ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Joe Donovan hit a three-run homer for No. 30 Michigan (31-11, 11-3) with two outs in the bottom of the 10^th inning to thwart Rutgers baseball (17-24, 7-4), 4-1, in extras Sunday at Fisher Stadium. The Scarlet Knights had tied the game in the eighth before reaching extra innings for the fifth time this season.
 
"Tough loss today," head coach Joe Litterio said. "We put ourselves in position to win that ballgame by tying it in the eighth, which shows what we are made of. Michigan had a no-hitter until the seventh, but we broke it up and dented the scoreboard. There were opportunities to score the go-ahead run after that and we didn't take advantage. I thought the guys played hard. Tevin and Serafino both pitched their tails off."
 
Down 1-0 in the eighth, the Scarlet Knights pushed one across the tie the game against Jeff Criswell, who entered the game with a 0.48 ERA in the Big Ten. Senior Tyler McNamara led off with a single before beating a throw to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Victor Valderrama to put two on with no outs. A passed ball followed. Senior Carmen Sclafani next lifted a sacrifice fly for his team-leading 26^th RBI of the season. RU would later load the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning to keep it a 1-1 game.
 
Rutgers also put a runner at second in the ninth with one out and two in scoring position with two down before stranding both.
 
Donovan then hit a three-run homer on a 3-2 count, the ninth pitch of the at bat, to give the Wolverines the victory in 10 innings.
 
Junior Tevin Murray, who brought a 0.78 ERA in conference play to the game, held the top hitting lineup in the Big Ten to one run and three hits over six innings. The left-hander struck out six in the outing. Senior Serafino Brito matched his season high with 3.2 innings of relief to force extra innings.
 
Michigan, who is in first place in the league standings, took a 1-0 lead in the third on a two-out RBI double by Jordan Brewer. Murray and Criswell dealt from there until the Scarlet Knights matched in the eighth.
 
Rutgers had previously been 4-0 in Big Ten series finales this season before the loss.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to Bainton Field to host Rider Wednesday at 3 p.m. The next Big Ten series is at Penn State.
 
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