Michigan
Penn State
Wolverines to Start Conference Play at Penn State
3/20/2024 10:51:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (7-14) will start conference play with a weekend (March 22-24) trip to Penn State's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. U-M's Big Ten season will open Friday (March 22) with first pitch scheduled for 5:30 p.m., before a game on Saturday (March 23) at 2 p.m. and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday (March 24). All games will be streaming live on Big Ten Plus.Â
Notes
• Mitch Voit leads the team in average (.345), hits (30), doubles (11) and total bases (52). Over the last ten games, he is hitting .350 with seven extra-base hits. Voit's doubles are second in the conference and fifth nationally. He has reached base in 20 of the 21 games this season with hits in 19 of the 21 games. Voit has also pitched a team-leading 30.0 innings and 19 strikeouts. He was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after a complete-game victory over UCLA.
• Kurt Barr is the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after 11 innings with a 0.82 ERA and two wins. Barr pitched the final six innings of the midweek win over Toledo and the final five innings against San Diego on Sunday (March 17). He struck out seven batters over the 11 innings and held opponents to a .184 batting average against. On the season, Barr is 2-1 with a team-leading 3.20 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.
• U-M is tied for first nationally with Coastal Carolina and Purdue in double plays with 25 turned on the season. The Wolverines are also third nationally in double plays per game (1.19) trailing Washington and Georgetown. Michigan's game high is four which they have reached twice this season. Kyle Dernedde has turned 19 with Mack Timbrook second at 17 and Voit in third on the team with 16. U-M has turned at least one double play in 14 of the 21 games this season. Â
• Over the last ten games, Stephen Hrustich leads the Wolverines with four home runs and 14 hits for a .389 average and a .806 slugging percentage. Hrustich has 29 total bases and has scored nine runs with eight RBIs over the 10-game stretch. On the season, Hrustich has drawn a team-leading 15 walks for a .418 on-base percentage. He has started 20 of the 21 games this season and has appeared in all three outfield positions and at catcher.
• Eleven different Wolverines have hit a home run this season. Hrustich leads the team with six with Voit and Jonathan Kim in second with three. Voit hit his third of the season in the midweek contest against Eastern Michigan. Three more players have hit two home runs including freshman Collin Priest. In the midweek against EMU, every Wolverine started had hit at least one homer on the season.
• This season, U-M opened with a challenging non-conference schedule with the 53rd hardest in cumulative win percentage with opponents holding a 191-135 record. Six of U-M's 14 losses have come to teams currently in the top 25 including a loss to No. 1-ranked Arkansas and No. 2-ranked Oregon State.
• Dylan Vigue joins Voit as the only player to start on the mound every weekend so far. He has a career high of 4.1 innings which he has reached twice this season. Last weekend against San Diego, Vigue allowed just one run on a solo homer and struck out four in four innings of work. He also walked a career-low two batters in the game.
• Thirty-four of the 38 players on the roster have seen game action this season with 21 players recording a plate appearance and 18 players seeing action on the mound. Five players have done both this season with Voit leading the way among those with five starts on the mound and 88 plate appearances. Only three players have started every game this season for the Wolverines, Voit, Dernedde and Cole Caruso.
• Penn State is currently 11-7 on the season and is on a one-game losing streak after dropping a midweek contest to St. Bonaventure. In State College, the Nittany Lions are 2-2 so far this season with a series win over UMass Lowell last weekend. All-time, U-M is 54-49 against Penn State and 50-45 in conference games. On the road, the Wolverines hold a slight advantage with a 23-22 record. Last season, U-M opened the conference season at home against the Nittany Lions and outscored them 28-8. Voit, Kim and Longo all hit above .300 with Voit adding two doubles and four runs.
