By Jason Kohler | The Michigan Daily, U. Michigan

Record: 45-12
Coach: Rich Maloney (6th season)
NCAA history: 21st appearance; 2 championships (1953, 1962)

Overview

The Wolverines are having a season for the record books. They won the Big Ten regular season championship for the third year in a row with more wins than any team in conference history. Michigan has shown it can win with both its pitching and its bats. Zach Putnam and Chris Fetter are a strong 1-2 punch in the rotation, though UM has struggled to find consistent third and fourth starters. Mike Wilson was an all-Big Ten pick last season, but hasn’t started in a month because he kept putting his team in a hole. Nate Recknagel, Kevin Cislo, Jason Christian and Adam Abraham are the big thumpers. And though the Wolverines are 2-5 against top 100 RPI teams, they lost just two starters from the team that made the super regionals last season.

1B/C Nate Recknagel
.372, 55 R, 23 HR, 68 RBI, 157 TB, .758 SLUG, .466 OBP

Nate Recknagel is a man you pitch around. Earlier this month, the senior broke a 22-year-old Michigan record for most home runs in a season. He more than doubled his career HR total this season and needs three more to tie the program’s career record, also set in 1988. And this is just his third season with the Wolverines. Recknagel played his freshman year at Oakland before transferring to Michigan. At Oakland he was named to the Louisville Slugger freshman all-America team as a utility player. Against the higher competition at Michigan , his numbers only got better. Recknagel not only hits for power, but also has averaged over .350 every season as a Wolverine. He usually starts at first base, but has shown versatility moving to catcher when Maloney wants to go with more of a power line up, inserting Mike Dufek at first.

RHP/DH Zach Putnam
8-0, 2.64 ERA, 71.2 IP, 74 K, 21 BB
.309, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 102 TB, .543 SLUG, .398 OBP

Putnam was an all-Big Ten selection last season at both pitcher and designated hitter. Last year the junior from Ann Arbor shined in the biggest game of his career, pitching eight hitless innings against Oregon State in the super regional before taking a 1-0 loss in the ninth. This season he has dropped his ERA from 3.87 and won each of his eight decisions. In early May, Putnam sat out five games with a severe case of strep throat. He blasted two home runs in his first game back and allowed one run in five innings the next day.

And another thing …

Senior captain Derek VanBuskirk is nicknamed “Hollywood” for his All-American good looks.