Wolverines Sweep Second-Place Buckeyes in Columbus

Saturday, May 3

Columbus, Ohio

4:05 PM

Michigan

23-19, 10-10

Ohio State

29-13, 15-7

Michigan

Ohio State

5/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Columbus, Ohio (Bill Davis Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 5, Ohio State 4 (8 innings); Michigan 3, Ohio State 1
Records: U-M (24-19, 11-10 Big Ten), OSU (29-14, 15-8 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, May 4 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 1:05 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Senior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI as the University of Michigan baseball team beat Ohio State 3-1 to gain a doubleheader sweep of Ohio State in Big Ten action Saturday night (May 3) at Bill Davis Stadium. The Wolverines (24-19, 11-10) won the opener 5-4 in extra innings on a two-out single by sophomore RF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic HS).

Burhans singled and scored the winning run in game one.

The doubleheader sweep was the fifth of the season for the Wolverines and the first by Michigan against Ohio State (29-14, 15-8 Big Ten) in Columbus since 1989. The sweep pushes the Wolverines into fourth place in the conference standings with a record of 11-10 (.5238), percentage points ahead of Indiana's 12-11 (.5217) mark.

Sophomore RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS) earned his fifth win of the season, working 5.2 innings in the second game and allowing four hits and one unearned run. The Wolverine defense turned three double plays behind Tognetti and senior RHP Tim Leveque (Northridge, Calif./Crespi HS), making an appearance for the sixth straight game, worked the final 1.1 innings for his third save.

Koman sparked the Wolverine offense in the twinbill, going 3-for-6 with three RBI and logging his Michigan-record 68th career double, which drove in a run in the fifth inning of game two. Koman jumped his team-leading batting average to .392 in the doubleheader as he snapped his tie with Mike Cervenak (67 doubles, 1996-99) for the doubles lead.

Michigan opened the scoring in the second game as junior Jake Fox (Greeenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS), serving as the DH in the second game, singled in the second inning and moved up on a passed ball. Fox scored when a two-out fly ball off the bat of junior LF Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) was dropped for an error.

Sophomore shortstop Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) combined with Koman on the other second-game runs, scoring in the third on a single, a stolen base and a Koman single. They combined again in the fifth as Rudden reached on an error and scored on Koman's record-setting double. Rudden reached base five times and scored three runs in the doubleheader.

In the opener the Wolverines jumped ahead 4-0 in the first inning as senior CF Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS) led off the game with a single to deep short and moved to second as shortstop Rudden drew a four-pitch walk. Koman provided Michigan's first run for the second straight game with a single to deep short. Rudden advanced to third on a throwing error.

Junior catcher Fox lined a double down the rightfield line to drive in two runs and make the score 3-0, and he advanced to third on the throw toward home. Senior 2B Jordan Cantalamessa (Castle Creek, Colo./Cherry Creek) singled up the middle to plate Fox with the fourth first-inning run.

Ohio State cut the lead in half in the fourth inning of the opener when RF Christian Snavely singled and DH Steve Caravati followed with a two-run homer. OSU scored twice in the seventh inning to force the game into extra innings, with OSU freshman 3B Jedidiah Stephen driving in the first run. The tying run came in on a double steal with catcher Derek Kinnear taking third on the front end steal and scoring on an error when the throw sailed into leftfield.

Redshirt freshman Ali Husain (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) entered the game in the seventh inning with the score tied 4-4 and runners on first and second and he recorded the final out of the inning.

The winning rally in the top of the eighth inning included a single by sophomore LF Chris Burhans (Alpharetta, Ga./The Marist School), an infield groundout by Roberts and the game-winning single by Butler.

Fifth-year senior 1B Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS) recorded all three putouts as Husain (3-0) had a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his third win. The second out of the inning was a nifty 3-4-3 play as the ball deflected off first baseman Sokol to 2B Cantalamessa, who fired back to Sokol for the out.

The Wolverines and Buckeyes conclude the four-game Big Ten series on Sunday (May 4, 1:05 p.m.) with sophomore LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College), who is 5-1 with a 4.88 ERA, listed as the probable starter for the Wolverines.

N O T E S

In other Big Ten action Saturday, Indiana swept Penn State 13-9 and 8-4 and first-place Minnesota swept Purdue by scores of 6-1 and 2-1. Northwestern took the opener from Iowa 6-1, but Iowa shut out the Wildcats 4-0 in the second game. Illinois beat Michigan State 5-4 in the opener and MSU gained the split by winning the nightcap 5-3.

Big Ten Standings (after Saturday's Games)

 1. Minnesota 18-3 .857 2. Ohio State 15-8 .652 3. Northwestern 12-9 .571 4. MICHIGAN 11-10 .524 5. Indiana 12-11 .522 6. Penn State 11-12 .478 7. Illinois 9-14 .391 8. Michigan State 8-13 .381 9. Purdue 8-14 .366 10. Iowa 6-16 .273

Michigan's sweep at Ohio State marks just the second time the Buckeyes have been swept in a Big Ten doubleheader at home since moving to Bill Davis Stadium in 1997 and the first time since Iowa's sweep at OSU on April 1, 2000.

The last three times OSU has been swept in a Big Ten doubleheader have been April 15, 2000, in Ann Arbor; May 4, 2002 in Ann Arbor; and Saturday (May 3) in Columbus.

Senior RHP Tim Leveque appeared in both games of Saturday's doubleheader, moving his team-leading appearance total to 19 games. He has pitched in six consecutive games, seven of eight overall and in seven straight in games the bullpen has been used. Leveque's last seven appearances have been vs. Penn State (three times), Notre Dame and Ohio State (three times). The last game in which Leveque did not appear was Bobby Garza's complete game win vs. Penn State (April 26).

Michigan's hitting leaders after 43 games include (80 plate appearances minimum): senior 3B Brock Koman at .392 (65-for-166), sophomore SS Nick Rudden (.374, 37-for-99), junior C Jake Fox (.362, 55-for-152), senior 1B Mike Sokol (.342, 51-for-149) and senior OF Gino Lollio (.337, 56-for-166).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423