YPSILANTI - All through the Michigan baseball team's doubleheader rampage over Eastern Michigan yesterday, a two-game set it won 11-4 and 9-1, the Wolverines' scorching offense was more consistent than it has been all season.

But the most consistent aspect of the afternoon was the number seven.

It had been seven days since Michigan (4-0 Big Ten, 18-6 overall) took the field with a chance to get closer to their 40-win goal, and the break took some time to wear off.

"We were rusty in game one," Michigan coach Rich Maloney said. "We didn't play very well. Defensively we weren't sharp, our pitching wasn't sharp and we didn't execute early to score some runs when we could have. And that was kind of to be expected since we hadn't played in a while."

What Maloney saw as rusty didn't show up the same way on the scorecard.

The Wolverines managed 15 hits, led by sophomore Zach Putnam's two home runs and four RBI.

Keeping with a season-long trend, Michigan had one huge inning. The sixth inning began with Eastern Michigan (9-14 overall, 6-1 Mid-American Conference) down just one, 5-4.

By the end of the frame, the lead was 11-4 - the seven-run margin held to the end.

The inning, which featured 11 Wolverines stepping to the plate, began with a single by senior Brad Roblin. Following a diving catch by the Eagles' leftfielder Jeff Davis to rob junior Nate Recknagel of a hit, Putnam sent one of his bombs over the rightfield wall to make the score 7-4.

After Adam Abraham made the second out of the inning on an acrobatic play by the Eastern Michigan third baseman, seven more Wolverines came to the plate and scored four more runs, led by Roblin's two-run single.

After a 30-minute break between games, the teams took the field to play the nightcap during a game that Maloney took a different approach to the mound.

In the nightcap, Michigan needed just one pitcher - Mike Wilson.

The Pickering, Ontario, native pitched no-hit ball and walked just two batters in his five innings of work in an outing Maloney called splendid.

The no-hitter would have been much more impressive had Wilson gone deeper into the game, but Wilson was on a short leash in preparation for this weekend's four-game series against Ohio State, and Maloney pulled him after five innings.

When asked about his performance, Wilson made it clear it wasn't a one-man show.

"Once again, my offense just gave me a big lead again right off the bat and it just makes my job a whole bunch easier," Wilson said. "I have one of the best defenses behind me and they just make all the plays. I give all the credit to them."

There was one player both Wilson and Maloney were quick to commend for the sophomore's five-strikeout performance - catcher Chris Berset.

Offensively the freshman had a brilliant day, going 3-for-4 from the plate and finding holes as Maloney pointed out. But he received praise for his defense, too.

"Chris Berset today was just a wall," Wilson said.

Said Maloney: "What I was most impressed with, he had two blocks on strikeout pitches that were nasty from Wilson. And Wilson needs to have confidence to be able to throw them and for a catcher to block those."

One of Maloney's goals was to get the pitching staff ready for this weekend's series.

"We had to get guys in there to get 'em back," Maloney said. "I didn't want to go into the Ohio State series having guys that hadn't played in two weeks, basically, 10 days."

That would explain why four Michigan pitchers took the mound in the day's first game. Senior Andrew Hess, sophomore Chris Fetter and sophomore Michael Powers each pitched two innings before sophomore Ben Jenzen closed the game with two emphatic strikeouts.

All four pitchers will most likely see significant action this weekend.

Offensively, Berset was just a fraction of the team's firepower that would produce nine runs on 13 hits in the second game.

And the team wasted no time beginning the hit borage.

Sophomore Jason Christian hit a single on the game's first pitch off pitcher Corey Chaffins, who wears the number seven.

The Loveland, Ohio, native, started a three-run inning in which the Wolverines sent seven batters to the plate.

At that point, it was obvious Michigan's offensive wasn't hurt by the seven-day break.

The combined hitting and pitching efforts put the team in good spirits after the game. But with a weekend series against its archrival just around the corner, it would be easy for Michigan to forget about its game today against Toledo.

But, Wilson and his teammates have other ideas.

"We got Toledo today, which we lost to last year," Wilson said. "So we got to get a little bit of redemption there."

Even more, a win against Toledo would further delay the team's seventh loss of the season for yet another day.