Korecky Throws One-Hitter as Wolverines Split with Iowa

Saturday, May 13

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

20-30-1, 10-16

Iowa

17-35, 9-17

Iowa

Michigan

Korecky Throws One-Hitter as Wolverines Split with Iowa

5/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich., (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 3-2, Iowa 0-3
Records: U-M (20-31-1, 10-17 Big Ten); Iowa (18-35, 10-17 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, May 14 -- vs. Iowa (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore RHP Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) flirted with a no-hitter, leading the University of Michigan baseball team to a 3-0 shutout win over Iowa in the first game of Saturday's (May 13) doubleheader with the Hawkeyes. Iowa (18-35, 10-17 Big Ten) took the second game of the twinbill by a 3-2 score to move back into a tie for seventh place in the Big Ten Conference with the Wolverines (20-31-1, 10-17 Big Ten).

Korecky faced just one batter over the minimum to record his second shutout of the season, and he lowered his ERA to 3.39. Iowa 1B Brad Carlson broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh inning after Korecky had fanned SS Kurt Vitense for his sixth strikeout of the game. Korecky bounced back to get a popout from 3B Ian Mattiace to end the game.

Iowa starter Chad Blackwell, who tossed a perfect game against Northwestern earlier this season, held the Wolverines scoreless until the sixth inning. Senior/junior SS Bill LaRosa (Rochester, Mich./Adams HS) opened the sixth with an infield single and he moved to second on a groundout. Senior LF Rob Bobeda (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt HS) drew an intentional pass, but Blackwell's attempted pickoff play at second base resulted in an error, putting runners on second and third. Freshman DH Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Sophomore 1B Jeff Trzos (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS) lofted a fly ball to short left for a sacrifice fly as LaRosa scooted home with the eventual winning run and the other runners advanced on the throw to the plate. Junior/sophomore RF C.J. Ghannam (Farmington, Mich./Harrison HS) singled in Bobeda with the second run and Ghannam (second) and Koman (home) pulled off a double steal for the final run.

The second game featured another excellent pitching matchup with Ryan Prahm (6-2) for Iowa and junior RHP Vince Pistilli (Highland, Ind./Highland HS) for the Wolverines. The contest was scoreless until the fifth inning when Carlson doubled in two runs for Iowa, but Michigan countered with two runs after two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Freshman CF Blake Rutkowski (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) doubled and scored on a single by Tousa. Tousa scored his team-leading 38th run on a fly-ball double by freshman 2B Jordan Cantalamessa (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) to tie the game 2-2.

Iowa put three singles together to lead off the seventh against Pistilli, with SS Vitense knocking in the winning run. Senior LHP Bryan Cranson (Bronson, Mich./Bronson HS) put out the fire as he entered with runners on first and second with no outs, but the damage was done. Cranson fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt by Carlson and forced 2B Brian Burks at third, then picked Vitense off second base and retired Mattiace on a fielder's choice.

Iowa's Carlson, who broke up Korecky's no-hitter, was 4-for-6 in the doubleheader and had four consecutive hits before his sacrifice bid off Cranson was turned into the 1-5 fielder's choice in the seventh.

Michigan closes out the season with a 1 p.m. single game vs. Iowa on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 14) with freshman LHP Rich Hill (Milton, Mass./Milton HS) on the mound for the Wolverines. Hill is 1-3 with a 7.98 ERA and leads the Wolverines with 49 strikeouts in 38.1 innings.

N O T E S

Sophomore RHP Bobby Korecky's one-hitter was his fourth complete game in five Big Ten starts and lowered his conference-only ERA to 1.95. In overall action Korecky is 5-3 with a team-leading total of five complete games.

Korecky's one-hitter was the first for a Wolverine pitcher since J.J. Putz one-hit Purdue on the road (3/24/96). Putz gave up the hit to Bill Bennett with two outs in the sixth inning in a 12-0 win.

Michigan's last one-hitter in Ray Fisher Stadium was thrown by RHP Matt Ferullo vs. Illinois (4/1/95). Tom Sinak collected a single to lead off the seventh inning in a 9-0 Michigan win.

The previous one-hitter in Ray Fisher Stadium was thrown by Minnesota's Ben Birk earlier this season (3/25/00)in a game that junior catcher David Parrish (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) had Michigan's lone hit, a single in the fourth inning of an 8-0 Gopher win.

The last time a Wolverine tossed a no-hitter was RHP Ron Hollis over Michigan State (4/3/94) in Fisher Stadium, a 4-0 Wolverine win.

Michigan's top three starters rank 1-2-3 on the team in ERA after three games of the Iowa series, with junior LHP Nick Alexander (Alpena, Mich./Alpena HS) leading with a 3.10 ERA followed by Korecky (3.39) and Pistilli (3.86). The ERAs of the trio in Big Ten play are Korecky (1.95), Alexander (3.31) and Pistilli (4.58).

Junior 2B Scott Tousa (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader vs. Iowa. He singled in the first inning of the opener and singled in the third inning of the second game as he extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Tousa has hits in 24 of his last 25 games. Tousa leads the team with 64 hits and is batting .335 overall and .386 in Big Ten play. Tousa has a 17-game Big Ten hitting streak.

Junior catcher David Parrish had his second double-digit hit streak of the season snapped at 10 games. Parrish had hits in 29 of his last 32 games before going 0-for-6 in the doubleheader vs. Iowa.

Michigan's leading hitters (minimum 110 plate appearances) after Saturday's doubleheader vs. Iowa include: David Parrish (.347, 59-for-170); junior SS/2B Scott Tousa (.335, 64-for-191); senior OF Rob Bobeda (.308, 56-for-182); freshman 1B/3B/DH Brock Koman (.290, 51-for-176); and senior 3B Kevin Quinn (.279, 36-for-129).

Michigan stayed alive in the race for the Big Ten playoffs until Saturday when the Northwestern 11-6 win over Penn State became official. The Wolverines had to win all four from Iowa while Northwestern lost four to Penn State. Michigan won 6-2 on Friday, but Northwestern held an 11-6 win over Penn State when the rains hit in Evanston, Ill., and forced the game to be suspended until Saturday. When NU retired PSU in the top of the ninth the Wolverines were eliminated.

Michigan's win in the opener vs. Iowa was the 20th of the season. The last time the Wolverines did not win at least 20 games was in 1974 when Michigan was 18-14-1.

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423