Michigan
Pepperdine
Pepperdine Turns Walks Into Runs, Edges U-M 3-2
3/5/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site:Â Malibu, Calif. (Eddy D. Field Stadium)
Score:Â #9 Pepperdine 3, Michigan 2
Records:Â U-M (3-3), Pepperdine (15-1)
Next U-M Game:Â Saturday, March 6 -- at Pepperdine (Malibu, Calif.), 1 p.m. PST
MALIBU, Calif. -- The old baseball adage that walking the leadoff batter in an inning will come back to haunt a pitcher was substantiated Friday (March 5) as Pepperdine University slipped past the University of Michigan 3-2 in the opener of a three-game series at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
All three of the Waves' run were scored by players who walked to lead off innings as Pepperdine, 15-1 and ranked ninth in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches poll, tallied single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth and held on for its sixth straight victory. The loss evened Michigan's record at 3-3.
Wolverine starter Bryan Cranson (Bronson, Mich./Bronson HS) allowed just three hits in five-plus innings of work but walked five batters, three of whom came around to score. Pepperdine's runs came around on a run-scoring double from Dane Sardinha in the fourth, a triple by Danny Garcia in the fifth and a two-out single by Dan Bir in the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, U-M senior Bryan Besco (Westland, Mich./John Glenn HS) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and senior Bobby Scales (Roswell, Ga./Milton HS) followed with a walk. The runners moved up a base on senior Dan Sanborn's (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge HS) groundout to the right side and scored on a two-out single by junior Rob Bobeda (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt HS) to cut Pepperdine's advantage to 3-2.
The Wolverines threatened again in the eighth as seniors Brian Bush (Warren, Ohio/Howland HS) and Mike Cervenak (New Boston, Mich./Divine Child HS) rapped back-to-back singles to start the inning. After senior Jason Alcaraz (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS) sacrificed the runners to second and third, Waves reliever Dave Reed struck out sophomore David Parrish (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) and got Besco on a groundout to second.
Jay Gehrke worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his sixth save of the year, preserving the win for starter Brad Tucker (5-0).
The teams will continue their series Saturday (March 6) with 1 p.m. PST contest at Field Stadium.
NOTES
• The game was played in just two hours and 25 minutes as the teams combined for just 11 hits (Michigan 4, Pepperine 7) and played errorless ball.
• Bobby Scales' single in the second inning extended his hitting streak to six games. Scales owns a .348 batting average and is the only Wolverine with at least one hit in each game this season.
• Through six games, Michigan's leading hitter is junior transfer Jay Dines (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS), who is hitting .545. Mike Cervenak and Jason Alcaraz are both batting .423 (11-for-26). Alcaraz leads the club in home runs (2) and runs batted in (9).
