Wolverines Return Home to Host Buckeyes After Long Road Stint

Friday, April 9

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

Ohio State

(Michigan Photography)

Wolverines Return Home to Host Buckeyes After Long Road Stint

4/7/2021 10:54:00 AM | Baseball

By: Kurt Svoboda

» Michigan hosts Ohio State in a three-game set this weekend at the Wilpon Complex.
» Sunday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2
» Michigan is ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball.com, No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun., April 9-11 -- vs. Ohio State (Wilpon Complex)

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 25-ranked University of Michigan baseball team returns home to the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium, for the first time in three weeks as the Wolverines play host to Ohio State in a three-game series from Friday through Sunday (April 9-11).

Friday (April 9) and Saturday's (April 10) games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+, while Sunday's (April 11) game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

About the Series

• Michigan leads 166-101-6 in the all-time series with Ohio State, which dates back to 1895. OSU has gotten the better of Michigan in recent games, winning five of the last six contests including a 2-1 victory in the opening game of the 2019 Big Ten Tournament.

About U-M

• Michigan is ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball.com, No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

• Michigan posted 1-1 records last week against Northwestern and Maryland last weekend, competing against two of the top offenses in the Big Ten in Maryland's hitter-friendly Bob Smith Stadium. Michigan's wins came in familiar fashion -- late-inning home runs. Griffin Mazur launched a three-run homer Friday (April 2) to break a 2-2 tie with Northwestern en route to a 5-2 victory, while Danny Zimmerman hit a two-out, pinch-hit solo job in the ninth inning against Maryland on Sunday (April 4) to win a 6-5 decision. Michigan also came close to late-inning heroics in a 4-1 loss to Northwestern, as the Wolverines loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning but came up short.

• Michigan will look to lefty Steven Hajjar (1-0, 2.57 ERA) on Friday, righty Cameron Weston (3-1, 3.99 ERA) on Saturday and either Jacob Denner (1-0, 3.98 ERA) or Blake Beers (0-1, 7.50 ERA) on Sunday to start games on the mound.

• Christian Molfetta leads the offense with a .329 batting average and a .430 on-base-percentage, while adding nine extra base hits. Benjamin Sems continues his impressive performance at the plate with a .303 batting average, while Jimmy Obertop leads in the power category. The sophomore has hit eight home runs, including two of the team's four grand slams this season.

• Michigan's bullpen has been solid through the first quarter of the season. Graduate student Joe Pace (2-0, 0.82, 11.0 IP, 6 H, 17 K) has dazzled in various middle- and late-inning situations. Closer Willie Weiss (3-1, 1.86 ERA) continues to rank among the conference leaders in strikeouts per innings pitched with 16 Ks through 9.1 innings of work. Graduate student Will Proctor (0-0, 2.57 ERA) saw his first multi-appearance weekend of the season out of the bullpen, and the right-hander has been reliable with seven strikeouts and no walks in seven innings of work.

Scouting Ohio State

• Ohio State enters the weekend on a hot streak, sweeping a four-game series against Indiana, which had entered last weekend in first place. OSU got it done on the mound, limiting Indiana to just seven runs over the four games.

• OSU is led offensively by Kade Kern (.338, 16 RBI, 4 SB) and Zach Dezenzo (.310, 9 XBH)

• The weekend pitching rotation figures to include Seth Lonsway (1-3, 3.90, 44 K, 27.2 IP, 13 H), Garrett Burhenn (2-1, 3.72, 30 K, 29 IP) and Jack Neely (1-0, 3.63, 31 K, 22.1 IP, 14 H), while a deep bullpen consists of Joe Gahm (8 G, 0.00, 6 K, 4 IP), TJ Brock (8 APP, 0.84, 14 K, 10.2 IP) and Bayden Root (8 G, 3-1, 3.09, 11.2 IP).

While pitching has been the Buckeyes' strength this season, they have not had much success keeping opposing running games in check. Opponents have stolen 40 bases on 41 attempts through 19 games.

Up Next

Fri-Sun., April 16-18 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.)