Michigan
0-2
Florida
8-3
Michigan Drops Second Straight Game at No. 25 Florida
2/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site: Gainesville, Fla. (McKethan Stadium)
Score: #25 Florida 20, Michigan 7
Records: U-M (0-2), Florida (8-3)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 27 -- vs. Illinois-Chicago (Port St. Lucie, Fla.), 8 p.m.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Michigan baseball team was unable to keep pace with the No. 25 Florida Gators Thursday evening (Feb. 26) at the McKeathan Stadium, dropping a 20-7 seven-inning decision in the final game of the two-game series. The Wolverines (0-2) yielded 20 or more runs to the opposition for the first time in head coach Rich Maloney's tenure.
Both teams managed 14 hits in the game, but the Gators worked the Wolverines into 12 walks. Junior centerfielder Chris Burhans (Alpharetta, Ga./Marist School) and senior designated hitter Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) led the Wolverines at the plate, each collecting three singles in four at-bats.
Florida (8-3) scored runs in each of the first four innings, including five runs on two hits in the opening frame. Leftfielder C.J. Smith did the major damage with a three-run home run to leftfield. Designated hitter Brian Leclerc scored the game's first run for the Gators on a run-scoring double to left-center by rightfielder Ben Harrison. First baseman Matt Masey struck out swinging but reached first on a wild pitch on the third strike. He advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and scored the fifth run of the inning on Jim Brauer's (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) second wild pitch of the frame.
Michigan answered with four runs in the second inning on five successive hits by its fourth through eighth batters in the lineup. Burhans got U-M's first hit of the game with a single up the middle with one out. Roberts followed with a single through the box to advance Burhans to third base. Redshirt freshman catcher Matt Rademacher (Bay City, Mich./Central HS) doubled to rightfield, scoring Burhans for the Wolverines' first run. Sophomore third baseman A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) singled through the right side of the infield to score Roberts, with Rademacher scoring on a throwing error by the rightfielder. Freshman rightfielder Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) singled to score Scheidt for the fourth run of the inning.
Florida added a run in the bottom of the second, but the Wolverines kept the margin at one run, 6-5, as centerfielder Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) homered to leftfield in the top of the third inning.
The Gators put the game away with eight runs in the third inning on three hits and one error by the Wolverines. UF added three runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to reach 20 runs in the contest.
Michigan added one run in the sixth inning as Roberts scored his second run of the game. Roberts singled through the right side and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He moved to third on a flyout to centerfield by Rademacher and scored on a groundout to second base by Scheidt for the second out of the inning.
U-M junior Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic HS) added the game's final run with a pinch-hit home run to rightfield in the seventh inning.
The Wolverines look to pick up their first win of the season tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m.) when they face Illinois-Chicago at the New York Mets training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Adam Sanabria (1-0)
L: Brauer, Jim (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Rademacher, Matt 1
HR: Schmidt, Mike 1 ; Butler, Matt 1
RBI: Schmidt, Mike 1 ; Butler, Matt 1 ; Rademacher, Matt 1 ; Scheidt, A.J. 2 ; Roblin, Brad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schmidt, Mike 1 ; Butler, Matt 1 ; Burhans, Chris 1 ; Roberts, Brandon 2 ; Rademacher, Matt 1 ; Scheidt, A.J. 1
PO: Roblin, Brad 1
Batting:
2B: Ben Harrison 1 ; Justin Tordi 1
HR: Jon Skorupski 1 ; C.J. Smith 1
RBI: Jonathan Tucker 3 ; Jon Skorupski 2 ; Ben Harrison 3 ; Jeff Corsaletti 1 ; C.J. Smith 4 ; Matt Maley 1 ; Austin Ealey 1 ; Justin Tordi 1
SF: Ben Harrison 1 ; Austin Ealey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jonathan Tucker 2 ; Brian Leclerc 1 ; Jon Skorupski 2 ; Stephen Barton 1 ; Ben Harrison 3 ; Jeff Corsaletti 3 ; C.J. Smith 1 ; Matt Maley 2 ; Matt LaPorta 1 ; Justin Tordi 1 ; Adam Davis 3
SB: Matt Maley 1 ; Adam Davis 2
CS: Jonathan Tucker 1
