Michigan Win Streak at 14 after Twinbill Shutouts of Northwestern

Saturday, April 7

Evanston, Ill.

11:30 AM CT

Michigan

17-11, 0

Northwestern

8-15, 0

Michigan

Northwestern

Michigan Win Streak at 14 after Twinbill Shutouts of Northwestern

4/7/2018 9:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Katie Gwinn Hewitt

» Michigan has now won 14 consecutive games and has five shutout victories on the season.
» The Wolverine pitching staff combined to hold the Wildcats scoreless through both games, marking the first back-to-back shutout wins in Big Ten play since 2006.
» The Maize and Blue totaled 19 hits on the day, including seven for extra bases.

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Miller Park)
Scores: Game 1: Michigan 6, Northwestern 0; Game 2: Michigan 3, Northwestern 0
Records: U-M (18-11, 5-0 Big Ten), NU (8-16, 1-7 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 8 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 1 p.m. CDT

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (18-11) extended its win streak to 14 games on Saturday (April 7) as it shut out Northwestern in both games of a doubleheader at Miller Park. The Wolverines won the first game, 6-0, over the Wildcats, then followed it up with a 3-0 win in the nightcap.

Michigan has now won 14 in a row, which marks a new record under head coach Erik Bakich. The next-longest win streak by a Wolverine team came in 2008, when Michigan won 16 consecutive games.

Michigan's pitching staff held the Wildcats to just three hits on the day. The back-to-back shutout wins mark Michigan's first in Big Ten play since 2006.

After picking up its 13th straight win with a victory in the first game of the doubleheader, Michigan took an early lead in the second game of the day. Freshman Jordan Nwogu led off the third inning with a double to left-center field, and a sacrifice bunt from redshirt freshman Harrison Salter pushed him to third. Freshman Jack Blomgren then poked a base hit through the right side to score Nwogu and give Michigan a 1-0 lead.

The Wolverines added two in the top of the fifth on a squeeze bunt by Salter that allowed sophomore Dominic Clementi to score from third. Nwogu was able to score from second on the play when he raced to third base on the bunt and went to the plate thanks to interference by the Northwestern third baseman.

Armed with a 3-0 lead, freshman Ben Dragani earned his third win of the season after throwing seven scoreless innings and striking out five. The lefty starter allowed just one Northwestern runner to reach base in the second and third innings -- one on a hit and one on a walk, and then retired 13 consecutive batters before leaving the game.

Freshman Jeff Criswell and junior William Tribucher combined to close out the game with each hurler tossing a scoreless inning. The pair totaled three strikeouts and Tribucher earned his third save of the season.

Low temps forced a delay to begin the first game, and after being held scoreless for four innings, Michigan plated four runs in the top of the fifth. Senior Brock Keener was hit by pitch to begin the inning, and a sacrifice bunt by Blomgren pushed him into scoring position with no outs. An RBI single by junior Ako Thomas then scored Keener for a 1-0 lead. A run-scoring double by sophomore Christan Bullock followed to put the Wolverines up by two. Junior Jonathan Engelmann kept the inning going with a walk, and a two-run double by freshman Jesse Franklin allowed Bullock and Engelmann to score for a 4-0 Michigan lead.

Sophomore Tommy Henry held the Wildcats scoreless through his six-inning start and worked around two hits and two walks. He struck out a career-high nine before turning the ball over to junior reliever Troy Miller, who tied his career high with three scoreless innings of relief and four strikeouts to earn his first career save.

Michigan tacked on two runs in the eighth with a solo homer from Franklin and a sac fly from Keener that scored Nwogu.

The Wolverines totaled 19 hits on the day -- including seven for extra bases -- and Franklin led the Maize and Blue with a team-best three RBI. Thomas extended his streak of reaching base to 28 games with a single in game one, but did not reach base in the second game.

Tweet of the Game

14 STRAIGHT WINS ??

Let's keep it rolling, boys! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/c27wYS6E3d
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) April 7, 2018

Michigan (18-11, 5-0 Big Ten) will wrap up its Northwestern series on Sunday (April 8) with a 1 p.m. CDT contest against the Wildcats at Miller Park in Evanston, Illinois.