Michigan
14-26
Eastern Michigan
22-22
Michigan Busts Out Offensively to Drill Eastern Michigan
5/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team pounded out 24 hits and defeated cross-county rival Eastern Michigan 21-7 in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon (May 1) at Ray Fisher Stadium. The Wolverines (14-26) scored five times in the bottom of the third inning to overcome a 3-0 lead by the EMU Eagles (22-22), leader of the Mid-American Conference West Division. Sophomore RHP Bobby Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS), the second of four Wolverine pitchers, worked three innings and gained the win.
EMU scored three runs on five hits in the top of the third inning before the Wolverines rallied in the bottom of the inning. Senior/junior 1B Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS) singled to lead off the third and moved to second on a walk to sophomore 3B Brandon Jominy (Coral Springs, Fla./Westminster Academy). Freshman 2B Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt and run-scoring singles by freshman RF Matt Butler (Glendale Heights, Ill./Driscoll Catholic HS) and junior CF Blake Rutkowski (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) cut the EMU lead to 3-2.
| | Koman |
The Wolverines chased EMU starting pitcher with a strange fifth-inning rally in which Butler and Rutkowski, who each scored three times in the game, started the inning with singles. Koman followed with a line-drive single to left to score Butler and Rutkowski kept running and scored as the ball was misplayed in the outfield. Koman circled the bases on the play, scoring after he was hit with the throw as he was sliding into third and the ball rolled away.
Sokol, who had three hits in the game, had a triple and a single in the seven-run sixth inning that included a two-run single by Rutkowski and a long three-run homer by junior DH Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS). Rudden was hit by a pitch and scored the first run of the six-run seventh inning and he singled later in the inning to close out the Wolverine scoring for the day.
CF Greg Anglin led EMU's 13-hit attack with his 10th homer of the season.
Michigan (14-26, 8-12 Big Ten) will host Ohio State on Friday (May 3, 3 p.m.) with Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) on the mound. Korecky is 3-5 with a 4.46 ERA and has completed five of his eight starts this season.
N O T E S
The last time Michigan had 21 runs was last season in a 21-2 win vs. Michigan State (May 5, 2001) and the last time Michigan had 24 hits was in a 23-2 win vs. Detroit Mercy (March 31, 1999).
Michigan had its two best scoring innings of the season in back-to-back frames vs. EMU with seven runs in the sixth inning and six runs in the seventh. Michigan's previous best had been five runs in an inning six times including the third inning Wednesday vs. EMU.
Michigan has had 20 hits or more twice within a week at Penn State on Friday (April 26) and vs. EMU on Wednesday.
Junior CF Blake Rutkowski's four-hit game vs. Eastern Michigan was the fourth of the year for the Wolverines. Michigan's 2002 four-hit games: Matt Butler at Minnesota (April 7), Bobby Korecky at Michigan State #3 (April 20), Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral) at Penn State (April 26) and Rutkowski vs. Eastern Michigan (May 1).
Junior SS Brock Koman's 3-for-5 game was the 50th multiple-hit game of his career and his homer was the 20th of his career. Koman has hits in 34 of the 40 games played this season and in 76 of the 92 Wolverine games the last two seasons.
Michigan's hitting leaders after 40 games (32 at-bat minimum) include: junior 3B/SS Brock Koman (.375, 54-for-144), senior/junior DH Mike Sokol (.314, 38-for-121), sophomore LF Brandon Roberts (.313, 41-for-131), sophomore C Jake Fox (.310, 31-for-100), junior OF Gino Lollio (.288, 38-for-132) and senior RHP/OF Bobby Korecky (.288, 15-for-52).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garza, Bobby (1-1)
L: Will Stewardson (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Tony Palazzolo 1 ; Chad Jenkins 1
3B: Jesse Cogswell 1
HR: Greg Anglin 1
RBI: Brian Bixler 1 ; Greg Anglin 2 ; Derrick Peterson 1 ; Jesse Cogswell 1 ; Chad Jenkins 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brian Bixler 1 ; Tony Palazzolo 1 ; Greg Anglin 2 ; Derrick Peterson 1 ; Jesse Cogswell 1 ; Chad Jenkins 1
SB: Brian Bixler 1
CS: Ryan Goleski 1
Batting:
2B: Fox, Jake 1 ; Jominy, Brandon 1
3B: Sokol, Mike 1
HR: Koman, Brock 1 ; Lollio, Gino 1
RBI: Butler, Matt 1 ; Burhans, Chris 1 ; Rutkowski, Blake 2 ; Koman, Brock 5 ; Coleman, Alex 2 ; Lollio, Gino 3 ; Jominy, Brandon 1 ; Rudden, Nick 1
SH: Rudden, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Butler, Matt 3 ; Rutkowski, Blake 3 ; Koman, Brock 3 ; Augustine, Dan 1 ; Fox, Jake 1 ; Coleman, Alex 1 ; Lollio, Gino 1 ; Esper, Eric 1 ; Sokol, Mike 2 ; Wright, Nate 1 ; Jominy, Brandon 2 ; Rudden, Nick 2
HBP: Augustine, Dan 1 ; Rudden, Nick 1
PO: Rutkowski, Blake 1
