Weekly Release #12
5/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, May 14 -- at Eastern Michigan (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 7 p.m.
Friday, May 16 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 3 p.m. EST/CDT
Saturday, May 17 -- DH at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 3 p.m. EST/CDT
Sunday, May 18 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 1 p.m. EST/CDT
Wed-Sat., May 21-24 -- at Big Ten Tournament (Site TBA)
Playoff-Bound Michigan Travels to EMU and Purdue
The University of Michigan baseball team (28-21, 15-11 Big Ten) faces another mid-week battle with a Mid-American Conference West leader, facing Eastern Michigan (May 15) before closing out the Big Ten regular-season schedule with a weekend series at Purdue (May 16-18).
Michigan will advance to the Big Ten Tournament next weekend (May 21-24) at either Minnesota or Ohio State after taking three of four games from Northwestern last weekend (May 9-11). The Wolverines, winners of 15 of last 21 games in overall action, have moved into sole possession of third in the conference standings by winning 12 of 17 Big Ten games.
Michigan heads across town to Ypsilanti, Mich., to meet Eastern Michigan (26-23, 15-9 MAC West) under the lights at Oestrike Stadium on Wednesday, (May 14, 7 p.m.). The Wolverines then travel to Purdue (25-25, 10-17 Big Ten) for a series at Lambert Field that includes nine-inning single games on Friday (May 16, 3 p.m. EST/CDT) and Sunday afternoon (May 18, 1 p.m. EST/CDT). The series includes a pair of seven-inning games in Saturday's (May 17, 1 p.m. EST) doubleheader. U-M has a 98-47-2 series edge over EMU and a 117-41 edge over Purdue.
Purdue, tied with Illinois for seventh in the conference, enters the weekend having split four games with Indiana. The Boilermakers host Eastern Illinois in a non-conference game Wednesday (May 14).
Eastern Michigan shares the MAC West lead with Western Michigan with a 15-9 mark after taking three of four from Northern Illinois. Ball State at 14-9 visits WMU while EMU heads to Ohio for the final weekend. Michigan topped EMU 11-9 April 2 in a game played in Michigan's Ray Fisher Stadium.
Coaching Matchups
First-year Michigan head coach Rich Maloney, in his eighth season as a head coach, enters the Purdue week with an overall coaching mark of 284-165-1 (.632), including seven years at Ball State. His Michigan record is 28-21 (15-11 Big Ten). Maloney, who made his Big Ten debut at Iowa, was 141-60 (.701) in seven years in the Mid-American Conference with a pair of championships. Maloney, who spent six seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization has a 24-5 edge over Eastern Michigan and is 6-7-1 vs. Purdue.
Roger Coryell is in his 16th season as the head coach at Eastern Michigan and he enters the week with a career coaching mark of 423-443-2. Coryell, who has been with the EMU program for 35 years, earned three letters as a pitcher at EMU (1968-70) and later served as an assistant coach to EMU legend Ron Oestrike before taking over as head coach in 1988.
Doug Schreiber, in his fifth season as head coach at Purdue, enters the week with a coaching mark of 140-134 with the Boilermakers, including the 25-25 start this season. A four-year starter for Purdue (1983-86), Schreiber served as an assistant coach at Arizona State (1995-98), Notre Dame (1994) and Butler (1993) before taking the Purdue job in 1998.
Coaching Connections
Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber has connections with the Wolverines "old and new" through the years as he played second base for the Adray Sound summer baseball team in 1983 that played in Michigan's Ray Fisher Stadium and Wolverine All-American Barry Larkin was the shortstop.
Schreiber played at Purdue when current Wolverine head coach Rich Maloney was at Western Michigan and the teams met in 1983 and 1984 with WMU holding a 4-2 edge in the six games. Purdue was 4-12 vs. Michigan from 1983-86.
Schreiber started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ball State in 1991-92 and Maloney started his head coach career at Ball State in 1996. Maloney has a 6-7-1 record vs. Purdue, and Schreiber is 1-4 vs. Michigan and has a 3-2 edge over Maloney.
Who Are These Guys Again (Part 2)
For the second straight weekend the Wolverines meet a Big Ten foe on a campus for the first time this century as Michigan plays at Purdue's Lambert Field for the first time since 1997.
Last week Northwestern appeared at Fisher Stadium for the first time since 1997. Both Purdue and Northwestern dropped off Michigan's schedule after the 1997 and did not return until last season (2002), with the Boilermakers playing in Ann Arbor for the first time since 1991 -- back when current St. Louis Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny was a Wolverine regular.
The Wolverines have played Purdue on the road once since 1997, but it was in Columbus, Ohio, during the 2001 Big Ten Tournament. The Michigan-Purdue series, which missed just once from 1958 to 1993 (rained out in 1967), has featured regular-season series only twice since 1993 (1996 and 1997, both at Purdue). Amazingly, Michigan and Purdue, Big Ten East Division partners from 1981 through 1987, were not scheduled in 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Big Ten Weekend Schedule (May 16-18)
The Michigan at Purdue series is one of the five Big Ten series played Friday through Sunday (May 16-18) to close out the regular season. The other conference series include Iowa at Illinois, Northwestern at Indiana, Ohio State at Minnesota, and Penn State at Michigan State.
Minnesota needs one win to clinch the Big Ten title and host the six-team Big Ten Tournament next weekend (May 21-24). Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern and Penn State have qualified for the playoffs and Indiana needs one win to clinch the final playoff position with Purdue and Illinois still having a chance to qualify.
Big Ten Standings (through 5/11/03)
1. Minnesota 21-5 .808 2. Ohio State 19-9 .679 3. Michigan 15-11 .577 4. Northwestern 14-12 .538 5. Penn State 15-13 .536 6. Indiana 14-14 .500 7. Purdue 10-17 .370 Illinois 10-17 .370 9. Michigan State 8-17 .320 10. Iowa 8-19 .296
Wolverines Seek Fifth Series Win
Michigan closes the regular season with a series at Purdue having won four Big Ten series for the first time since 1996 when then first-year head coach Geoff Zahn led the Wolverines to the playoffs at Penn State. The Wolverines have taken Big Ten weekend sets in 2003 at Iowa, vs. Michigan State, at Ohio State and vs. Northwestern. In 1996 U-M took series from Purdue, Minnesota, Northwestern and MSU.
The Wolverine record for winning Big Ten series is seven when the 1989 squad went 21-6 and won each series played. The Big Ten expanded to four-game weekend series in 1981 in a divisional format that included four conference weekends (16 games). The Big Ten dropped division play and expanded to seven weekends (28 games) in 1988 and went to eight weekends (32 games) in 2002.
Maloney Second Fastest ... So Far
First-year head coach Rich Maloney enters the Purdue weekend with a 15-11 conference record and needs two wins to tie the Wolverine record for fastest coaching start in Big Ten play. Heading back seven coaches, dating back to Ray Fisher in 1921, the fastest start belongs to Geoff Zahn with 17 wins in 1996.
Fisher set the early first-year mark with 10 in 1921. Don Lund won five games in 1959 and Moby Benedict won seven games in 1963. Bud Middaugh set a new mark with 14 wins in 1980 and Bill Freehan matched it with 14 in 1990. The Wolverines were not in the Big Ten when Branch Rickey made his debut in 1910 or when Carl Lundgren started in 1914, although in his first year in the Big Ten Lundgren won nine games and the Big Ten title in 1918.
Tentative Wolverine Pitching Rotation
The tentative starting four pitchers for the Wolverines in the series at Purdue this weekend includes sophomore RHP Michael Penn (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian HS), sophomore LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College), junior RHP Bobby Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS) and sophomore RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS), however, the order is not set at this time: Tentative Wolverine starters (alphabetical order):
Bobby Garza (RHP, 5-2, 4.59 ERA) is scheduled to make his 12th start of the season and 14th career start for the Wolverines. He has made 28 career appearances. He leads the team with 48 strikeouts and is third with 66.2 innings. He took the loss in his last start vs. Northwestern, working 7.1 innings allowing just two earned runs in the 8-3, extra-inning defeat. He pitched 6.1 innings in a no-decision at Ohio State #2 (May 3), allowing six hits and four runs (three earned) in an eventual 5-4 U-M win. He fanned three vs. OSU to move team-leading total to 45 Ks. He pitched his team-leading third complete game of the season vs. Penn State (April 26) in which he allowed seven hits and two runs and retired the last nine in a row. He pitched his first career shutout and second complete game in beating Michigan State 12-0 in the third game of the series (April 19). He allowed six hits and fanned four vs. MSU. He recorded his first career save April 16 vs. Oakland, recording two bases-loaded strikeouts in ninth inning. He suffered his first loss of the year in his start in the series opener vs. Illinois (April 11), working 5.2 innings. He allowed seven hits and just one earned run with five strikeouts in the eventual 5-3 loss. He pitched 0.2 innings out of the bullpen with two strikeouts vs. Minnesota #2 (April 6). He pitched a career-best seven innings in his first career complete game to beat Iowa (March 30) by a 9-5 count, allowing seven hits. He went 4.1 innings vs. Central Michigan (March 23), allowing seven hits and four runs in a no-decision. He went 7.1 innings at Winthrop (March 16) to earn his second win of the season, allowing five hits and five runs and striking out five in the 8-5 win. He collected 'M's first win of the season as he worked then career-best 6.2 innings vs. Rider (Feb. 23), allowing three hits and one run. He worked 2.1 innings at Oklahoma #3 (March 9), allowing four runs in a no-decision. He owns an 8-4 career record with wins over Penn State, MSU, Iowa, Winthrop, Rider, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Detroit Mercy and losses to Northwestern, Illinois, UC-Riverside and WMU. He went three innings in the final game of spring trip in his second start and third appearance of the trip vs. Bethune-Cookman #2 (March 1), leaving with a 4-3 lead.
Michael Penn (RHP, 2-7, 5.35 ERA) is scheduled to make his 12th career start as a Wolverine and 15th appearance at Purdue. He is second on the team in strikeouts (46) and innings pitched (69) and shares second with 11 starts. He pitched his first nine-inning complete game in the 9-3 win in the opener vs. Northwestern (May 9) after allowing all three runs and three of the hits in the first five batters of the game. He recorded a strikeout at Western Michigan (May 6), working one-third of an inning. He suffered another hard-luck loss in start vs. hometown Ohio State Buckeyes (May 2), pitching 6.1 innings and leaving in 1-1 tie but was responsible for runner on first in 2-1 loss. He allowed three hits and the two runs vs. OSU and had five strikeouts but took seventh loss of season. Penn pitched 4.2 innings in a no-decision vs. Penn State (April 26), allowing five hits and four earned runs in an eventual 6-5 U-M win. He pitched 3.1 innings in losing the series opener at Michigan State (April 18), allowing nine hits and eight runs (five earned). He worked 6.2 innings in the second game of the Illinois series (April 12) and took the loss, 8-7. He allowed eight runs, six earned and had five strikeouts. He retired nine straight before giving up three hits in the seventh inning. He threw the opener of the two-game series vs. Minnesota (April 6), pitching 6.1 innings and taking the loss, allowing nine hits and nine runs. Penn pitched Michigan's first complete game and shutout of the year in his start at Iowa, winning 4-0 (March 30). Penn fanned a team-high eight and did not allow a walk. Penn lost to Western Michigan (March 22) in the Butler Classic. He pitched 7.1 innings and allowed three runs (just one earned) and left the game trailing 3-2 in an eventual 6-2 loss as he fanned five while allowing five hits. He took the loss vs. Northern Illinois in the Winthrop Tournament (March 14), allowing six hits in 5.2 innings, but only three of the seven runs he allowed were earned. He suffered his first loss at Oklahoma (March 8), allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out a then Wolverine season-high six. He worked four innings in his first U-M start at Stetson (Feb. 26), leaving with a 3-2 lead. Penn notched his first career save as Wolverine at Bethune-Cookman (March 1), retiring both batters he faced (one strikeout) to close out the 7-5 win. Touted as one of the top newcomers in the Big Ten in 2003 by Baseball America, he was 1-1 at Ball State in 2002 with 16 appearances.
Drew Taylor (LHP, 7-1, 4.42 ERA) enters Purdue series with three straight winning starts over Northwestern, Ohio State and Notre Dame and would be making his team-leading 13th start and 15th appearance with Wolverines at Purdue. Pitched first career shutout vs. Northwestern (May 10), allowing three hits with three strikeouts in seven innings. Pitched 7.2 innings in win at Ohio State (May 4), allowing eight hits and four runs with career-high seven strikeouts for team-leading sixth win. Pitched 5.2 innings and allowed eight hits and three runs in win over Notre Dame (April 29) for fifth win. He pitched 7.1 innings in a no-decision in start vs. Penn State (April 25), allowing 10 hits, no walks and four earned runs in an eventual 6-5 loss. He pitched his second straight complete game in beating MSU 2-1 in the second game of the series (April 19), allowing eight hits but no walks while fanning three. He pitched Michigan's first nine-inning complete game in beating Illinois 4-3 on April 13. He allowed Illinois 11 hits but just three runs while striking out six and walking none. He pitched 0.2 innings vs. Minnesota #2 (April 6) in his second bullpen outing at Michigan. In his previous start he went 1.2 innings at Iowa (March 29) and suffered his first loss. Iowa scored seven runs, just four earned, in the second inning and won 9-6. Taylor struck out the side in the first inning at Iowa. He went 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits and five runs (two earned) in a win over Butler (March 21). Taylor pitched 6.1 innings in a no-decision vs. Birmingham-Southern (March 15) in a game U-M won 10-6 as he allowed seven hits and four runs before leaving the game with a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning. He worked 4.1 innings in the opener at Oklahoma (March 7), allowing six runs on seven hits and recording two strikeouts in an eventual 16-12 win. Taylor earned his first win with 8.1 innings of work against Bethune-Cookman (March 1), allowing five runs on six hits. He fanned five and did not walk a batter in the win. He made his Michigan debut with a no-decision against Georgia Tech (Feb. 23). He has two of the longest outings of the season 8.1 vs. Bethune-Cookman and nine innings vs. Illinois and leads the team in innings pitched (77.1). Taylor had one start and closed out a win in a non-save situation vs. Auburn as a freshman at Georgia Tech in 2002, and he gained experience pitching against Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida State.
Phil Tognetti (RHP, 6-3, 3.21 ERA) is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season and 10th career start in the Purdue series in his 23rd appearance as a Wolverine. He is second on the team lead in wins (6). He worked 8.1 innings in 3-1 win vs. Northwestern (May 11), allowing eight hits and getting five double plays in the win and dropping team-leading ERA to 3.21. He allowed four hits and one run (unearned) in 5.2 innings of 3-1 win at Ohio State (May 3). Suffered loss in start vs. Penn State (April 27), allowing two earned runs in 6.2 innings. He earned his second win of the week by pitching his first complete game in the series finale at Michigan State (April 20). He allowed seven hits and did not allow an earned run until two outs in the ninth inning. He earned his third win of the season by pitching five innings in a win over Hillsdale (April 16), allowing four hits and an unearned run. He lasted less than three innings in his start vs. Illinois (April 12), allowing six runs (three earned) in 2.2 innings. He worked four innings of a no-decision in his start vs. Minnesota #2 (April 6) as he left with a 6-4 lead in the fifth inning in a game won by the Gophers in extra innings. He earned his second win in a week as he pitched then career-best 6.2 innings in his first Big Ten start to beat Iowa (March 31). He allowed nine hits and two runs while striking out seven and allowing no walks vs. the Hawkeyes. He earned his first career win with 5.1 innings of one-hit shutout relief vs. Central Michigan (March 25). He took the loss in the season opener at Armstrong Atlantic (Feb. 21).
Big Ten Pitching Breakdown
The foursome of starting pitchers Michael Penn, Drew Taylor, Bobby Garza and Phil Tognetti have combined to make all 26 Big Ten pitching starts for the Wolverines, with Penn leading the way with four starts in openers. Penn (4), Taylor (2) and Garza (1) have started first games and all four have made starts in the second games of the series: Penn (2), Garza (2), Taylor (2) and Tognetti (1). Garza (3), Tognetti (2) and Penn (1) have made the six game-three starts and Tognetti (4) and Taylor (2) have the six fourth-game starts. Weather cut the Minnesota series to two games, a doubleheader played on a Sunday.
Michigan is 1-6 in series openers but 14-5 in the other three games. The Wolverines are 5-2 in game two, 4-2 in game three and 5-1 in game four. In conference action U-M is 1-4 on Friday, 7-4 on Saturday, 6-3 on Sunday and 1-0 on Monday.
Taylor Adds to Wins Lead With Shutout
Sophomore LHP Drew Taylor enters the Purdue weekend as the team leader in wins (7) after collecting his first career shutout with a three-hitter vs. Northwestern (May 10). Taylor notched his third complete game as a Wolverine in the second game of the series in which he retired the first nine batters, had four 1-2-3 innings and faced four batters in two other innings. Taylor (7-1) leads the Wolverines in wins (7), starts (12) and innings pitched (77.1) and has the most wins for a Wolverine since Bryce Ralston was 8-1 on the 1999 team that captured the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, and saw NCAA regional action.
Penn Gains Fisher Win
Michigan's hard-luck starting pitcher Michael Penn enters the series at Purdue having doubled his win total with his first win as a Wolverine at Ray Fisher Stadium. Penn moved his record to 2-7 with his second complete game win as he tossed a six-hitter in beating Northwestern 9-3 in the series opener (May 9). The win was Penn's first nine-inning complete game as a Wolverine, and he allowed three runs on three hits after just five batters in the first inning. He settled down and allowed just three singles in the next 8.1 innings. Penn had four 1-2-3 innings and faced the minimum three batters in two innings in which the U-M defense turned double plays. He retired the last seven Wildcats to close out the win.
"Every Day" Leveque Has Light Week
Senior RHP Tim Leveque (Northridge, Calif./Crespi HS), who had appeared in seven consecutive games and in eight in a row in games which the bullpen has been used, enters the Purdue week after having light week as the Wolverines tossed a couple of complete games against Northwestern (May 9-11). Leveque faced seven batters in the third game of the series vs. the Wildcats, but he made up for it with a five-pitch, one-batter save in the series finale, getting a double-play grounder to close out the 3-1 win. Leveque leads the staff with 22 bullpen outings, has pitched 27 innings and leads the bullpen with 25 strikeouts and four saves. His 4.00 ERA is second on the team among pitchers with more than 25 innings.
Koman Eyes 30 Homers
Senior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) enters the final week of the regular season one shy of the 30-career homer mark. Koman hit his 29th career round-tripper in the first inning at Western Michigan (May 6) and edged to within one homer of the top five on the Wolverine career homer list. Koman is one shy of the three-way tie for fifth place with Chris Sabo (30, 1981-83), Mike Cervenak (30, 1996-99) and Bryan Besco (30, 1995-99).
Meanwhile, junior catcher Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS), the team leader with 11 homers in 2003, is on the edge of the U-M career top 10 at 24.
U-M Career Home Run Leaders
| RANK, PLAYER (YEARS) | GAMES | HRs | |
| 1. | Casey Close (1983-86) | 229 | 46 |
| 2. | Phil Price (1987-90) | 229 | 33 |
| | Ken Hayward (1982-85) | 234 | 33 |
| 4. | Jim Paciorek (1979-82) | 197 | 32 |
| 5. | Bryan Besco (1995-99) | 207 | 30 |
| | Mike Cervenak (1996-99) | 214 | 30 |
| | Chris Sabo (1981-83) | 171 | 30 |
| 8. | Brock Koman (2000-present) | 206 | 29 |
| 9. | Barry Larkin (1983-85) | 168 | 26 |
| 10. | David Parrish (1998-2000) | 138 | 25 |
| 11. | Jake Fox (2001-present) | 144 | 24 |
Koman Continues Career Chart Climb
Senior Brock Koman enters the Purdue weekend continuing his movement up several career offensive charts. Koman collected a pair of game-winning RBI in the Northwestern series, giving him a share of the team lead for the season with four "gamers" and pushing his career total to 19. Koman enters the Purdue week in fourth place on the 'M' career hit list with 266 needing one hit to tie Ken Hayward (267 hits, 1982-85) for third place while Jason Alcaraz (272 hits, 1996-99) is six ahead in second place.
With 182 career RBI heading into the action this week Koman needs one RBI to tie Jim Paciorek (183 RBI, 1979-82) for fourth on the all-time U-M RBI list, and close behind are Casey Close (185 RBI, 1983-86) in third place and Mike Cervenak (187 RBI, 1996-99) in second place.
Koman pulled into a third place tie with Ken Hayward (427, 1982-85) on the career total bases list and trails Alcaraz (449, 1996-99) by 22 for second place. With 206 games played Koman could be seventh on the list as the Purdue series begins as he should tie Bryan Besco (207 games, 1995-99), who ranks seventh, in the mid-week game at Eastern Michigan.
U-M Career Hit Leaders
| RANK, PLAYER (YEARS) | GAMES | HITS | |
| 1. | Mike Cervenak (1996-99) | 214 | 293 |
| 2. | Jason Alcaraz (1996-99) | 213 | 272 |
| 3. | Ken Hayward (1982-85) | 234 | 267 |
| 4. | Brock Koman (2000-present) | 206 | 266 |
U-M Career RBI Leaders
| RANK, PLAYER (YEARS) | GAMES | RBIS | |
| 1. | Ken Hayward (1982-85) | 234 | 207 |
| 2. | Mike Cervenak (1996-99) | 214 | 187 |
| 3. | Casey Close (1983-86) | 229 | 185 |
| 4. | Jim Paciorek (1979-82) | 197 | 183 |
| 5. | Brock Koman (2000-present) | 206 | 182 |
U-M Career At-Bat Leaders
| RANK, PLAYER (YEARS) | GAMES | AT-BATS | |
| 1. | Mike Cervenak (1996-99) | 214 | 831 |
| 2. | Jason Alcaraz (1996-99) | 213 | 788 |
| 3. | Brock Koman (2000-present) | 206 | 756 |
U-M Career Total Bases Leaders
| RANK, PLAYER (YEARS) | GAMES | TB | |
| 1. | Mike Cervenak (1996-99) | 214 | 456 |
| 2. | Casey Close (1983-86) | 229 | 449 |
| 3. | Brock Koman (2000-present) | 206 | 427 |
| | Ken Hayward (1982-85) | 234 | 427 |
Sokol Doubles "D" Totals, Adds Doubles Too
Fifth-year senior Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS) enters the Purdue week after hitting three doubles and more then doubling his defensive totals from the past week. Sokol, who made 43 putouts and collected four assists in five games a week ago, had 45 putouts and seven assists in the weekend series vs. Northwestern. Sokol has taken the team putout lead with 211, one more than his fifth-year 1B partner Nate Wright (Tinley Parl, Ill./Andrew HS). Sokol, who went 4-for-5 in the opener vs. Northwestern with two doubles, has two of Michigan's four four-hit games this season. Sokol had three doubles in the series to grab the team lead with 18, and he moved his career total to 44 doubles, which ranks ninth on the U-M career doubles list.
Butler "Does It" Again
Sophomore OF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic HS) enters the Purdue week as the regular rightfielder for the past couple of weeks after earning his chance to start by performing as the top hitter off the bench. Butler went 5-for-8 (.625) in the series vs. Northwestern with two sacrifice bunts and one sacrifice fly and on defense threw a runner out at the plate in the first inning of Sunday's (May 11) 3-1 Michigan win. Butler is hitting .292 (19-for-65) for the season and collected a pair of game-winning RBI when he entered the lineup in the Ohio State series (May 2-4).
Schmidt Collects Singles and Steal
Freshman LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) enters the Purdue series after collecting his first two Big Ten hits in Ray Fisher Stadium in the series vs. Northwestern (May 9-11). Schmidt had a pinch single in the opener of Saturday's (May 10) doubleheader and started the second game and was 1-for-2 with a run-scoring single and a stolen base. Schmidt does things in fives as he has five hits, five RBI and is 5-for-5 in stolen bases attempts.
More Miscellaneous Notes
The Wolverines turned nine double plays and allowed runs in just four of 33 innings in the weekend series vs. Northwestern. NU scored five runs in the eighth inning for an 8-3 extra-inning win in the second game Saturday (May 10).
The Wolverines turned five double plays in the 3-1 win over Northwestern in the series finale (May 11).
Sophomore shortstop Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) participated in six of the nine double plays in the series and in four of the five in Sunday's 3-1 win.
The five double plays were the most in a game for the Wolverines since tying the Big Ten record of six in the series opener at Penn State last season (Apr. 26, 2002), and Rudden, playing second base in the Penn State game a year ago, had a hand in five of those twin killings, giving him a spot in nine of the 11 in the two top DP games the past two seasons.
Michigan has won 15 of 21 games in overall action for a .714 winning percentage starting with the 4-3 win over Illinois on Sunday (April 13).
Michigan is 12-9 (.571) on the road.
The Wolverines have won 12 of 17 Big Ten games to move into sole possession of third place with one week of conference action remaining.
Senior CF Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS) doubled and scored in the first inning of the series opener with Northwestern (May 9). It marked the seventh straight Big Ten game that Lollio had reached base leading off a Big Ten game. The streak, snapped Saturday (May 10), included the last two games vs. Penn State, all four games at Ohio State and the NU opener. Lollio was 5-for-5 in those first innings with three singles, a double, a homer, a walk and one hit by a pitch.
Freshman 2B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) made two starts in the Northwestern series and made a defensive impression with four putouts and nine assists and a share of five double plays. Scheidt went 2-for-4 with a walk in the series opener vs. Northwestern (May 9) and scored three runs.
Michigan Lineup Note Changes Again
The Wolverines feature three players -- seniors Brock Koman, Jordan Cantalamessa and Gino Lollio -- with starts in all 49 games, while fifth-year senior Mike Sokol has played in all 49 games with 48 starts. Koman has been the most steady player in the lineup with 47 of his starts at 3B and 48 of his starts batting third in the lineup, while Lollio has been the leadoff batter 45 times while making 43 of his starts in centerfield. Cantalamessa has 33 starts at 2B and 16 in LF and has batted in four lineup slots.
After 49 games in 2003 the most versatile Wolverines are fifth-year senior Mike Sokol (LF, DH and 1B), junior Brandon Roberts (RF, LF and DH), sophomore outfielder Matt Butler (LF, CF and RF), sophomore Nick Rudden (SS, 2B and DH) and freshman A.J. Scheidt (DH, 2B, and 3B) with starts at three different positions. Butler is the only three-position player without a DH start. Nine players have starts at two positions. Freshman Jeremy Goldschmeding is the only position player to start at one position with all 25 starts at shortstop.
Roberts, hitting fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, and Sokol, hitting second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, are the two players with starts in five lineup positions. Sophomore Rudden (first, second, eighth and ninth), sophomore OF Chris Burhans (fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth) and senior 2B/OF Cantalamessa (second, fifth, sixth and ninth) are the players having starts in four different lineup spots. The Wolverines have had seven batters bat seventh, nine batters bat eighth and eight have hit ninth while seven players have starts at DH.
Wolverine 49-Game Positional Update
The players with the most starts at each position after 49 games in 2003 include (2003 starts at position/total career starts at any position): 1B -- Nate Wright (25/107), Mike Sokol (23/145) and Jeff Kunkel (1/10); 2B -- Jordan Cantalamessa (33/174), A.J. Scheidt (12/15) and Nick Rudden (4/58); SS -- Jeremy Goldschmeding (25/25) and Nick Rudden (24/58); 3B -- Brock Koman (47/206), A.J. Scheidt (1/15) and Nate Wright (1/107); LF -- Jordan Cantalamessa (16/174), Brandon Roberts (12/114), Mike Schmidt (8/9), Mike Sokol (7/145), Chris Burhans (4/24) and Matt Butler (2/54); CF -- Gino Lollio (43/150) and Matt Butler (6/54); RF -- Brandon Roberts (19/114), Chris Burhans (14/24), Matt Butler (9/54), Gino Lollio (6/150) and Mike Schmidt (1/9); C -- Jake Fox (39/130), Jeff Kunkel (9/10) and Jason Wuerfel (1/19); DH -- Mike Sokol (18/145), Brandon Roberts (10/114), Jake Fox (8/130), Nick Rudden (7/58), A.J. Scheidt (2/15), Brock Koman (2/206) and Jason Wuerfel (2/20). Goldschmeding, Schmidt and Scheidt are the three true freshmen listed.
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
