Michigan
24-22, 11-8
Northwestern
8-36, 3-16
Jefferis, Flores Power U-M Offense in Series-Opening Win Over Northwestern
5/12/2023 5:33:00 PM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Cody Jefferis and Tito Flores each collected four hits and combined for four RBI on Friday (May 12) to help the University of Michigan baseball team defeat Northwestern 12-5 in the series opener at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium.
Michigan (24-22, 11-8 Big Ten) jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, started by a leadoff double from Jefferis. Jimmy Obertop laced a two-out single to score Jefferis to give U-M a 1-0 lead, one the did not relinquish.
The Wolverines added to their lead in the second. Flores led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to third after a groundout and an error. Greg Pace Jr. was hit by a pitch and stole second base before coming around to score with Flores on a Jefferis single up the middle. Jefferis stole second before scoring on a Ted Burton double, the 40th double of his career, to extend the advantage to 4-0.
The Wolverines kept the runs coming in the third inning, putting up two more to take a 6-0 lead. Jack Van Remortel started the rally with a hit by pitch, then moved up a base on a Flores single up the middle and scored on Mitch Voit double that pushed Flores to third. Gabe Sotres grounded out to score Flores.
Connor O'Halloran cruised through three scoreless innings, tallying four strikeouts along the way, before Northwestern hit a two-run home run in the fourth to bring the score to 6-2.
U-M scored for the fourth time in as many innings, highlighted by a solo home run from Burton -- his 10th of the season -- to get a run right back. Obertop later drew a two out walk, advanced to third on a single from Van Remortel and scored on a wild pitch to counter NU's third-inning runs and push the lead back to six, 8-2.
Northwestern once again tried to mount a comeback, adding another two-run home run in the top of the fifth after O'Halloran struck out the first two batters of the inning.
Michigan put the game out of reach of the Wildcats in the seventh inning. Flores and Voit singled back-to-back to lead off the inning before advancing on a Jordon Rogers sacrifice bunt. Casey Buckley came up clutch in another pinch-hit appearance, this time with a two-run double and then scored on a single from Jefferis. After seven innings, U-M led 11-5 and added another run in the eighth after O'Halloran and Ahmad Harajli combined for a 1-2-3 top of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Obertop drew a walk and was pinch run for by Jake Marti, who advanced to third on a single from Joe Longo and scored on a Flores sacrifice fly.
Harajli came out for the ninth tossed a scoreless ninth, punctuated by a strikeout to end the game.
O'Halloran (8-4) picked up his eighth win of the season and tallied nine strikeouts, bringing his career total to 210. Jefferis and Flores both had four hits on the day with Jefferis knocking in three runs while Flores plated a run and scored three times.
Michigan will continue its series against Northwestern on Saturday (May 13) at 2 p.m. at Ray Fisher Stadium, a game that will be streamed live on B1G+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: O'Halloran, Connor (8-4)
L: Michael Farinelli (1-9)
Batting:
2B: Owen McElfatrick 1 ; Tony Livermore 1
HR: Luke Tanner 1 ; Stephen Hrustich 1
RBI: Luke Tanner 2 ; Bennett Markinson 1 ; Stephen Hrustich 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Luke Tanner 1 ; Bennett Markinson 1 ; Stephen Hrustich 1 ; Owen McElfatrick 1 ; Tony Livermore 1
SB: Stephen Hrustich 1
HBP: Tony Livermore 1
Batting:
2B: Jefferis, Cody 1 ; Burton, Ted 1 ; Voit, Mitch 1 ; Buckley, Casey 1
HR: Burton, Ted 1
RBI: Jefferis, Cody 3 ; Burton, Ted 2 ; Obertop, Jimmy 1 ; Flores, Tito 1 ; Voit, Mitch 1 ; Sotres, Gabe 1 ; Buckley, Casey 2
SH: Rogers, Jordon 1
SF: Flores, Tito 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jefferis, Cody 2 ; Burton, Ted 1 ; Obertop, Jimmy 1 ; Marti, Jake 1 ; Van Remortel, Jack 1 ; Flores, Tito 3 ; Voit, Mitch 1 ; Pace Jr., Greg 1 ; Buckley, Casey 1
SB: Jefferis, Cody 1 ; Obertop, Jimmy 1 ; Pace Jr., Greg 1
HBP: Van Remortel, Jack 1 ; Pace Jr., Greg 1
