Michigan
27-13
Eastern Michigan
16-26
Big Fifth Inning Gives Michigan Home-and-Home Sweep of EMU
5/2/2018 8:13:00 PM | Baseball
» Michigan scored seven runs in the top of the fifth to take a defining lead.
» Miles Lewis led the Wolverines with four hits, including two doubles.
» The series sweep is Michigan's third straight over Eastern Michigan.
Site: Ypsilanti, Mich. (Oestrike Stadium)
Score: Michigan 6, Eastern Michigan 5
Records: U-M (26-13), EMU (16-25)
Next U-M Event: Friday, May 4 -- at Rutgers (Piscataway, N.J.), 3 p.m.
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team used 16 hits and three scoring innings -- including a seven-run fifth -- to rally for a 12-5 victory over Eastern Michigan on Wednesday (May 2) and sweep the home-and-home series at Oestrike Stadium.
The win is Michigan's eighth straight over Eastern Michigan, and marks the Wolverines' third-consecutive series sweep of the Eagles.
The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when Michigan's offense found its stride, scoring seven runs on eight hits. Redshirt junior Miles Lewis led off with a single up the middle, and an error on the play allowed him to advance to third. A double from senior Brock Keener then scored Lewis for a 1-0 lead, and a sacrifice bunt from freshman Jack Blomgren set up the squeeze bunt opportunity for junior Jimmy Kerr, which was executed perfectly to score Keener and put Michigan up, 2-0. With two outs and the bases empty, freshman Jordan Nwogu beat out an infield single to get things going again, and sophomore Dominic Clementi followed with his third homer of the year to put Michigan up by four. Back-to-back singles from junior Jonathan Engelmann and freshman Jesse Franklin kept the two-out rally alive, and a double off the bat of junior Blake Nelson scored both runners for a six-run lead. Lewis then stepped to the plate for his second at-bat of the inning and roped a base hit through the right side to score Nelson, putting Michigan ahead, 7-0.
The Wolverines tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth to go up, 10-0. Blomgren led off the frame with a full-count walk, and three consecutive doubles from Nwogu, Clementi and Engelmann quickly gave Michigan a double-digit lead.
Eastern Michigan got on the scoreboard with  two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, then added two in the seventh and one in the eighth to cut the Michigan lead to 10-5.
Despite the Eagles' late surge, the Wolverines added two runs on a pair of hits in the top of the ninth inning to make the score 12-5. A scoreless outing in the bottom of the ninth by freshman righty Danny Zimmerman kept the Wolverines' lead intact to clinch the victory.
Senior Alec Rennard earned the win in his first start since March 2, tossing four scoreless innings and surrendering just three hits with no walks. He struck out two.
Michigan put runners on base in all but two innings, and Lewis led the charge with a season-high four hits, while Engelmann added three and both Nwogu and Clementi finished with two. Clementi led the Wolverines with three RBI.
Tweet of the Game
Battle of Washtenaw County ?? pic.twitter.com/9ElVhnr4ne
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) May 2, 2018
Michigan (27-13) will get back in action on Friday (May 4) when the Wolverines kick off a three-game Big Ten Conference series at Rutgers. First pitch for Friday's contest is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Scarlet Knights' home field in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rennard, Alec (2-2)
L: ALLEN, Brad (0-5)
Batting:
2B: Nwogu, Jordan 1 ; Clementi, Dominic 1 ; Engelmann, Jonathan 1 ; Nelson, Blake 1 ; Lewis, Miles 2 ; Keener, Brock 1
HR: Clementi, Dominic 1
RBI: Nwogu, Jordan 1 ; Clementi, Dominic 3 ; Engelmann, Jonathan 1 ; Nelson, Blake 2 ; Lewis, Miles 1 ; Keener, Brock 1 ; Pollack, Logan 1 ; Kerr, Jimmy 1
SH: Blomgren, Jack 1 ; Kerr, Jimmy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nwogu, Jordan 2 ; Clementi, Dominic 2 ; Engelmann, Jonathan 1 ; Franklin, Jesse 1 ; Nelson, Blake 1 ; Salter, Harrison 1 ; Lewis, Miles 2 ; Keener, Brock 1 ; Blomgren, Jack 1
SB: Nwogu, Jordan 1 ; Clementi, Dominic 1 ; Lewis, Miles 1 ; Blomgren, Jack 1 ; Kerr, Jimmy 1
Batting:
2B: OWINGS, Zachary 1 ; EASTER, Shane 1
RBI: JONES, Nate 1 ; SCHUEMANN, Max 1 ; KAUFFMAN, Jared 2
SF: JONES, Nate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SCHUEMANN, Max 1 ; SCHENKER, Kolton 1 ; RENSEL JR, John 1 ; HAGER, Devin 1 ; EASTER, Shane 1
HBP: HAGER, Devin 1
