Michigan
Northwestern
Michigan to Travel to Maryland for Series vs. Terrapins, Wildcats
3/30/2021 11:26:00 AM | Baseball
» Michigan will travel to College Park, Md., for games against Northwestern and Maryland.
» Michigan (11-4) enters the week a half-game behind Indiana (11-3) in the Big Ten Conference standings.
» Michigan is ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball.com, No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
THIS WEEK
Saturday, April 3 -- vs. Northwestern (Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium), 4 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, April 4 -- vs. Northwestern (Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium), 11:30Â a.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, April 4 -- at Maryland (Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium), 3:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Monday, April 5 -- at Maryland (Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium), 3 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 25-ranked University of Michigan baseball team travels to College Park, Md., this weekend to compete in the "Maryland Pod" where they will play two games each against Northwestern and Maryland at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium. Michigan opens play with a two-game set with the Wildcats at 4 p.m. on Saturday (April 3). On Sunday (April 4), the Wolverines take on Northwestern at 11:30Â a.m. and Maryland at 3:30 p.m. U-M closes the road trip with a 3 p.m. game against Maryland on Monday (April 5).
All four games this weekend will be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.
About the Rivalries
• Michigan leads, 127-37, in the all-time series with Northwestern, which dates back to 1882. Michigan swept a three-game series vs. the Wildcats in 2019 and has won six consecutive in the series.
Michigan leads, 18-7, in the all-time series with Maryland, including seven consecutive victories. U-M averaged 11 runs per game in a three-game series sweep at Maryland in 2019 before eliminating the Terrapins from the Big Ten Tournament by a score of 10-4.
About U-M
• Michigan is ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball.com poll following a pair of come-from-behind victories at Penn State last weekend. Michigan also is ranked No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
• The weekend series poses an interesting competitive twist as Northwestern faces Maryland Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, meaning Michigan will play its opening game of the weekend against a Wildcats team that will be playing its third game of the weekend.
• Michigan came from behind to win two games Saturday, overcoming a 4-3 deficit in game one of a doubleheader at Penn State to post 14 unanswered runs in a 17-4 victory before erasing a 6-1 deficit in game two of the doubleheader and scoring twice in the ninth inning to force extras en route to an 8-6 win in 10 innings.
• Michigan will look to lefty Steven Hajjar (1-0, 2.66 ERA) on Saturday, righty Cameron Weston (3-1, 3.20 ERA) in game one on Sunday, Jacob Denner (1-0, 4.32 ERA) in game two, and Blake Beers (0-1, 6.75 ERA) on Monday to start games on the mound.
• Clark Elliott leads the offense with a .326 batting average, while Christian Molfetta follows close behind at .316 with a team-high 18 hits. Michigan's batting order is remarkably balanced, with seven players registering at least 12 hits and five players with at least six extra-base hits. Jimmy Obertop leads the offense with six home runs, while Tito Flores' seven extra-base hits leads the offense.
• Michigan's bullpen has been solid through the first quarter of the season with a combined record of 5-2, a .229 batting average against and 65 strikeouts in 52.1 innings of work. Graduate student Joe Pace (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.1 IP, 4 H, 12 K), sophomore Jack White (0-0, 1.59 ERA, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 9 K), and Ben Dragani (1-1, 0.77 ERA, 11.2 IP, 11 H, 9 K) have carried the workload while close Willie Weiss (2-1, 2.84 ERA) continues to rank among the conference leaders in strikeouts per innings pitched with 11 Ks through 6.1 innings of work.
Scouting Northwestern
• Northwestern enters play in the hunt for first pace with a conference-leading .304 batting average keyed by David Dunn (.444) and Anthony Calcaro (.441), who rank first and second, respectively in individual batting. Stephen Hrusticj and Michael Trautwein rank among the league leaders with six homers each, while Calarco and Shawn Gooseneberg have five homers apiece.
• The Wildcats are in the middle of the pack of the conference pitching-wise with a 5.45 earned-run average. The Wildcats pitch to contact with a league-low 95 strikeouts. Northwestern has not announced weekend starters, but candidates include Quinn Lavelle (3-0, 4.41 ERA), Tyler Uberstine (2-1, 5.21 ERA) and Jack Dyke (1-0, 8.59 ERA) as their third and fourth starters of the weekend.
Scouting Maryland
• Maryland enters the weekend at 6-9 overall following a Monday victory vs. Ohio State. The Terrapins feature one of the league's most potent offenses on paper, but have not yet gotten on track, coming into play tied with Northwestern in team batting average at .247. Benjamin Cowles (.400, 8 HR, 23 RBI) leads the league in slugging percentage (.957), while Maxwell Costes (.161, 1 HR), Randy Bednar (.348, 11 RBI, 7 SB) and Chris Alleyne (.239) all have history of success within the league.
• On the mound, Maryland enters the weekend with a 5.74 ERA. Nick Dean (0-0, 3.00 ERA) and Jason Savacool (4-0, 2.83 ERA) started the third and fourth games last weekend for Maryland with Savacool showing excellent command in the early going on just four walks in 23.2 innings of work.
Up Next
Fri-Sun. April 9-11 -- vs. Ohio State (Wilpon Complex)
