Michigan
Minnesota
Seniors Lead Michigan to Big Ten Tourney Crown
5/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Bill Davis Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Conference Tournament (Championship Round)
Score: Minnesota 13, Michigan 10; Michigan 12, Minnesota 11
Records: Michigan (32-28), Minnesota (44-16)
Next U-M Game: Thu-Sun., May 28-30 -- at NCAA Regional (TBA)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After a 10-year wait, the University of Michigan baseball team is going back to the NCAA Championship tournament.
Led by its senior class, Michigan defeated Minnesota 12-11 on Sunday (May 23) in the championship game of the Big Ten Conference Tournament to earn the league's automatic NCAA berth. The Wolverines (32-28) were pushed to the limit by the Golden Gophers (44-16), who beat Michigan 13-10 in the first championship game to hand U-M its first loss in the double-elimination event.
In the second game, senior Jason Alcaraz's (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS) bases-loaded single -- his fifth hit of the game -- with nobody out in the ninth drove home the deciding run, making a winner of senior J.J. Putz (Highland, Ind./Highland HS). Putz (6-4) picked up his second victory of the tournament as he allowed just one hit while pitching the last two innings.
Michigan jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and held an 11-6 advantage after five, but Minnesota got a three-run homer from Matt Scanlon in the sixth and tallied two more runs in the eighth to tie the game at 11-all.
Pinch hitter Kevin Quinn (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) led off the Wolverines' ninth with a walk, and back-to-back sacrifice-bunt attempts by Scott Tousa (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) and senior Bobby Scales (Roswell, Ga./Milton HS) went for a hit and an error, respectively, to load the bases. Alcaraz followed with a flyball over the drawn-in outfield to drive in the winning run and give U-M its first Big Ten Tournament title since 1987.
Senior Bryan Besco (Westland, Mich./John Glenn HS) went 3-for-4 with a two-run double in the first inning and a two-run home run -- his sixth of the year -- in the fourth. Scales, who was 4-for-4 in the opener, collected two hits in four at-bats in the second game, scoring three times and driving in three.
In the first game, Michigan picked up an unearned run in the first and got three in the third on Brian Bush's (Warren, Ohio/Howland HS) RBI single and David Parrish's (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) two-run double to lead 4-0. However, the Golden Gophers plated four runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings and added a single run in the fourth to take a 13-7 lead.
The Wolverines chopped the lead down to 13-10 with three runs in the eighth inning, the last two coming on senior Mike Cervenak's (New Boston, Mich./Dearborn Divine Child HS) double. The rally ended, however, when Cervenak tried to advance on an overthrow and was gunned down at third base, the Wolverines were retired in order in the ninth.
The NCAA Championship's 64-team field and regional assignments will be announced on Monday (May 24) at 3 p.m. EDT in a show on ESPN. The four-team, double-elimination regionals will be contested Friday through Sunday (May 28-30) at 16 campus sites.
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||||
| Michigan (31-28) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 1 | ||||
| Minnesota (44-15) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 13 | 15 | 4 |
Michigan -- Bryan Cranson, Bobby Korecky (5), Nick Alexander (5), Joe Young (7), Jeff Trzos (7) and Mike Seestedt. Minnesota -- Mike Kobow, Vince Gangl (6) and Josh Holthaus, Jeremy Negen (8). W -- Kobow (2-0). L -- Cranson (2-5). HRs -- Michigan, Mike Cervenak (8); Minnesota, Josh Holthaus (7), Aron Amundson (13).
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||||
| Minnesota (44-16) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 3 | ||||
| Michigan (32-28) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 19 | 1 |
Minnesota -- Jason Shupe, Aron Amundson (4), Frank Wagner (5) and Josh Holthaus. Michigan -- Ryan Kelley, Vince Pistilli (4), J.J. Putz (8) and David Parrish. W -- Putz (6-4). L -- Wagner (4-5). HRs -- Minnesota, Matt Scanlon (9), Jack Hannahan (9), Jason Kennedy (9); Michigan, Bryan Besco (6).
N O T E S
• The Wolverines placed five players on the all-tournament team, led by Most Oustanding Player Bobby Scales (second base). Also voted to the squad were pitcher J.J. Putz, third baseman Mike Cervenak and outfielders Jason Alcaraz and Brian Bush.
• In the tournament, Bryan Besco went 9-for-18 (.500) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight runs batted in. He had a slugging percentage of 1.167.
• Michigan had three doubles in the first game and two in the nightcap to give the Wolverines a school-record 136 two-baggers this season. The old record was 133 in 1997. In the last eight games, U-M has recorded 27 doubles.
