Michigan Succumbs to Purdue Comeback in Series Finale

Monday, May 10

West Lafayette, Ind.

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

25-21, 13-11

Purdue

24-22, 13-11

Michigan

Purdue

Michigan Succumbs to Purdue Comeback in Series Finale

5/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Neal Gorka's pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth inning gave Purdue its first lead of the game and provided the Boilermakers a 6-5 win over Michigan in the finale of the Big Ten Conference baseball series Monday afternoon (May 10) at Lambert Field.

The win pulls Purdue (24-22, 13-11 Big Ten)  into a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten standings with the Wolverines (25-21, 13-11 Big Ten). Michigan State (14-10) moved into fourth with a four-game sweep of Indiana.

Purdue RHP Jason Driscoll pitched the ninth inning to record his Big Ten-leading sixth save of the year and finished the weekend with a win and two saves to account for all three Purdue wins in the weekend series.

The Wolverines led most of the afternoon, with sophomore 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) and freshman LF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) pacing the 13-hit attack in a game in which Purdue had eight hits and none before the fourth inning.

The Wolverines grabbed the lead in the second inning as senior DH Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by Roblin. Freshman shortstop Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) singled up the middle for a 1-0 lead, and with two outs Getz singled to drive in Roblin to make the score 2-0, but Getz was retired trying to advance to second on the throw back to the infield.

Michigan added a run in the fourth as junior/sophomore catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a balk by reliever Jay Buente. Roblin singled to center for his second RBI hit of the game.

Purdue scored twice in the bottom of the fourth and chased Michigan's starter, sophomore RHP Derek Feldkamp (Adrian, Mich./Blissfield HS). The Boilermakers loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter and 1B Eric Wolfe hit a sacrifice fly to center to make the score 3-1 without a Purdue hit in the game. Feldkamp recorded his third strikeout for the second out, but Simon Klink's hard grounder right at first baseman Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) took a crazy hop over his shoulder for the first Purdue hit of the game and the score was 3-2.

Feldkamp re-loaded the bases with his third hit batter of the game, and after going 3-and-2 to RF Andy Dahl Wolverine coach Rich Maloney brought in junior RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./William S. Hart HS). Tognetti threw one pitch for strike three and the inning was over.

The Wolverines bounced back with a run in the top of the fifth as Bohm walked, Roberts doubled to left-center and Kunkel greeted Purdue's third pitcher, Trae Dauby (4-1), with a run-scoring infield grounder.

Michigan pushed the lead to 5-2 in the top of the sixth on back-to-back walks to the eighth and ninth batters, Mahler and CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield HS), and a run-scoring single by RF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic).

Purdue, held to one hit for the first five innings, rallied in the sixth, scoring on a single by Eric Osborn and a sacrifice fly by Mitch Koester to cut the lead to 5-4.

Roblin's bid for his first career homer was hauled in at the fence to end the top of the seventh inning.

Purdue chased Tognetti in the bottom of the seventh on a single by catcher Ben Fritz, and freshman LHP Michael McCormick (Goodrich, Mich./Goodrich HS) gave up a chopped single to right. Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS) replaced McCormick and induced a double-play grounder to tie the score at 5-5. Klink followed with his third hit of the game and advanced to second on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Osborn, but Hess (2-2) recorded a strikeout.

Purdue RF Andy Dahl doubled to open the bottom of the eighth and he scored the winning run on Gorka's pinch single.

Michigan plays in the annual "Baseball Bash" vs. Notre Dame on Wednesday (May 12, 7 p.m.) at Fifth Third Park in Comstock Park, Mich.

N O T E S

In Monday action in the Big Ten, Michigan fell into a tie for fifth place with Purdue after losing three of four in the series and Michigan State completed its sweep of Indiana, winning 4-3 in the completion of Sunday's doubleheader and taking the scheduled game 6-5. Ohio State and Penn State played Monday night in Columbus, with OSU winning 9-4 to forge a second-place tie with PSU.

Big Ten Standings (includes games of May 10)

 1. Minnesota 16-8 .667 2. Penn State 15-9 .625 Ohio State 15-9 .625 4. Michigan State 14-10 .583 5. MICHIGAN 13-11 .542 Purdue 13-11 .542 7. Northwestern 11-13 .448 8. Illinois 8-16 .333 Iowa 8-16 .333 10. Indiana 7-17 .292

Next Week (May 14-16): Michigan at Indiana, Minnesota at Illinois, Purdue at Iowa, Michigan State at Penn State and Northwestern at Ohio State.

Sophomore 2B Chris Getz led the Wolverines with eight hits in the series at Purdue, going 8-for-18 (.444) with three doubles, a triple and four runs scored. Getz leads the Wolverines in hitting in conference action with a .388 (40-for-103) average.

Freshman CF Eric Rose has collected 10 hits in five games during the week.

Michigan's leading hitters after 46 games include: 1B Kyle Bohm at .367 (61-for-166), Eric Rose at .347 (41-for-118), Brandon Roberts at .345 (50-for-145), Chris Getz at .339 (63-for-186), Jeremy Goldschmeding at .336 (36-for-107), 3B A.J. Scheidt at .324 (60-for-185), Matt Butler at .320 (54-for-169) and Brad Roblin at .302 (39-for-129).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423