May 7, 2010
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Box Score
| Notes
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome)
Score: Minnesota 14, Michigan 7
Records: U-M (28-16, 9-7 Big Ten), Minnesota (21-26, 9-7 Big Ten)
Attendance: 419
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 8 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 2:05 p.m. CDT
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Michigan baseball team held a fourth-inning lead but dropped the opening game of a three-game set at Minnesota, 14-7, on Friday (May 7) on Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
Sophomore third baseman John Lorenz (Frankfurt, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) and senior catcher Chris Berset (Vienna, Va./Heights School) each had two-hit days with a run batted in each. Fifth-year senior rightfielder Nick Urban (Whitehall, Mich./Whitehall) also had a run batted in on a solo home run in the second inning.
Minnesota struck out the side in each of the first two innings, but the Maize and Blue emerged with a 2-1 lead. Junior leftfielder Ryan LaMarre (Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi) was issued a free pass with two outs in the first inning and, after taking second base on a balk, scored on a softly hit ball up the middle off the bat of Berset. The Gophers left the yard to level the score for a brief time before Urban answered with 402-foot blast to centerfield in the second to put U-M ahead, 2-1.
Michigan picked up its largest lead of the day in the fourth, 3-1, off a Lorenz single up the middle that scored senior first baseman Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) from second base. The Gophers loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with one out, but senior pitcher Eric Katzman (Harrington Park, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan) limited the damage to one run on a sacrifice fly before striking out the final batter of the frame. After being stymied in the fourth, Minnesota came out swinging in the fifth inning with a two-run home run and five singles to take a 6-3 lead. The Gophers tacked on three runs in the sixth and five in the seventh to make it a 14-3 contest.
The Wolverines got four runs back in the eighth, putting the first two runners aboard for Dufek, who skied a sacrifice in front of the warning track in left to score Berset from third. After Urban was hit by a pitch, senior third baseman Mike Kittle (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) sliced a ball through the right side to score one and an errant relay allowed the second runner to score. Kittle scored on a wild pitch to cap the rally.
The two teams will be back on the carpet at the HHH Metrodome tomorrow (Saturday, May 8) at 2:05 p.m. CDT.
N O T E S
• Senior C
Chris Berset was 2-for-4 for his team-leading 25th multi-hit game this season.
• Sophomore 3B
John Lorenz was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, giving him 12 multi-hit games this season and 18 for his career.
• Senior 1B
Mike Dufek collected his team-leading 18th double of the season.
• Senior 3B
Mike Kittle was 1-for-1 with a run-scoring, pinch-hit single. It was his single-season, career-best 20th run batted in on the season.
• Fifth-year senior
Nick Urban hit his third home run of the season in the second inning, matching his single-season high set during the 2009 season.
• Urban's home run gave him 31 runs batted in on the season, besting his previous high of 30 set during the 2009 campaign.
Contact: Ryan Sosin (734) 763-4423
