YPSILANTI – The Michigan baseball team powered its way through its game against Eastern Michigan in more ways than one yesterday afternoon. An 11-3 win is impressive, but the development of a few pitchers could pay dividends for the Wolverines down the line.

This season, Michigan expects to be guided by its starting rotation. But it might be a freshman and a newly converted relief pitcher who make a surprising impact.

The Wolverines (11-5) won easily at Eastern Michigan’s Oestrike Stadium, sparked by an eight-run third inning.

The matchup featured two freshman starting pitchers. In five innings, Michigan’s freshman starter Brandon Sinnery allowed just two runs and struck out three batters, even though he had base runners threatening in scoring position throughout the game. His performance was good enough to record his first collegiate victory.

Eastern Michigan freshman pitcher Jordan Glover’s day would be much shorter as he worked less than three innings and was charged with all eight of the Wolverines’ third-inning runs (six earned).

Michigan ended the game with junior first baseman and reliever Mike Dufek on the mound. Maloney said he was glad to give Dufek some work and liked how hard he was throwing, but admitted the junior wasn’t as crisp as Maloney would have liked. Dufek allowed a single and walk to start the inning before striking out the next three batters to close out the game.

Last Saturday, Michigan was the victim of a six-run third inning against Arizona in the midst of being swept by the Wildcats in the three-game series. On Tuesday, the Wolverines had a big third inning of their own.

In the third inning, senior tri-captain Kevin Cislo had two doubles off of Glover to chase him out of the game. Cislo finished 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and three runs scored.

“It was good to get that (big inning) so that everybody could feel good again, because we didn’t really feel good this past weekend,” Maloney said.

Sinnery continued to remain in control even though Eastern was getting on base. After a leadoff single in the bottom of the third, Sinnery turned and picked off the Eastern Michigan base runner. But in the fourth inning, Sinnery’s control faltered. After allowing a one-out double, he hit the next batter. A single and a sacrifice fly later, Eastern had two runs on the board.

Sinnery said he had been working on his changeup recently, and it seemed to be keeping batters off balance after he threw his fastball.

“It was nice to have three pitches today instead of just (being) dominant with slider and fastball,” Sinnery said.

The Wolverines made solid defensive plays behind Sinnery which saved several Eagle runs from scoring.

In the second inning, sophomore shortstop Anthony Toth made a backhanded grab on a sharply hit groundball heading away from second base. Toth jumped and made a quick throw to second base to save a run.

“The defense has to be a staple for us,” Maloney said. “Reality is, we got to play good defense, and we got to pitch well. And today, we did those two things.”

Bouncing back with a win after last weekend’s disappointment was important for the Wolverines. But Sinnery’s performance might have been just as important as Michigan looks for its first-year players to continue to improve and settle into a starting role.

“I thought Brandon Sinnery was excellent today, which was very encouraging,” Maloney said. “Because we think he is a guy that can really help us, and might have to do it sooner than later. … We needed that from somebody.”