Tuesday Night Game at Kentucky to Kick Off Final Week of Regular Season

• Michigan (15-5) holds a 1.5-game lead over Indiana (14-7) atop the Big Ten standings and a 2.5-game lead over Nebraska, Illinois and Minnesota, which are all 13-8.
• The Wolverines can finish the regular season anywhere from first to fifth place in the Big Ten.
• Michigan ranks sixth nationally in earned run average (3.16).

NEXT GAME
Tuesday, May 14 -- at Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.), 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network | Live Stats | Live Video | UK Audio

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (37-13, 15-5 B1G) will kick off the final week of regular-season play with a midweek contest at Southeastern Conference foe Kentucky on Tuesday (May 14). First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Kentucky, and fans can watch the game live on the SEC Network.

• Michigan and Kentucky faced off during the fall season, with the Wolverines securing an 8-3 win over 14 innings. The Wildcats are 25-26 entering the week and sit in seventh place in the SEC East Division.

• A loss to Indiana on Friday (May 10) snapped Michigan's 13-game win streak, which was the longest in the NCAA at the time. The 13-game streak included victories over Ohio State, Bowling Green, Michigan State and Eastern Michigan as well as series sweeps of Northwestern, Rutgers and Maryland. The Wolverines made history during the 2018 campaign with a 20-game win streak through March and April, which marked the third-longest win streak in program history.

• Michigan wrapped up the home portion of its season last weekend with a 22-4 record when playing inside the Wilpon Complex. The Wolverines dropped the Friday and Saturday games (May 10-11) of their final home series but ended the weekend with a thrilling 11-inning 6-5 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Senior Day (May 12).

• Thanks to a win over Indiana in the series finale on Sunday (May 12), Michigan remains atop the Big Ten Conference with a 15-5 record and holds a 1.5-game lead over Indiana (14-7) and a 2.5-game lead over Nebraska, Illinois and Minnesota, which are all 13-8. The Big Ten regular-season title will come down to the last weekend, as the first-place Wolverines travel to Nebraska (May 16-18) and the second-place Hoosiers host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Michigan was picked by the league's coaches to finish second in the Big Ten this season.

• Michigan's offense leads the Big Ten in batting average (.290), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.465), total hits (491), runs scored (351), walks (250), doubles (114), stolen bases (79) and sacrifice flies (29).

• Four Wolverines are hitting above .300, including junior Jordan Brewer (.358), sophomore Jordan Nwogu (.348), senior Blake Nelson (.327) and sophomore Jack Blomgren (.310). Brewer leads the Big Ten in batting average, while Nwogu ranks first in on-base percentage (.477). Sophomore Jesse Franklin leads the conference with 37 walks.

• The Wolverines' 3.16 earned run average leads the Big Ten Conference and ranks sixth-best in the nation. The pitching staff has also combined for a conference-most seven shutout victories, which ranks tied for fourth in the country.

• Michigan dropped out of numerous polls this week after suffering two losses at the hands of the Indiana Hoosiers last weekend but is still ranked No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball News and tied for No. 27 by the NCBWA. U-M is receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Wolverines have been ranked or receiving votes in the national polls each week dating back to the preseason rankings.

• With eight strikeouts in Saturday's game against Indiana (May 11), junior lefty Tommy Henry surpassed Zach Putnam (87), Jim Brauer (86), Steve Ontiveros (85) and Fritz Fisher (84) in the U-M record book and now ranks 10th all-time with 90 strikeouts in a single season. Henry also ranks 11th in program history with 206 career K's.

• Junior-college transfer Jordan Brewer snapped his 32-game reached-base streak against Michigan State on May 7 when he failed to reach base via hit, walk or hit by pitch. The outfielder knocked in a run and scored one of his own when he reached first base by a fielder's choice in both the seventh and eighth innings. Brewer jump-started a new streak the following day (May 8) with three hits in a 10-1 rout of Eastern Michigan.

• Sophomore Jesse Franklin knocked his team-leading 12th homer of the season against Michigan State on May 7 with a bomb over the right-field wall in the third inning. With 22 career home runs in just his sophomore season, Franklin ranks tied for 15th all-time at Michigan.

Up Next

• Thursday, May 16 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 7:30 p.m. CDT
• Friday, May 17 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 8 p.m. CDT
• Saturday, May 18 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 2 p.m. CDT