Michigan
19-7, 0
Michigan State
4-20, 0
Kerr's Five-Hit, Five-RBI Day Leads Michigan to Rout of Michigan State
3/30/2019 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
» Jimmy Kerr had two home runs, two doubles, a single and five RBI.
» Joe Donovan had three hits, including a home run, double and three RBI.
» Michigan had 12 extra-base hits, including four home runs.
» Karl Kauffmann improved to 5-2 on the season.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Score: Michigan 16, Michigan State 2
Records: U-M (19-7, 2-0 B1G), MSUÂ (4-20, 0-5 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 31Â -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 3:30 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team pounded out 18 hits, 12 of them the extra-base variety and four home runs as the Wolverines rolled past visiting Michigan State, 16-2, on Saturday (March 30) at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium.
Senior Jimmy Kerr had his first five-hit day, going 5-for-5 which included a pair of home runs, two doubles and a single to go with five RBI and five runs. Sophomore catcher Joe Donovan was not far behind with a homer and double as part of a three-hit day before being replaced midway through the game to provide some rest ahead of Sunday's (March 31) series finale.
Michigan (19-7, 2-0 B1G) started its assault early with solo home runs in each of the first two innings.
In the bottom of the first inning junior right fielder Jordan Brewer connected for a solo home run to left-center field for his eighth of the season and a 1-0 Michigan lead. Brewer then demonstrated his defensive prowess in the top of the second inning when he caught a fly ball with runners on first and second and completed an improbable double play when he gunned a throw to third base to get a runner trying to advance.
Kerr began his big day with a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning, turning on an inside fastball and drove a deep shot along the line in right field.
The Wolverines broke the game open with four runs in the third inning. Brewer started the scoring with a sacrifice fly and redshirt-senior left fielder Miles Lewis drove home a run with a double down the right-field. Kerr followed that with a monstrous two-run blast off the batter's eye in center field for a 6-0 lead.
Michigan State got a pair of runs back in the top of the fourth, thanks to two walks, two wild pitches and a dribbler that got through an infield shift.
Michigan answered in the bottom of the fifth as Brewer, Lewis and Kerr contributed doubles for an 8-2 lead to prompt an MSU pitching change. Following a hit batsman, Donovan launched a mammoth three-run blast over the left-field wall to make it an 11-2 lead. Kerr then laced his fourth extra-base hit of the game, an RBI double to the gap in left. Another run scored on a wild pitch in the inning and U-M scored two more times in the eighth thanks to an RBI double from redshirt-sophomore catcher Harrison Salter and an RBI groundout from freshman second baseman Riley Bertram.
Brewer and Miles each had two hits. Junior right-hander Karl Kauffmann (5-2) earned the win, gritting through difficult weather to scatter four hits in five innings of work. Redshirt-junior Joe Pace finished the game with three strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.
The Wolverines and Spartans will complete their weekend series in East Lansing, Michigan, on Sunday (March 31) at 3:30 p.m. at McLane Baseball Stadium. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kauffmann, Karl (5-2)
L: Tyranski,M (0-5)
Batting:
RBI: Proctor,Adam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ando,Royce 1 ; Trahey,Reese 1
SB: Mayes,Casey 1
Batting:
2B: Brewer, Jordan 1 ; Lewis, Miles 2 ; Kerr, Jimmy 2 ; Donovan, Joe 1 ; Salter, Harrison 1 ; Thomas, Ako 1
HR: Brewer, Jordan 1 ; Kerr, Jimmy 2 ; Donovan, Joe 1
RBI: Franklin, Jesse 1 ; Brewer, Jordan 2 ; Lewis, Miles 2 ; Kerr, Jimmy 5 ; Donovan, Joe 3 ; Salter, Harrison 1 ; Bertram, Riley 1
SF: Brewer, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Clementi, Dominic 1 ; Franklin, Jesse 1 ; Brewer, Jordan 3 ; Lewis, Miles 2 ; Kerr, Jimmy 5 ; Blomgren, Jack 1 ; Schmidt, Matthew 1 ; Donovan, Joe 1 ; Salter, Harrison 1
CS: Donovan, Joe 1
HBP: Blomgren, Jack 1 ; Schmidt, Matthew 1
