Michigan
5-7
Birmingham-Southern
12-6
Four-Run Ninth Inning Gives Michigan Win Over Panthers
3/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- The University of Michigan baseball team battled on defense all game and the offense scored four times in the ninth inning to give the Wolverines a 10-6 win over Birmingham-Southern Saturday morning (March 15) in Winthrop Tournament action.
The game was played in a steady rain and was the only game played on Saturday as the other games were rained out, forcing a change in the tournament schedule. The remaining games will be played as part of a doubleheader on Sunday, with Winthrop facing Northern Illinois at 11 a.m. and Michigan at 2 p.m. Birmingham-Southern is finished with a 2-1 tournament record. The consolation and championship games slated for Sunday will not be played.
Senior RHP Tim Leveque (Northridge, Calif./Crespi HS) highlighted the win by retiring all three batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth to record his first career save. He fanned the first two batters he faced with two on and U-M held on for the win. Leveque lowered his ERA to a team-leading 3.12.
Sophomore LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College) worked the first 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. He left with a 6-4 lead. Sophomore RHP Matt Collins (Bloomfield, Mich./Country Day HS) earned the win. Collins (1-1) allowed two runs to tie the game at 6-6 but then pitched out of a pair of bases-loaded situations in the seventh and eighth innings.
The Wolverines (5-7), who are 1-1 in tournament play, grabbed a 6-0 lead by scoring four runs in the third inning and adding two in the fourth.
Sophomore OF Chris Burhans (Alpharetta, Ga./Marist School) knocked in the winning run with an infield grounder in the top of the ninth and sophomore CF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic HS) followed with a two-run single and senior OF Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS) added the fourth RBI of the ninth inning with a fielder's choice grounder.
The Wolverines scored four times in the third inning as the "Colorado Kids" came through in the third inning on a run-scoring single by senior 2B Jordan Cantalamessa (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and a three-run homer by senior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS). The homer extended Koman's career-best hitting streak to 12 games.
Michigan added two runs in the fourth inning after two outs as sophomore SS Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) -- the third "Colorado Kid" on the squad -- was hit by a pitch, stole second bases and he scored on a single by Butler. Butler advanced to second on the throw home and he scored on a single by Lollio.
Senior LF Adam Pease paced the Birmingham-Southern attack with a triple and a run scored in the fifth inning, and his two-run homer off of Collins to tie the game in the eighth inning. BSC DH Ryan Sciacca had a two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Panthers started their comeback.
With Michigan leading 6-4 in the seventh inning Cantalamessa completed a "tag and throw" 4-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the inning. After Pease tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth inning BSC loaded the bases for the second straight inning, but Collins retired Sciacca on a fly to Butler in center. BSC put two runners on to open the ninth before Leveque entered for the save.
Butler paced the Michigan attack, going 3-for-4 to push his average to .400 on the season, and Koman was 2-for-3.
N O T E S
Assistant coaches John Lowery and Jason Murray "tag-teamed" the win after head coach Rich Maloney was ejected following a seventh-inning argument. Murray handled the duties in the third base coaching box and pitching coach Lowery handled the trips to the mound.
Senior 3B Brock Koman extended his team-leading hitting streak to a career-best 12 games with a three-run homer in the third inning. The homer was Koman's 22nd of his career, tying him for 10th on the U-M career homer list with Derek Besco (22, 1995-98) and Steve Finken (22, 1986-88).
Koman knocked in three runs in the game vs. BSC as he pushed his career total to 139 and moved into ninth on Michigan's career RBI list, snapping his tie with Barry Larkin (136, 1983-85) for 10th and moving ahead of Jeff Jacobson (137, 1980-83).
Koman, who leads the team with 22 hits on the season after the win over BSC, pushed his career hit total to 217, snapping the tie Phil Price (215, 1987-90) for eighth place on Michigan's all-time hit list and moving into a tie with former teammate Scott Tousa (217, 1998-2001) for seventh place. Bobby Scales (226, 1996-99) is sixth on the list.
Michigan's hitting leaders after 12 games include (20 at-bat minimum): senior 3B Brock Koman at .423 (22-for-52), sophomore CF Matt Butler (.400, 8-for-20); junior RF Brandon Roberts (.381, 16-for-42), junior C Jake Fox (.367, 18-for-49), senior 2B Jordan Cantalamessa (.327, 18-for-55), senior OF Gino Lollio (.327, 17-for-52) and senior LF-DH Mike Sokol (.311, 14-for-45).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Collins, Matt (1-1)
L: Tyler Sullivan (0-2)
S: Leveque, Tim (1)
Batting:
HR: Koman, Brock 1
RBI: Lollio, Gino 2 ; Cantalamessa, Jordan 1 ; Koman, Brock 3 ; Burhans, Chris 1 ; Butler, Matt 3
SH: Sokol, Mike 1 ; Butler, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lollio, Gino 1 ; Cantalamessa, Jordan 1 ; Koman, Brock 1 ; Schmidt, Mike 1 ; Fox, Jake 1 ; Wright, Nate 1 ; Rudden, Nick 2 ; Burhans, Chris 1 ; Butler, Matt 1
SB: Rudden, Nick 1
HBP: Lollio, Gino 1 ; Rudden, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: Connor Robertson 1 ; Ryan Griffith 1
3B: Adam Pease 1
HR: Adam Pease 1 ; Ryan Sciacca 1
RBI: Adam Pease 3 ; Michael Cline 1 ; Ryan Sciacca 2
SH: Matt Bogue 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Matt Bogue 1 ; Adam Pease 2 ; Jared Walker 1 ; Ryan Sciacca 1 ; Jonathan Sanford 1
