from MGoBlue.com http://www.mgoblue.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=135150VanBuskirk's Three Home Runs Lift U-M to 21-Run Win Over MSU
April 20, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Baseball Complex, home of Fisher Stadium)
Score: Michigan 27, Michigan State 6Records: U-M (28-8, 15-1 Big Ten), Michigan State (13-21, 4-11 Big Ten)
Next Event: Sunday, April 25 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 3:05 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan baseball team scored at least one run in each of its final seven innings, as the Wolverines remained perfect at home this season with a 27-6 victory over intrastate rival Michigan State inside the Wilpon Baseball Complex, home to Ray Fisher Stadium. The win gave U-M (28-8, 15-1 Big Ten) the weekend sweep, improving its record at home this season to 11-0.
Senior Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) led all Wolverine performers with a 4-for-5 performance, setting career-bests with three home runs and nine RBI’s. VanBuskirk showed power to all fields, hitting a solo shot to right, a grand slam over the 26-foot monster in left and a three-run blast to center.
Junior SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS), fifth-year senior 2B/3B Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) and senior/junior CF Kenny Fellows (Holt, Mich./Holt HS) also helped fill out the boxscore.
Christian was 4-for-7, including a triple and two-run homer for five RBI, while Mahler went 4-for-5 with four RBI including a solo shot to right field. Fellows provided the speed on the base paths, going 3-for-5 for the day with four runs scored.
The Wolverines fell behind early when Spartan leadoff batter Steve Gerstenberger homered to right field for the 1-0 MSU advantage. U-M starter junior LHP Mike Wilson (Pickerington, Ontario/Pine Ridge Secondary) put the next three hitters down in order, with the final two outs coming via the strikeout.
Wilson then struck out the first batter of the second inning, but a walk, single and double steal had runners on second and third with only one out. Brandon Eckerle made it a 2-0 Spartan lead with a single to score Eric Roof and put runners on first and third. Brandon Doherty then drew a walk to load the bases, bringing senior/junior RHP Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS) out of the bullpen.
Powers -- with the bases loaded and only one out -- proceeded to strike Gerstenberger out looking on a 3-2 pitch. He then ended the bases loaded threat, fielding a grounder off the bat of Josh Roof to finish the inning.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the second, the Wolverines responded with an eight-run frame. Junior DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) led off the inning by drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch and was quickly moved over second when junior 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) was plunked on the left leg. VanBuskirk followed with a four-pitch walk to load the bases with no outs.
Sophomore RF Alan Oaks (White Lake, Mich./Divine Child HS) cut the deficit to 2-1 when he lifted a sac fly into right field to score Putnam from third. Abraham advanced to third on the throw, setting up a game-tying RBI single off the bat of sophomore C Chris Berset (Vienna, Va./Heights School).
Fellows loaded the bases when he dropped down a perfectly placed bunt to the third side. The Wolverines took the lead at 3-2 three pitches later when Spartan starter A.J. Achter threw a wild pitch to score VanBuskirk and move Berset to third and Fellows to second.
Christian improved the lead to 5-2, clearing the bases with a triple to deep right-centerfield. The ball took two hops to reach the wall, securing his third triple of the season. Mahler brought Christian home with a successful squeeze bunt down the first base line, handing U-M a 6-2 lead.
In his second at bat of the inning, Abraham emulated Christian’s earlier at bat with a double to right center to score senior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) and Putnam from second and first, respectively.
Michigan State got one back in the top of the third but -- with runners on first and second and one out -- Powers again got out number two via the strike out. The right-hander then got Eckerle to bounce out to Mahler at second base to end the frame.
The Wolverines put the game out of reach with five runs in the bottom of the third inning for a 13-3 advantage. Oaks started the frame with a single up the middle and moved up after a bounce out to first by Berset. Following a Fellows walk and a Christian single through the right side, the bases were loaded for Mahler.
The tri-captain produced his second RBI of the game with a sac fly to right, bringing Oaks home from third. With two outs and two on, Recknagel launched his 16th jack of the year, a shot that landed on the roof of the Indoor Track and Field Building behind the 320-foot rightfield wall. It marked the third straight game in which the senior slugger belted a homer.
VanBuskirk drove in the final run of the inning with a single deep in the hole between second and third, scoring Putnam from third.
Christian put the score to 15-3 with his fifth jack of the year, a two-run shot that hit the right field padding and bounced over the wall. It was the second of a team-season bests five homers on the day.
In the fifth inning, VanBuskirk belted his first of three home runs of the day with a solo shot to right to make the score 16-3.
Sophomore 2B Nick Urban (Whitehall, Mich./Whitehall HS) produced the 17th Wolverine run with a bases loaded single in the sixth inning. It was Urban’s first career hit and RBI. He finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.
In the ensuing at bat, VanBuskirk unloaded the bases with his second career grand slam, clearing the 26-foot wall in left field. It was the first slam of the year off the bat of a Wolverine hitter.
Four-more runs came across the plate in the seventh, all four coming via the long ball. With one out, Mahler connected for his second home run of the year, clearing the wall in right field for his first career jack at home.
Following singles by sophomore 1B Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) and Urban, VanBuskirk delivered his third home run of the game over the wall in centerfield. VanBuskirk now has seven homers this season, one more than his previous three years as a Wolverine (6).
The Maize and Blue scored two more runs in the eighth inning to make the score 27-3. Sophomore LHP Eric Katzman (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan HS) was one of the two runs that scored. Leading off the inning, Katzman line a sharp single into leftfield for his first career hit.
Michigan does not play again until its weekend series at Big Ten foe Indiana (April 25-27). The two teams get the four-game series started with a Friday afternoon (April 25) affair with the first pitch slated for 3:05 p.m.
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