in Michigan history with 234 career strikeouts. Senior LHP Evan Hill also ranks 13th in Michigan's all-time history with 199 career strikeouts.
» Michigan's 34-13 record through the first 47 games is the team's best start since 1987, when the Wolverines won both the regular season and Big Ten Conference Tournament Titles to advance to an NCAA Regional. Led by historic figures like Jim Abbott and Mike Ignasiak, the 1987 squad finished the year with a 52-12 overall record.
Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt
