Michigan
3-3
South Florida
5-6
Nine-Run Eighth Boosts South Florida Past Michigan
3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TAMPA, Fla. -- Host South Florida exploded for three homers and had a nine-run eighth-inning rally to gain a split in the mid-week baseball series with the University of Michigan, winning 13-8 Thursday night (March 1) at Red McEwen Field.
The first six innings featured a pitching duel between Michigan junior RHP Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) and USF freshman RHP Jon Uhl as the righthanders each allowed just three hits. Uhl fanned nine in his six innings of work and Michigan scored twice off the Bulls in the seventh inning.
Korecky (0-1) entered the seventh inning with the 2-0 lead and he had retired seven straight batters and 15 of 16. However USF (5-6) scored four times in the seventh and Korecky took the loss.
Three of the USF runs scored on a bad-hop single over third base by Daniel Boyd that turned into a three-run play on a three-base error, giving the Bulls the lead. USF's junior RF Bill Nahorodny homered later in the inning to tag Korecky with the run that cost him the loss.
The Wolverines cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the eighth, but USF put the game away with nine runs off three Michigan pitchers. Home runs accounted for six of the runs as senior Rick Stegman blasted a pinch-hit grand slam and two batters later RF Mike Barclay hit a two-run homer.
Michigan (3-3) scored five times in the ninth inning to create some late excitement as the team combined for 21 runs on 23 hits in less than three full innings after just six hits (three each) in the first six frames.
Sophomore 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) paced Michigan's 14-hit attack (all singles) with three hits and sophomore LF Jordan Cantalamessa (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and freshman RF Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) each had two hits.
Senior 2B Scott Tousa (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) went 0-for-4 in his bid to extend his hitting streak to 23 games, but he did knock in a run that gave Michigan its 2-0 lead in the seventh inning.
Michigan heads to Melching Field at Conrad Park in DeLand, Fla., to face Stetson (10-1) Friday night (March 2, 7 p.m.) in a rematch of Tuesday's (Feb. 27) 4-1 Hatters win in Lakeland. Stetson, ranked 23rd in the nation in the ESPN/Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll, has won 10 straight since losing the season opener to South Florida.
Senior RHP Vince Pistilli (Highland, Ind./Highland HS) is scheduled to make the start against Stetson All-American LHP Lenny DiNardo (2-1, 3.05 ERA, 20.2 innings pitched). Pistilli (0-1, 5.40 ERA) worked 6.2 innings while taking the loss to Western Michigan by a 4-2 score on Sunday (Feb. 25). Pistilli with a 9-11 career record is tied with senior RHP Bryce Ralston (Tacoma, Wash./Curtis HS) as the active leaders in career wins (Ralston is 9-1).
N O T E S
Michigan had seven straight hits in the ninth inning including three consecutive pinch-hit singles to open the ninth inning by sophomore OF Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS), redshirt freshman OF Eric Esper (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge HS) and freshman SS Brandon Jominy (Coral Springs, Fla./Westminster Academy). The singles for Esper and Jominy were first career hits as Wolverines.
Michigan had 26 hits in the two-game split at South Florida.
Scott Tousa had at least one hit in 22 straight games before going 0-for-4 in the second game at USF. He now has hits in 34 of his last 37 games, while Bill LaRosa extended his streak to 15 games.
The Michigan pitching staff's ERA jumped from 3.13 to 4.83 after giving up 13 runs in the last two innings.
Michigan's hitting leaders (for players with more than one game played) after six games are: sophomore 3B Brock Koman (.407, 11-for-27); senior 2B Scott Tousa (.375, 9-for-24); junior 1B Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS) at .364, 8-for-22; sophomore LF Jordan Cantalamessa (.300, 3-for-10) and senior SS Bill LaRosa (.294, 5-for-17).
Koman is the only Wolverines with hits in each of the first six games, and LaRosa has hits in all five games he has played.
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shannon Royal (1-1)
L: Korecky, Bobby (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Tousa, Scott 1 ; Sokol, Mike 1 ; Koman, Brock 1 ; Roberts, Brandon 1 ; Cantalamessa, Jordan 1 ; Trzos, Jeff 1 ; Wuerfel, Jason 1
SH: Ghannam, C.J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Esper, Eric 1 ; Jominy, Brandon 1 ; Sokol, Mike 1 ; Koman, Brock 2 ; Cantalamessa, Jordan 1 ; Fox, Jake 1 ; Lollio, Gino 1
SB: LaRosa, Bill 1
CS: Ghannam, C.J. 1
Batting:
2B: Mike Cunningham 1 ; Myron Leslie 1 ; Mike Eylward 1 ; Evan Brannon 1
HR: Rick Stegbauer 1 ; Bill Nahorodny 1 ; Mike Barclay 1
RBI: Myron Leslie 2 ; Mike Eylward 1 ; Daniel Boyd 1 ; Rick Stegbauer 4 ; Bill Nahorodny 1 ; Mike Barclay 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mike Cunningham 2 ; Myron Leslie 1 ; Chris Cuccia 1 ; Mike Eylward 2 ; Daniel Boyd 2 ; Rick Stegbauer 1 ; Justin Holmes 1 ; Bill Nahorodny 1 ; Mike Barclay 1 ; Evan Brannon 1
CS: Mike Cunningham 1
