Michigan
44-19
Creighton
41-13
Five-Run Fourth Spurs U-M Bats to Win Over Creighton, Trip to Super Regional
6/3/2019 11:59:00 PM | Baseball
» Michigan advances to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2007.
» Jordan Brewer had three hits, two runs batted in and three stolen bases.
» Jesse Franklin had four hits and three RBI.
» Six Michigan different players drove home at least two runs.
Site:Â Corvallis, Ore. (Goss Stadium at Coleman Field)
Score: Michigan 17, #22 Creighton 6
Records: U-M (43-19), Creighton (41-13)
Next U-M Event: Friday, June 7 -- at UCLA (Los Angeles, Calif.), 6 p.m. PDT
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- The No. 3 seed University of Michigan baseball team stormed back from an early deficit Monday (June 3) and dominated No. 22-ranked Creighton, 17-6, to win the NCAA Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field and advance to the Super Regional round.
Michigan (44-19) advances to Super Regional play as one of the final 16 teams playing college baseball. The Wolverines will play No. 1-ranked UCLA in a best-of-three series Friday through Sunday (June 7-9) in Los Angeles, California. Game times are set for 6 p.m. PDT each day. Michigan's last time in the Super Regionals came in 2007 when, ironically, the Wolverines advanced to play in Corvallis.
Jimmy Kerr was named the Most Outstanding Player and was the first baseman on the Corvallis Regional all-tournament team, joined by Christan Bullock (outfield), Jordan Nwogu (designated hitter) and Karl Kauffmann (pitcher).
Playing with two hampered stars and without an injured senior Ako Thomas, Michigan rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 4-1 and answered loudly each challenge from a talented Creighton team.
Following a 1-2-3 first inning, Creighton jumped on Michigan starter Walker Cleveland in the second inning when Will Robertson hit a 1-2 curveball down the right-field line for a solo home run. In the third, a line-drive single and an RBI triple from Parker Upton forced Michigan to the bullpen early as Blake Beers entered.
Michigan loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning against Creighton starter Mitch Ragan. Senior Blake Nelson worked a walk to bring home a run, and the Blue Jays went to Evan Johnson out of the bullpen. Johnson then got a full-count strikeout on a high fastball to get out of further trouble.
Jack Strunc got the run back for Creighton when he took a low 1-0 fastball and lofted it just beyond the left-field wall for a 3-1 lead. A bloop double and a one-out seeing-eye single up the middle made it a 4-1 game.
Michigan again had a chance offensively in the bottom of the fourth when Johnson walked the first two batters he faced. John Sakowski entered but got into trouble and yielded a bases-loaded, two-run double to Jesse Franklin, a two-run single to junior Jordan Brewer, and an RBI groundout to Nelson as Michigan took a 6-4 lead. Brewer also stole two bases in the inning as the Big Ten Player of the Year returned from a foot injury.
Michigan's bullpen immediately made it interesting again in the fifth when a hit batsman and two walks between two relievers forced Michigan to its third pitcher of the inning in Isaiah Paige. The freshman pitched well as he induced two popups and a strikeout to escape unscathed.
Sophomore Joe Donovan extended that momentum when he turned on an 0-2 fastball from Sakowski in the bottom of the frame and blasted a solo home run high over the left-field wall for a 7-4 lead.
Franklin led off the sixth with a line-drive single to right, and Brewer laced a double to left, setting the stage for Kerr, who responded with a two-run single through the right side for a 9-4 lead. That set the stage for the potential play of the tournament. Michigan advanced runners to second and third for sophomore Jack Blomgren, who laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt that scored both Kerr from third and Nelson from second for an 11-4 Wolverine lead.
Strunc struck again in the seventh when he lined a homer again just over the wall. Following a double, junior Benjamin Keizer came out of the bullpen and got three outs, including a strikeout.
Franklin collected his fourth hit of the day when he crushed an 0-2 fastball for an RBI triple to right-center that scored freshman Riley Bertram (single) for a 12-5 lead. Two walks loaded the bases, and Nelson was hit by a pitch to force home another run. Bullock then added a two-run double when his grounder rolled off the second baseman's glove to give Michigan a 15-5 lead. Two more runs scored on wild pitches to extend the lead to 17-5.
Six different players drove home at least two runs. Franklin (four hits, three RBI) and Brewer (three hits, three steals, two RBI) led the way offensively. Beers was credited with the win in relief, as he struck out two batters in 1.2 innings of relief.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beers, Blake (1-1)
L: John Sakowski (7-1)
Batting:
2B: Jordan Hovey 2
3B: Parker Upton 1
HR: Will Robertson 1 ; Jack Strunc 2
RBI: Parker Upton 1 ; Will Robertson 1 ; Jack Strunc 3 ; David Vilches 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Isaac Collins 2 ; Will Robertson 1 ; Jack Strunc 2 ; Jordan Hovey 1
HBP: Jake Holton 1 ; Will Robertson 1
Batting:
2B: Franklin, Jesse 1 ; Brewer, Jordan 1 ; Bullock, Christan 1
3B: Franklin, Jesse 1
HR: Donovan, Joe 1
RBI: Franklin, Jesse 3 ; Brewer, Jordan 2 ; Kerr, Jimmy 2 ; Nelson, Blake 3 ; Bullock, Christan 2 ; Blomgren, Jack 2 ; Donovan, Joe 1
SH: Bullock, Christan 1 ; Blomgren, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nwogu, Jordan 1 ; Franklin, Jesse 4 ; Brewer, Jordan 3 ; Kerr, Jimmy 2 ; Nelson, Blake 2 ; Bullock, Christan 1 ; Blomgren, Jack 1 ; Donovan, Joe 1 ; Bertram, Riley 2
SB: Brewer, Jordan 3
HBP: Nwogu, Jordan 1 ; Nelson, Blake 1
