A lThursday April6,2006 sports. michigandaily. com sports@michigandaily.com PeTSn tilg 8A . . . . ... .............. 'M'-Nine blows out Central By David Murray Daily Sports Writer MT. PLEASANT - If chicks dig the long ball, then Mike Schmidt is a ladies man. The senior leftfielder hit two homers over the leftfield wall in the third inning, and Michigan (1-3 Big Ten, 13-10 overall) batted around the order in a 19-4 rout of Central Michigan (4-2 Mid-American Conference, 15-13). The two dingers propelled the Maize and Blue to an eight-run frame, and in the process, Schmidt tied a Michigan record for home runs in an inning. The only other Wolverine to hit two long balls in the same t inning on the road was Mike Gillette on May 11, 1988 at Eastern Michigan University. Schmidt opened up the third inning with a solo shot that carried over the leftfielder's head. "I know the pitching coach and I knew that they weren't going to throw me anything good," Schmidt said. "Then he hung something, and I drove that curve ball and I got all of it." His second long ball came with two outs. It flew over the wall in left-center, driving in freshman Adam Abra- ham and sophomore Nate Recknagel. "I came back up, and they were throwing that lefty that wasn't putting anything on it and throwing a lot of off-speed," Schmidt said. "I wasn't looking for any- thing in particular; he just threw one over the middle of the plate in a 3-2 (count)" Because of Mt. Pleasant's close proximity to the Saginaw native's home, many of his friends and family attended the game. Schmidt gave them more than they paid for, ending the game with three hits and four RBI. "You don't do that too often, two home runs in one inning," freshman Adam Abraham said. "It was good for (Schmidt) in front of all his home fans." Schmidt wasn't the only Michigan player to feast on 1 Position changes give young Wolverines a chance to excel By H. Jose Bosch Daily Sports Writer MT. PLEASANT - Normally, when Adam Abraham makes a throw to senior catcher Jeff Kunkel, the freshman is on the mound. But yesterday, the situation was differ- ent during Michigan's 19-4 win over Central Michigan. Abraham was play- ing third and Kunkel was at first. z 8fl BkN IMON/aily Senior Mike Schmidt (24) had two home runs and four 1RBI in the Wolverines' 19-4 rout of Central Michigan the Chippewa pitchers. Each Wolverine starter reached base at least once, and six of them recorded multiple hits. The offensive outburst came as a surprise after Michigan's Big Ten opening series against Northwest- ern, when the Wolverines scored just 12 runs over a four-game span. The 19 runs scored against Central Michigan was a season-high, and their 19 hits tied their season-high. Abraham also did his part to erase the memory of the Northwestern series. After failing to make it out of the first inning as a pitcher in his last outing, the Grosse Pointe Park native tallied a career-high four hits and two RBI, playing third base against Central Michigan. Junior Eric Rose was also impressive, driving in four Michigan base runners on three hits. "Today we put balls in play, like we have been, but now some of them fell in," Michigan coach Rich Malo- ney said. "When they fall in, it gets contagious and guys get confident, and the game is what it was. The game was very encouraging because our team needed that." Following their huge third inning, the Wolverines took advantage of the Chippewas' poor defense, scoring 10 more runs over the final six frames. After Michigan starting pitcher Michael Powers looked shaky, giving up three runs and walking five batters over just 2 2/3 innings, the bullpen held down the fort, striking out nine batters and giving up just one run over the game's final 6 1/3 innings. Senior Jeff Niemiec and freshman Mike Wilson both had their strongest appearances out of the pen this season. Niemiec notched five putouts and Wilson struck out four. The traditional pitcher-catcher battery turned third-first battery is just one exam- ple of the flexibility Michigan coach Rich Maloney has with his roster. In addition to Abraham and Kunkel manning the infield corners, sophomore Nate Recknagel, usually a first baseman, was behind the plate and freshman Doug Pickens played designated hitter. "I think it gives us some versatility that other teams don't have," Maloney said. "We're going to have some options but we're grooming players. A lot of these guys haven't even played that much (col- lege baseball)" By shifting experienced players into other positions, Maloney had a chance to play some younger players, such as Recknagel and fellow sophomore Derek VanBuskirk, giving them valuable play- ing time that may prove handy later in the season. According to the coach, players coming out of high school don't see enough good pitching to allow them to adjust easily to Division I college baseball. With so many versatile players on the roster, Maloney can give younger Wolverines an opportu- nity to see as much college-level pitching as possible. "There's a growing period, and we're trying to grow our team right now," Malo- ney said. "In time, I think this is going to be a solid team:' Nine Wolverines have started at more than one position for Michigan this season and two of them, Abraham and Pickens, have started at four different positions. The other seven players have each started at three different positions, including Kun- kel, who has started 20 games as catcher and two as the designated hitter in addition to his first start at first base yesterday. Besides giving younger players a chance to play, Maloney also had an opportunity to rest a team with more nagging injuries than any team he has ever coached. "It's very encouraging (to see players excel at other positions) because we're banged up," Maloney said. "We need other guys to step up if we're going to win games. Fortunately, today we had some nice contributions from several different guys." FouRTH TIME'S THE CHARM: In his player bio, it may say 2006 highlights. But for junior Jeff Niemiec, this season has been anything but high. In his three appearances prior to yester- day, Niemiec had a 0-1 record with a 10.80 ERA and just two strikeouts. But against Central Michigan, Niemiec struck out five batters in just 1 2/3 innings and allowed just one run. "(Yesterday) was just about having my slider" Niemiec said. "My slider was on today, and I was able to throw it to get ahead of hitters and put them away." Niemiec's sudden emergence may indi- cate a return to last season's form, when he amassed a 3-1 record as a reliever. This would be helpful for the Wolverines, whose starters have been struggling as of late. Au. GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: The Chippewas snapped the Michigan bullpen's scoreless innings streak in the fifth inning. Senior Ali Husain walked Central Michigan's Troy Moratti with the bases loaded, allowing the bullpen's first run in 20 innings. The streak spanned over six games against four different teams (Oakland, Bowling Green, Northwester. and Central Michigan). But fans have nothing to worry about - the Wolverines began another scoreless streak of 4 1/3 innings began after Husain walked home a run. BECAUSE WE LOVE PITCHING THAT MUCH: Had he been in attendance, famous pitch- ing coach Leo Mazzone probably would've had a heart attack. The game featured 29 hits, 23 runs, 16 walks, three hit batsmen and three wild pitches. Adding insult to injury, Central Michigan's pitchers made two throwing errors. el *I NLNOTE Top Cager recruit de-commits The losses just keep on coming for the Michi- gan men's basketball team. First, it was an NCAA tournament bid, then it was the NIT finals, and now it appears it may have lost one of its top recruits. According to Rivals.com, guard/ forward Alex Legion, who is currently a high school junior, has re-opened his recruitment after originally committing to Michigan on Nov. 15. In addition, Legion is transferring from Detroit Country Day School and going to basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wil- son, Va. Rivals.com also reported that Legion is rumored to be considering offers from Michigan, Connecticut, Kansas, UCLA and Villanova. This is not the first time a potential Wolverine recruit has de-committed in recent years. Cen- ter Al Horford of Florida and Kentucky guard Joe Crawford both backed out of their original agreement with Michigan. Legion is the 15th best overall player in the class of 2007, according to Rivals.com. 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