U-M to Open Season With Four Games Against Western Michigan at Camelback Ranch

Friday, February 16

Phoenix, Ariz.

1:00 PM MT

Michigan

Western Michigan

Cole Caruso (Michigan Photography)

U-M to Open Season With Four Games Against Western Michigan at Camelback Ranch

2/13/2024 2:10:00 PM | Baseball

Complete Game Notes

By: Conor Stemme

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (0-0) opens its 2024 campaign with a four-game series against Western Michigan (0-0) from Friday through Sunday (Feb. 16-18) at Camelback Ranch-Glendale in Phoenix, Ariz. On Friday (Feb. 16), the Wolverines open the season at 1 p.m. MST before a doubleheader on Saturday (Feb. 17), starting at 1:00 p.m. MST. The series concludes Sunday (Feb. 18) at 11 a.m. MST. Attendance is free for all four games in the series.

Notes

• Michigan returns 12 players from last season's team that finished with a 28-28 record and reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Headlining the returners this season are sophomore Mitch Voit, fifth-year senior Jacob Denner and the team's batting-average leader Jonathan Kim.

• Joining the 12 returners are 26 newcomers, a group made up of 19 freshmen and seven transfers. The transfers come from five different conferences, including two each from the Big Ten and Pac-12. Stephen Hrustich leads the group and was a third team All-Big Ten selection at Northwestern. Will Rogers played two seasons at Arizona State and will be the Wolverines' starting catcher this season.

• Last season, Voit had a solid freshman season -- batting .267 with seven home runs and 32 RBI. He was named to three Freshman All-American teams, the All-Big Ten Freshman team (as a third baseman and relief pitcher) and the All-Big Ten Tournament team. On the mound, Voit led the team with a 3.25 earned-run average and collected 25 strikeouts over 36 innings pitched. He was a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, and made his his first career pitching start in the Big Ten Tournament, earning a win over Indiana after 5.2 innings. Voit will play first base and move to the rotation this season.

• Kim's .322 average led the Wolverines as a freshman last season to land him on the All-Big Ten third team and All-Big Ten Freshman team. He also rapped 47 hits, three of them home runs. Kim was third on the team in stolen bases with five and started 39 games in center field.

• Denner is U-M's most experienced hurler with 202.1 career innings pitched. Last season, he tossed his first complete game to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after allowing just one run with seven strikeouts in the game. Denner is currently 11th all-time at Michigan in career pitching appearances (66) and is one behind Will Tribucher to enter a tie for 10th. Denner also is moving up the career strikeout leaderboards, sitting tied at No. 14 with Karl Kauffmann at 199. Last season, Denner had 24 appearances fanned 75 batters.

• Freshman Dylan Vigue also looks to make an impact on the mound. The Leominster, Mass., native was a top-five prospect from the state out of high school, having earned Perfect Game Preseason All-Region and Honorable Mention All-American. In his senior prep season, Vigue had 71 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched with a 1.46 ERA.

• Three transfers will make up the team's infield along with Voit in Cole Caruso, Kyle Dernedde and Mack Timbrook. Caruso comes from USC Upstate, where he played in 99 games across two seasons and has a .309 career average. Dernedde joins from Oregon State as a graduate transfer after 128 games with 93 hits and 76 runs. Timbrook earned All-MAC second team last season at Kent State and started 130 games across four seasons.

• In the preseason, three Wolverines earned Perfect Game Conference honors. Voit and Collin Priest were named to spots on the preseason team. Voit garnered the nod at first base, while Priest took the utility spot. Priest comes from Mount Dora, Fla., where he was first team All-State after he hit .417 with 11 home runs. Vigue was picked to be Freshman of the Year.

• A few Wolverines were highlighted by D1 Baseball throughout the offseason. Caruso was chosen as a top-40 third baseman across all of college baseball while Dylan Vigue was named the 121st starting pitcher -- one of five freshmen to make the list. Rogers was the team's lone representative on the 2024 Draft Top Conference prospects, while three Wolverines made the Top 2025 list. Voit was second on the list while Kim was eighth and Greg Pace Jr. was named 12th on the list. Three freshmen made the impact conference list -- Vigue was chosen third on the list with Priest at No. 6. Keegan O'Hearn, from Oshawa, Ontario, is 23rd on the list and was a member of the Canada U-18 National Team.

• In head coach Tracy Smith's second season, he is joined by a new-look staff. Assistant head coach and recruiting coach Jake Valentine joins the program from Washington State, having also spent time at Portland, Santa Clara, UC Riverside and Stephen F. Austin. Assistant coach Josh Phegley was elevated after a year on the support staff. He spent 12 seasons in professional baseball before joining the program. Student assistant coach Jack Van Remortel graduated last season after four years as a Wolverine. Also a student assistant coach, three-time All-American Zach Putnam finished his professional career and returns to Ann Arbor to finish his degree and help coach the team.

• Michigan is 93-77-4 in the all-time series against Western Michigan. In neutral-sites games, U-M trails the Broncos 9-5. Last season, Michigan defeated WMU 12-5 in Ann Arbor. Voit went 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI while earning the save as well. Ted Burton and Tito Flores also hit home runs. The last times the teams met at a neutral site was in 2003 when the Broncos won 6-2 in Indianapolis, Ind., at the Butler Classic. The Wolverines have won the last five games against their in-state foe, with the largest margin of victory coming in 2009 -- a 20-1 Maize and Blue win.