Yesterday the Michigan baseball team put Western Michigan in its place.
Behind strong pitching and a strong defensive performance, the Wolverines (2-2 in the Big Ten, 12-9 overall) squeaked out a 3-1 win over the Broncos and their starting pitcher Eric Place at Ray Fisher Stadium.
On a team that usually wins with its hitting, the Wolverines relied on the arms of their young pitching staff. Starting sophomore pitcher Brian Berryman, in his first career start, went five innings, allowing four hits, one run and two walks, while fanning three batters.
Freshman Bryan Cranson took over in the sixth for two innings of work and was replaced by sophomore Ryan Kelley for the eighth. Junior Tyler Steketee closed out the game, allowing one hit and earning his second consecutive save. On the whole, the pitching staff allowed one run on six hits.
"What I was most pleased with were the young pitchers," Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said. "They kept the ball down like they hadn't been doing, and they needed the work. They threw very well. They mixed their pitches up, and we held them down."
Surprising for Michigan was the performances of its hitters. They had only three runs on nine hits, which is uncharacteristic of a team with a .435 batting average going into its game with the Broncos.
Designated hitter Bobby Scales and starting catcher Mike Haskell replaced in the eighth inning by freshman Andrew Miller, were the only Wolverines to get extra base hits. Each hit a double, Haskell's coming in the fourth and Scales' coming in the sixth. In addition, 12 runners were left on base for Michigan.
"We didn't hit the ball like we can," Zahn said. "We didn't get the clutch hits today, like we can. But it was a tough day to hit with the wind coming in from right. We hit some balls pretty well that got caught, and we hit some balls right at people."
Although Zahn is not concerned about the team's hitting, or lack thereof, against the Broncos, others were. Before the bottom of the sixth inning, a team meeting was called by Michigan assistant coach Chris Harrison on the field.
"Coach Harrison was talking about hitting," Zahn said. "We were going after too many high, outside pitches and hitting them the other way. We were ahead in the count and not waiting for a pitch that was down in the zone. We were trying to tell them to be a little bit more selective, especially when they're ahead in the count.
"We need to do that. I think the Bescos (Bryan and Derek) are struggling a little bit, so they're a little bit anxious at the plate. (Mike) Cervenak's anxious at the plate, so we just want to be a little more selective."
The same wind that was detrimental to the hitters was helpful to the pitchers.
"(The wind) helped both sides of pitchers," Zahn said. "There wasn't going to be anything hit out of here today, unless it was down the left-field line. That lends itself to lower scoring games. What I was happy about was that we got a lot of ground-ball outs today."
On tap for the Wolverines is defending Big Ten champion Penn State. The Nittany Lions (11-10) come to Ann Arbor for a four-game series this weekend, including a 3 p.m. Friday game, a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m. Sunday game. The probable starting rotation for the weekend is junior Brian Steinbach, as well as sophomores J.J. Putz, Luke Bonnor and Pete Martay.
"It's a big weekend for us," Zahn said. "Penn State is picked to finish first, and they came in here last year and took three out of four. We need to play very well, and this is going to tell us a lot about our team for the Big Ten."
WARREN ZINN/Daily
For a team that was hitting as well as Michigan had been, it was a nice surprise for the Wolverines to see starting pitcher Brian Berryman help hold Western Michigan to one run on six hits.