Michigan Baseball: Michigan beats Northwestern 9-4

from MGoBlue.com
http://www.mgoblue.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=137812

Four Gone Conclusion: Homers Rally U-M Past Northwestern

May 15, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Score: #17 Michigan 9, Northwestern 4
Records: U-M (40-11, 24-4 Big Ten), Northwestern (20-26, 13-16 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Friday, May 16 -- DH vs. Northwestern (Wilpon Complex), 4:05 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan baseball team used the home run ball to its favor Thursday evening (May 15), as the Wolverines belted four jacks en route to a 9-4 come-from-behind victory against Northwestern in the Wilpon Baseball Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium.

Junior DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) crushed a pair of homers over the 26-foot wall in leftfield, setting a new single-season personal best for home runs with nine. Putnam finished the ballgame 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. Seniors Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) and Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) provided the other home runs for Michigan with a two-run shot to right and a solo blast to left, respectively.

Senior/junior Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) tossed four shutout innings of relief for the win, improving his record to 4-0. Jenzen allowed just two hits and struck out three, giving him 34 K's for the season.

Michigan (40-11, 24-4 Big Ten) fell behind 2-0 after the first two frames, as Northwestern put up one run in each inning. Northwestern took an early 1-0 on a sacrifice fly by Jake Goebbert in the first, scoring Jake Owens, who led off the game with a double to right.

The Wildcats again had their leadoff man reach in the top of the second, with Max Mann drawing a walk. Following a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt, Mann came charging down the line to score on a bounceout to third by Tommy Finn for the 2-0 advantage.

Michigan's starter, senior/junior RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS), recorded six straight outs against Northwestern over the third and fourth innings, striking out three in the process. He finished the day with four strikeouts in five innings of work, allowing four runs, two of which were earned. The 6-foot-8 righty allowed just three hits, but one of those hits was a two-run homer to right off the bat of Goebbert in the top of the fifth, giving Northwestern a 4-0 advantage.

Through the first four innings, Michigan was hitless and had only one runner reach base. However, that changed in the bottom of the fifth when junior 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) led off with a walk and VanBuskirk followed with a two-run jack over the rightfield wall. The blast was his career-best 10th of the year and cut the Wildcat lead in half, 4-2.

Michigan then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a five-run inning, capped by a two-run, one-out no-doubter over the "brick monster" in left by Putnam. Michigan put on its leadoff hitter for the second straight inning, as fifth-year senior 2B Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) drew a leadoff walk. Following Recknagel's long flyout to left-center that carried all the way to the warning track, Putnam launched his eighth home run of the year to knot the score at 4-4.

With two outs in the frame, VanBuskirk ripped a single right back up the middle and stole second during the ensuing at-bat by junior CF Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi HS). After Cislo walked, sophomore 1B Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) singled to centerfield, bringing in VanBuskirk from second for the go-ahead run and a 5-4 lead.

Michigan scored twice more in the inning with RBI by freshman RF Ryan LaMarre (Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi HS) and Mahler to extend its lead to 7-4 after five innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, Putnam led off with a laser that traveled up and over the leftfield wall for his second homer of the day and ninth of his season, handing U-M an 8-4 lead. It was his second two-homer day of the year and his fifth long ball at home this season.

The Wildcats threatened in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with a double and back-to-back two-out walks. However, Jenzen was able to thwart the rally, getting Owens to swing through strike three to end the inning.

Recknagel then completed the scoring in the bottom of the eighth, extending his U-M single-season home run record with his 22nd of the year. Recknagel thought he was walked on a 3-1 pitch, but the first base umpire called a swinging strike, so the senior slugger stepped back into the batter's box with a 3-2 count. Wildcat pitcher Matt Gailey tried to paint the corner with an inside fastball, but Recknagel turned on the pitch and launched it over the leftfield wall for his 42nd career homer, four shy of tying the all-time Michigan mark of 46 by Casey Close (1983-86).

Jenzen set down the Wildcats in order in the ninth to seal the victory for Michigan, which improved to 16-1 this season in the Wilpon Baseball Complex.

Michigan and Northwestern return to action Friday afternoon (May 16) for doubleheader action with the first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m.