Michigan
Purdue
Five-Run Sixth Lifts U-M to Big Win over Purdue in Series Opener
3/12/2021 4:14:00 PM | Baseball
» Griffin Mazur hit a home run in his third consecutive game.
» Clark Elliott went 3-for-4.
» Michigan pitchers allowed just two hits over the final four innings.
Site: Greenville, S.C. (Fluor Field)
Score: Michigan 9, Purdue 1
Records: U-M (4-1), Purdue (1-4)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 13 -- vs. Purdue (Greenville, S.C.) 9 a.m.
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The University of Michigan baseball team broke open a 4-1 lead with five runs in the sixth inning en route to a 9-1 victory over Purdue in the opening contest of a four-game series Friday (March 12) at Fluor Field.
Michigan grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Benjamin Sems singled with one out and came around on a long double to the wall in left-center from Clark Elliott.
Purdue answered quickly, tying the game at 1 in the third inning on a leadoff walk, throwing error and a double. Purdue loaded the bases with no outs, but U-M starter Steven Hajjar worked out of further trouble with two strikeouts and a popup.
Griffin Mazur struck again in the fourth inning with his third home run in as many games. Tito Flores singled to lead off and Mazur then took the first pitch he saw over the lookalike Green Monster in left field and off a warehouse well beyond it to give U-M a 3-1 lead.
Mazur came to the plate in the fifth inning and laced a two-out RBI single to left field to score Jake Marti (walk) for a 4-1 Wolverine lead.
Michigan scored four times in the sixth with Christian Molfetta delivering a bases-loaded, two-run single to right field and Christan Bullock lacing an RBI single to right. That allowed Michigan to go to the bullpen in the seventh with Hajjar ending his day with five strikeouts against four hits in six innings of work.
Will Proctor, Isaiah Paige and Logan Wood combined to throw three scoreless innings of two-hit relief.
Elliott led the offense, going 3-for-4, while Sems and Molfetta added two hits apiece.
The Wolverines and Boilermakers will meet again Saturday morning with an early 9 a.m. first pitch as part of a doubleheader. Both games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.
