Fans at Ray Fisher Stadium can hear “I’ve got that fire,” a lyric of Lil Wayne’s song “Fireman”, blasting over the speakers when freshman infielder Travis Maezes steps to the plate.

And they see the fiery play when Maezes takes the field.

That passion was on display several times when the Michigan baseball team (4-2 Big Ten, 16-14 overall) swept Michigan State (2-4, 17-11) in a three-game series this weekend.

Trailing the Spartans by three in the fifth inning on Friday with two outs and runners on second and third, Maezes lined a triple into the gap. As Maezes slid safely into third, the ball squirted away from a Spartan infielder and he scurried home to score on the play.

“I saw coach waving me to third, and then he was telling me, ‘down, down, down,’ so I dove in,” Maezes said. “All of a sudden, I hear my name and I look up and see the ball rolling toward first-base foul area so I took off and I made it home.”

Maezes, visibly fired up, was met by his teammates outside the dugout. His enthusiasm seemingly carried over to the rest of the team, as the Wolverines came from behind to win the game. In addition to the triple, Maezes added two more hits, collected three RBIs and scored twice in the game.

Maezes was back at it again on Saturday as he led off the bottom of the first with a triple. After getting up from a slide, he screamed and gave Michigan coach Erik Bakich a push.

“I came up there, I wasn’t trying to do too much, I got a pitch I could handle,” Maezes said. “It started off with a triple and just kind of kept going and going and kind of hit (Michigan State) in the mouth.”

Maezes finished Saturday with another hit and another run as well as two walks. He also hit a deep fly ball to left-center field that the centerfielder ran down, but failed to make the catch. Though it was recorded as an error, a run scored and a runner moved to third and later scored.

In the series finale, Maezes recorded a hit and scored a run to help earn the sweep against Michigan State. The Ann Arbor native noted that playing a rival provided the team with more motivation.

“It’s huge,” Maezes said. “It’s our in-state rival, there’s nothing you have to say.”

Maezes has carried an especially hot bat in the last eight games, recording 12 hits, two doubles and one triple, while only committing one fielding error in 35 chances. The Wolverines have gone 6-2 over the past eight games.

While the freshman has been in the lineup every single game for Michigan, his position and spot in the batting order have fluctuated. Maezes started the first eight games of the season at third base before moving back to his natural position of shortstop for the last 22 games. Maezes also started the year batting third in the order, but an injury to senior Patrick Biondi — the Wolverines lead-off hitter — caused Maezes to move to the lead-off role.

If this changing atmosphere wasn’t enough of a challenge for the freshman, getting acquainted with college baseball hasn’t been easy either. Though he played on one of the best travel teams in the region last summer, Maezes still had some changes he needed to make.

“There’s definitely things you have to adjust to,” Maezes said. “Every at-bat, every pitch, it’s just more of adjusting on the fly.”

For opponents, it should be scary knowing that Maezes has done this amount of damage while still adjusting to college baseball. If he gets any hotter, opposing teams might just have to call in a fireman to cool him off.