Nittany Lions Win Pitchers Duel Over Wolverines

Friday, April 28

State College, Pa.

3:00 PM

Michigan

15-22-1, 6-11

Penn State

31-10, 12-4

Michigan

Penn State

4/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State topped Michigan 3-1 in the opener of the four-game Big Ten Conference baseball series Friday afternoon (April 28) at Beaver Field behind the pitching of junior Peter Yodis (6-1) and the hitting of RF/1B Chris Wright (3-for-3 including game-winning hit).

The host Nittany Lions (32-9, 12-4 Big Ten) tied the school record for wins and moved into a tie for first place with Minnesota. Penn State will end Friday in first alone or back in second place depending on the result of the Minnesota (12-4) game vs. Michigan State in Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, Mich., Friday night.

Michigan (15-22-1, 6-11 Big Ten) is fighting at the other end of the standings. The Wolverines are seventh in the standings chasing Northwestern for the sixth and final Big Ten playoff spot while trying to stay ahead of Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State.

Penn State's Wright was 3-for-3 in the series opener with a pair of doubles. His two-run double in the sixth inning snapped a scoreless tie and turned out to be the game-winning hit. Wright's 20 doubles ties the PSU single-season record for doubles. The Nittany Lions added an insurance run on a bases-loaded single by LF Mike Campo in the seventh inning as he extended his hitting streak to 20 games, tying his own school record.

Penn State junior RHP Yodis gained the win over the Wolverines, pitching 7.2 innings and allowing seven hits but just one run (unearned) while striking out four and walking four. PSU junior LHP Scott Russo earned his fifth save of the year, working the final 1.1 innings.

Michigan junior LHP Nick Alexander (Alpena, Mich./Alpena HS) was the hard-luck loser as he worked seven innings in the loss. Alexander's record fell to 2-2 and his ERA dropped to 4.07 in the loss.

Michigan had several chances to score on Yodis, but the Penn State defense had the answers most of the time, aided by three double plays in the win. In the first inning tri-captain Kevin Quinn (Midland, Mich./Midland HS), who reached base three times in the game, walked and was erased on a double play just before junior catcher David Parrish (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) hit a long double.

In the sixth inning with the game still scoreless freshman 2B Jordan Cantalamessa (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) singled, freshman CF Blake Rutkowski (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) singled and Quinn walked. However, both Cantalamessa and Rutkowski were caught trying to steal second base and the Wolverines never had more than one runner on base in the inning.

Michigan reached the scoreboard and chased PSU starter Yodis after two outs in the eighth inning when Quinn singled to center and junior SS Scott Tousa (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highland HS) singled, bringing leading hitter Parrish to the plate. Parrish reached first as his hard grounder to third was bobbled for an error and Yodis was removed with the bases loaded for lefty Russo to face lefty swinging senior LF Rob Bobeda (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt HS). Bobeda beat the odds with a run-scoring single to left, but Russo fanned freshman DH Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) to end the inning.

Michigan brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning as junior/sophomore OF C.J. Ghannam (Farmington, Mich./Harrison HS) reached with a pinch single with one out, but Cantalamessa grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Michigan continues the weekend series with a doubleheader Saturday (April 29, 1 p.m.) with Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) and Vince Pistilli (Highland, Ind./Highland HS) as the scheduled pitchers. Korecky is 4-1 (3.59 ERA) and Pistilli is 4-4 (3.80 ERA).

N O T E S

David Parrish, 1-for-4 vs. Penn State, leads the team in hitting (.368), hits (46), homers (8), RBI (30), slugging (.632) and on-base percentage (.445). Parrish is hitting .467 (28-for-60) in Big Ten play with a 17-game conference hitting streak.

With his first-inning double, David Parrish has hit doubles in five consecutive games at Penn State's Beaver Field over the past two seasons.

Michigan's leading hitters (minimum 75 plate appearances) after Friday's opener at Penn State include: David Parrish (.368, 46-for-125); senior OF Rob Bobeda (.303, 43-for-142); junior SS/2B Scott Tousa (.293, 41-for-140); freshman 1B/3B/DH Brock Koman (.292, 38-for-130); and senior 3B Kevin Quinn (.292, 28-for-96).

Michigan starting pitcher Nick Alexander helped his cause in the game, twice picking off Penn State RF/1B Chris Wright off second base.

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423