Michigan Punches Ticket to B1G Tournament as Five Seed
5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2016
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| Big Ten Tournament Central
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- With a 35-19 overall record and 13-10 Big Ten Conference record at the close of the 2016 regular season, the University of Michigan baseball team has punched a ticket to the 2016 Big Ten Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska, and will face No. 4 seed Ohio State in the tournament opener on Wednesday (May 25, 9 p.m. CDT).
Series History vs. Ohio State
All-time record against: 163-99-1
First meeting: 4/17/1895 -- W, 9-0
Last meeting: 5/15/2016 -- L, 8-2
» The No. 5-seeded University of Michigan baseball team has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament for the fourth straight season and will face No. 4-seeded Ohio State in Big Ten Tournament play for the first time since 2007.
» The Wolverines also advanced to the Big Ten Tournament during the 2015 season as the No. 3 seed, winning four straight games to clinch the tournament title for the first time since 2008. Michigan then advanced to the Louisville Regional where the Wolverines lost to NCAA Regional host Louisville in the championship game.
» Ohio State wrapped up the 2016 regular-season schedule with a 38-17-1 overall record and a 15-9 Big Ten Conference record, good for a No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Most recently, the Buckeyes took two of three games over Big Ten regular-season champion Minnesota at the Golden Gophers' home field in Minneapolis, and Ohio State won six of eight Big Ten series this season. The Buckeyes are currently batting at a .262 clip with a .422 slugging percentage and a .361 on-base percentage. In addition, the Buckeye pitching staff has a combined 3.01 ERA with an opponent batting average of .248.
» Through 54 games of the regular season, Michigan has out-scored its opponents 352 runs to 226. Of the Wolverines' 35 wins, just four have been one-run ball games, while five of Michigan's losses have come by just one run.
» With four players batting over .300 on the season, Michigan ranks among the top-30 Division I baseball programs with a .304 team batting average, coming it at second in the Big Ten. Michigan also has four starters with an on-base percentage over .400, and the team's .393 on-base average also ranked first among Big Ten opponents and 33rd in the nation.
» Through 54 games this season, senior Cody Bruder currently leads Michigan's offense with a .384 batting average on the year and 22 multi-hit games. The outfielder has a team-leading 84 hits on the year with 52 RBI. Junior Harrison Wenson is Michigan's go-to power hitter with a .507 slugging percentage and eight homers on the season, including a grand slam against Rutgers. Junior Carmen Benedetti also ranks fourth in the Big Ten Conference with team-leading .472 on-base percentage, while Bruder, sophomore Jake Bivens (.357), Benedetti (.332) and Wenson (.300) are also all hitting over .300 for the year. In addition, freshman Ako Thomas leads the Big Ten Conference with 11 sacrifice bunts.
» The Michigan pitching staff has also excelled as of late, and the Wolverines now rank 14th in the country for strikeouts per nine innings (9.0). In addition, the staff leads the Big Ten Conference and ranks 16th in the nation with just 7.86 hits allowed per nine innings. Finally, the Wolverines lead the Big Ten with a combined 465 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .236.
» With 8.1 IP and 9 K's on Thursday, junior LHP Brett Adcock has surpassed the 240 career-K mark and now ranks fifth all-time in Michigan history with 252 career strikeouts. Senior LHP Evan Hill also ranks 10th in Michigan's all-time history with 204 career strikeouts.
Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt
