Baseball Beats No. 17 Michigan, 4-2

Saturday, April 24

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Rutgers University

13-13, 13-13

Michigan

19-8, 19-8

Rutgers

Michigan

Photo by: Eric Miller

Apr 24 | Baseball

Box Score Statistics

Wereski matches career high with 7.2 innings pitched in victory

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Behind a career-high 7.2 innings with only one earned run allowed from Ben Wereski and a three-run double in the sixth inning by Richie Schiekofer, Rutgers baseball (13-13) defeated No. 17 Michigan (19-8), 4-2, Saturday at Fisher Stadium. The victory forced a rubber game in the series and marked the Scarlet Knights' first road win over a ranked Big Ten opponent since joining the conference.

"Ben really locked in there and was locating very well," head coach Steve Owens said. "He stayed ahead of hitters and generated a lot of weak contact, only four hits allowed. Michigan is a good hitting team and he pitched through them very effectively. We needed that type of length, he's been super all year."

Wereski retired 11 of the last 12 batters faced, striking out six with four hits and two walks allowed. The left-hander lowered his ERA to 2.79 and WHIP to 0.89, which leads the Big Ten. The 7.2 innings signaled his most as a Scarlet Knight and matched a start against Yale with Columbia in 2019.

Nate McLain stranded an inherited runner in the eighth and worked around a single and walk with one down in the ninth for his second save.

"Nate is a pretty calm dude," Owens said. "He is very consistent and throws strikes. I didn't think he was as electric as he's been in the past, but made the pitches needed to get outs. You don't always need to strike out everyone. It was really nice for him to get the save for Ben."

Offensively, RU posted four runs in the sixth for support. Schiekofer provided the go-ahead, three-run double and Jordan Sweeney followed with an RBI single. Both Chris Brito and Kevin Welsh recorded two hits in the attack.

"Richie has been getting more hits lately, but not driving in runs," Owens said. "We need him to continue to produce like that. It was a huge hit. And then, it was also big for Sweeney to follow with bringing in the fourth run."

The victory snapped Michigan's six-game winning streak. Rutgers entered the day 0-7 at Fisher Stadium and 0-16 on the road against ranked Big Ten opponents.

"This puts us back at .500," Owens said. "We're trying to teach competitiveness. Today, there were plenty of opportunities to give in, we booted a few balls, made some mistakes, but hung in there and kept playing. It was great to see the energy at the end of the game. It was a really good win for our program and gives us a chance to win another road series."

.@rschiek10 on approach: "It was just to get something in play early in the count so I could have a chance to drive some runs in, and get some runs for Ben. He pitched really well again, you can always count on him to get the job done."#RBaseball #TCD pic.twitter.com/lmlwg6ZG34
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2021

SCORING

B5 | The Wolverines took advantage of an error and walk to start the inning and pushed two across without a hit.
T6 | The Scarlet Knights quickly responded with a four-spot on four hits to take the lead. Evan Sleight led off with a single, Ryan Lasko walked and Danny DiGeorgio laid down a bunt single to load the bases and force a pitching change. After a strikeout, Schiekofer laced a three-run double to left-center. Sweeney followed with an RBI single the other way to make it 4-2.

UP NEXT

The series finale and rubber game is scheduled for Sunday at noon. Watch on Big Ten Network+ or listen on ScarletKnights.com.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (@RutgersBaseball), Instagram (@rutgersbaseball) and Facebook (/BaseballRU). For additional updates, please download the Scarlet Knights App via the app store or play store.