8 — Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines pound 
Eastern Michigan

By BEN FIDELMAN

Daily Sports Writer

Coming 
into 
Tuesday’s 

matchup at Ray Fisher Stadium, 
the Michigan baseball team 
had lost its 
last 
seven 

games 
against 
nearby foe Eastern Michigan. 
After slugging 13 extra-base hits 
and accumulating a season-high 
42 total bases, the Wolverines 
broke that losing streak with an 
18-4 victory.

“What 
stood 
out 
to 
me 

today was that we didn’t hit 20 
singles,” said Michigan coach 
Erik Bakich. “We had a lot of 
extra-base hits, and our guys 
were really making hard contact 
even on some of our outs. It was 
great to see us not settle and 
keep the score at 8-4, but be able 
to put 11 runs up in the last three 
innings.”

Though it was the end of the 

game that contained the biggest 
fireworks, the Wolverines (4-5 
Big Ten, 19-13 overall) jumped 
out to a quick start in the bottom 
of the first inning when they 
muscled three runs across the 
plate.

The first two hitters in the 

lineup reached base and moved 
around on a run-scoring single 
from 
junior 
third 
baseman 

Travis Maezes. That left two 
men on base with two outs for 
junior left fielder Cody Bruder, 
who would smack his first of 
four extra-base hits on the 
evening.

“It was really important to get 

out to a good start tonight,” said 
Michigan first baseman Carmen 
Benedetti. “Eastern has kind 
of had their way with us, and it 
was good to start off hot against 

them, throw some punches and 
knock them down.”

The 
Eagles 
(4-5, 
12-19) 

knocked in one run against 
junior left-handed pitcher Evan 
Hill, but Michigan responded 
in the bottom of the frame 
with three more scores. Seven 
Wolverines went to the plate, 
highlighted 
by 
back-to-back, 

line-drive hits by Benedetti 
and Bruder, falling for a double 
and triple, respectively, to put 
Michigan up 6-1 heading to the 
third.

Earlier 
in 

the 
week, 

Bakich 
said 

that Hill, who 
was 
making 

his 
first 

start 
of 
the 

season 
after 

rehabbing 
a 

knee 
injury 

sustained 
in 

the fall, was 
expected to throw just a few 
innings in order to rebuild his 
arm strength.

Hill gave two innings of work, 

allowing just two hits and one 
earned run while striking out a 
pair of hitters.

Freshman 
right-hander 

Jayce Vancena came in for 
the Wolverines after Hill had 
completed his scheduled two 
innings of work, putting together 
four solid innings on the mound. 
Vancena allowed three runs to 
score, but there was little doubt 
concerning the outcome of the 
game. After Vancena entered 
from the bullpen, the closest 
the game became was 8-4 after 
Eastern Michigan tacked on 
two runs in the top of the fourth 
inning.

From that point on, Michigan 

would slug three home runs, two 

triples and five doubles en route 
to its final tally of 18 runs.

Two Wolverines stood out in 

the run-producing department. 
Bruder and sophomore right 
fielder Johnny Slater combined 
for 11 RBI on the night and 
accounted for much of the high 
level of the game’s slugging 
statistics.

Two of Michigan’s three 

home runs came from Slater, 
who launched balls over the 
right-field wall in both the 
sixth and seventh innings, and 

Bruder ended 
up being only 
a 
home 
run 

shy of hitting 
for the cycle. 
No Wolverine 
has hit for the 
cycle 
since 

2007, 
and 

Slater was the 
first Michigan 
player to hit 

two home runs in a game since 
Jacob 
Cronenworth 
did 
so 

against Illinois on April 12, 2014.

“Something 
we’ve 
talked 

about has been that we can 
put up a crooked number and 
then maybe not score for a 
few innings or just hold the 
lead after a three- or five-run 
inning,” Bakich said. “So for us 
to have five different innings 
where we score multiple runs 
was good to see our team do. It 
was great to see some offensive 
explosion and fireworks out 
here.”

Michigan has won seven 

of its last eight games and is 
sailing toward easier parts of its 
conference schedule. If it hopes 
to get into the national rankings 
again, the team will have to keep 
dominating even the midweek 
games.

BASEBALL

E. MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN 

4
18

“It was really 

important to get 

out to a good 
start tonight.”

