Rich Maloney isn't quite ready to proclaim his Michigan pitching staff has reached the point where it needs to be.

But after Eric Katzman made his second straight impressive start and the Wolverines' bullpen allowed only three hits over four innings in a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame on Tuesday night, Maloney senses his collection of arms is getting closer.

The timing couldn't be better. Halfway through the season, the Wolverines (23-12) are locked in a first-pace tie for the Big Ten lead.

With Katzman inching closer to being weekend ready and Michigan's weekday relievers showing more promise, wins like Tuesday's at Ray Fisher Stadium suggest Maloney's staff is prepared to factor into Michigan's push for a league crown.

On Tuesday, Michigan's defense provided near-flawless support as the Wolverines improved to 11-1 at home.

"Pitching and defense got it done tonight and we haven't had a lot of those," Maloney said. "But it's huge because we're going to need more of those later this year."

Katzman laid the foundation, scattering only four hits over five innings while only allowing one run. Despite sporting a earned run average of 6.00, Katzman is beginning to regain his form after undergoing off-season hernia surgery. He mixed his pitches well while surrendering only a fifth-inning RBI sacrifice fly to protect an early lead.

Despite giving up the run, that fifth inning may have been Katzman's most telling. After loading the bases with a pair of walks and hitting a batter, Katzman escaped the jam with an inning-ending strikeout of Mick Doyle to leave with a two-run cushion intact.

"It a scenario like that, you just have to walk off the mound and focus on the next pitch," Katzman said. "You can't worry about why the bases are loaded - you've already made a few bad pitches and you just need to throw the pitch you need to. I was able to do that."

Michigan's offense gave Katzman a three-run cushion to work with, scoring a pair of fourth-inning runs, the second of which came in on Mike Kittle's RBI single. The Wolverines took an early an advantage one inning before when Derek Dennis beat the throw to the plate on Anthony Toth's run-scoring single to right field.

That proved to be enough for Katzman and the three relievers that followed despite the Irish keeping things close the rest of the way.

Notre Dame (15-20) cut the deficit in half in the eighth. Doyle doubled and scored on a pinch-hit RBI single by David Casey. The Irish had the tying run on base but a perfectly-delivered strike to second base from catcher Chris Berset caught Casey stealing before Billy Brockford grounded out.

Matt Gerbe finished the win off, pitching 1.2 innings, including a perfect ninth inning to preserve Michigan's latest home win. Despite seeing much of their action during weekday non-conference games, Katzman, Travis Smith, Kyle Clark and Gerbe all proved they may soon be ready to be thrown into the Big Ten mix.

"They're all getting there," Maloney said. "You can see their confidence is getting better and that's only going to help us on later in the season when we're going to need them."

Notes: Senior catcher Chris Berset extended his hitting streak to 20 games after collecting a sixth-inning single in Tuesday night's win. The school record is 27 games...Tuesday's meeting was the first time Michigan has faced Notre Dame in Ann Arbor since 1977.

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by e-mail at jeffarnold@annarbor.com.