Wolverines Hit Four Home Runs in Sweep of Penn State

Saturday, April 26

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

20-17, 8-8

Penn State

15-20, 9-9

Penn State

Michigan

4/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 4, Penn State 2; Michigan 6, Penn State 5
Records: U-M (21-17, 9-8 Big Ten), PSU (15-21, 9-10 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, April 27 -- vs. Penn State (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior centerfielder Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS) blasted a long two-run homer in the sixth inning to provide the University of Michigan baseball team with a 6-5 victory in the nightcap of Saturday's (April 26) Big Ten doubleheader vs. Penn State and sweep on the day. Senior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) and junior catcher Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS) supplied the power in the opener, snapping a 2-2 tie with back-to-back home runs in the 4-2 win for the Wolverines (21-17, 9-8 Big Ten).

Lollio registered a single, a double, a triple and a homer in the doubleheader sweep.

The sweep pushes Michigan into a third place tie in the Big Ten standings with Northwestern (9-8) as the Wildcats have taken the first three games from Illinois. Penn State (15-21, 9-10 Big Ten) dropped from fifth to sixth place with the two losses Saturday.

Lollio set up his game-winning homer in game two with his arm as he combined with redshirt freshman catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) on an 8-2 double play with Kunkel making a bang-bang tag on pinch runner Brett Showalter to keep the Nittany Lions from adding an insurance run in the top of the sixth.

Sophomore shortstop Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) led off the bottom of the sixth for the Wolverines with a pinch single, and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman 2B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS). Lollio stepped to the plate to face PSU reliever Arin Gelletly and drove his first pitch deep over the fence in left-center for the winning 6-5 margin.

Redshirt freshman LHP Ali Husain (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ypsilanti HS), who had entered the game in the sixth inning replacing senior RHP Tim Leveque (Northridge, Calif./Crespi HS), worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts to record his second win of the season.

Penn State had grabbed a 4-0 lead in the second inning of the second game off sophomore starter RHP Michael Penn (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian HS) with LF Wes Reohr capping the rally with a two-run homer, his team-leading seventh round-tripper of the season.

The Wolverines bounced back, scoring three runs in the third inning on one hit as senior LF Jordan Cantalamessa (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) hit his seventh homer of the year following a HBP (Koman) and a walk (Fox).

The Wolverines tied the game 4-4 in the fourth as Lollio hit a triple to the gap in right-center and scored on a sacrifice fly by fifth-year senior 1B Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS).

Penn State second-game starter Aaron Tressler fanned eight in his 5.1 innings and he allowed five runs. Gelletly (0-3) took the loss.

In the opener junior RHP Bobby Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS) pitched his team-leading third complete game as he allowed seven hits and fanned five. Garza (5-1), who retired the final nine batters, recorded his team-high fifth win and raised his team-leading strikeout total to 42.

The Wolverines took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the opener as Lollio drilled a double down the third base line and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Rudden. Lollio scored when Koman reached on a throwing error, and Fox singled in Koman for the 2-0 lead. Penn State catcher Matt Harter hit his fifth homer of the year in the fourth to cut the lead in half, and the Nittany Lions tied the game in the top of the fifth on a run-scoring single by 1B Clint Eury.

PSU starter Josh Palm retired Rudden to open the bottom of the fifth, but Koman slammed his seventh homer of the year to left, and two pitches later Fox hit his team-leading 11th homer to left center. Fox leads the Wolverines with his 11 homers and 45 RBI, while Koman (41 RBI) and Cantalamessa (40 RBI) share second on the team with seven homers.

The Wolverines had several defensive gems in the doubleheader, with catchers Fox (in the opener) and Kunkel (in the nightcap) each picking a runner off base. Kunkel's pickoff came at third base with two outs in the fifth inning to keep the Wolverines within a run at 5-4.

Kunkel threw out PSU CF Zack Smithlin attempting to steal for only the second time all season in the fourth inning of the second game. Smithlin later stole his 19th base of the season to tie the PSU career stolen base record (57).

In the sixth inning 2B Scheidt made a great recovery as he collided with PSU Derrick Barr as he covered first base on a bunt play. Barr was credited with a single, but Scheidt bounced up, found the ball and threw a strike to Kunkel to tag out the speedy Smithlin trying to score all the way from second base on the play.

The Michigan-Penn State series concludes Sunday (April 27, 1 p.m.) with a nine-inning Big Ten single game at Ray Fisher Stadium. Sophomore RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS), who is 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA, is listed as the probable starter for the Wolverines.

N O T E S

In other Big Ten action Saturday, Minnesota swept Indiana 5-1 and 5-3, Ohio State blanked Purdue 6-0 and 4-0, and Northwestern swept Illinois by scores of 7-3 and 4-1. Michigan State and Iowa split two games, with the host Spartans taking the opener 11-3, while Iowa took the second game 4-1. With the sweeps Minnesota remains on top and Ohio State is second, but Michigan and Northwestern used sweeps to vault from a tie for seventh to a tie for third place.

Big Ten Standings (after Saturday's Games)

 1. Minnesota 14-2 .875 2. Ohio State 11-6 .647 3. MICHIGAN 9-8 .529 Northwestern 9-8 .529 5. Indiana 9-9 .500 6. Penn State 9-10 .474 7. Purdue 8-9 .471 8. Illinois 8-11 .421 9. Michigan State 5-12 .294 10. Iowa 5-13 .278

When Wolverines Brock Koman and Jake Fox hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning of Saturday's opener it marked the first back-to-back blasts since current Wolverines Gino Lollio and injured fifth-year senior 1B Nate Wright (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew HS) pulled off the feat last season vs. Iowa (March 30, 2002) at Fisher Stadium.

Saturday was Graduation Day and seven Wolverines graduated, including Jordan Cantalamessa, Nate Wright, Gino Lollio, Mike Sokol, Brock Koman, Alex Coleman (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) and Tim Leveque.

Senior CF Gino Lollio had a psuedo-cycle in the doubleheader sweep, doubling in the first game and going 3-for-4 with a single, triple and homer in that order in the second game to go 4-for-8 for the doubleheader. The 3-for-4 game was Lollio's 45th career multiple-hit game and his eighth three-hit game.

Senior 3B Brock Koman's two hits pushed his career total to 255 to pull him ahead of Jim Paciorek (254 hits, 1979-82) into fourth on the U-M career hit list. Koman added to his U-M career record in the second game when he was hit by a pitch for the 43rd time.

Koman's 2-for-3 game in the opener on Saturday was his 73rd career multiple-hit game as a Wolverine.

Michigan's hitting leaders after 38 games include (45 plate appearances minimum): senior 3B Brock Koman at .397 (60-for-151), sophomore SS Nick Rudden (.393, 33-for-84), DH/OF/1B Mike Sokol (.366, 48-for-131), junior C Jake Fox (.365, 50-for-137) and senior OF Gino Lollio (.340, 50-for-147).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423