Hammond Stops MSU in Opener; U-M Fourth After Split

Sunday, May 2

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

24-16, 12-7

Michigan State

22-20, 9-10

Michigan

Michigan State

5/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 10, Michigan State 2; Michigan State 6, Michigan 3
Records: U-M (24-17, 12-8 Big Ten), MSU (23-20, 10-10 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, May 5 -- at Eastern Michigan (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 7:00 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team took a 10-2 win in Sunday's (May 2) opener behind the complete-game pitching of junior/sophomore LHP Paul Hammond (Mason, Ohio/Mason HS), but Michigan State bounced back for a series and weekend split by winning the nightcap 6-3 in Big Ten action at Ray Fisher Stadium.

Hammond struck out five in his complete-game victory.

The Wolverines (24-17, 12-8 Big Ten) dropped into fourth place in the Big Ten standings following the split, while MSU (23-20, 10-10 Big Ten) is tied for fifth place with Purdue. Michigan is a game behind Minnesota, Ohio State and Purdue teams that are deadlocked for first at 13-7 in conference play.

Hammond (3-0) moved his Big Ten-only ERA to 1.50 as he limited Michigan State to four hits while recording five strikeouts in the seven-inning opener, the makeup of Saturday's (May 1) second-game rainout in East Lansing. MSU freshman 1B Sean Walker was 2-for-3 with a double and a homer off Hammond.

Sophomore 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS), junior RF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic) and freshman LF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) each had three hits to lead the 14-hit Michigan attack in the opener.

The Wolverines opened the scoring in the top of the first in the opener as Getz and Butler collected back-to-back singles off MSU starter Clay Kovac (1-1) and junior 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) collected his fourth game-winning RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly. Bohm, who leads the team with a .387 batting average, was hitless in the doubleheader but drew four walks and knocked in his team-leading 41st run in the split.

Getz had a two-run double in the second inning and sophomore 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) had a two-run double in the fourth inning as Michigan scored in five of the seven innings. Roblin had singles in the second, third and seventh innings and scored twice and drove in a run.

Michigan State scored twice in the third inning of game two and never trailed in the game as Adam White (3-1), the third Spartan hurler of the game, collected the win and Michigan starter Michael Penn (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian) took the loss.

Michigan tied the game at 2-2 and 3-3, but MSU scored single runs in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings to give Penn (4-3) the loss.

MSU 1B Eric Morris hit a two-run homer in the third inning to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead in game two and Michigan junior/sophomore catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) tied the game with a two-run homer in the fourth. Switch-hitting Kunkel, who also had a double in the second game, has two homers for the season, both from the left side.

MSU 3B James Moreno singled in a run in the sixth for a 3-2 lead and hit his team-leading ninth homer in the eighth for insurance, and shortstop Troy Krider's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning was the game-winning RBI, snapping the 3-3 tie.

Michigan had tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning on a double by Scheidt and a run-scoring single by senior DH Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS). Roberts, Roblin, Scheidt and Getz each had four hits in the doubleheader for the Wolverines. Getz and Roberts each have six-game hitting streaks.

Michigan starts a 10-game road swing with a non-conference single game at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday night (May 5, 7 p.m.). Freshman RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS), with a 2-1 record and a 4.19 ERA, is slated to start. Michigan then heads to Purdue for a rare Saturday-Sunday-Monday (May 8-10) series.

N O T E S

In Big Ten action on Sunday Penn State completed its four-game weekend sweep at Illinois, 4-0, while Ohio State also concluded a four-game sweep by winning twice at Indiana, 8-3 and 8-0. Purdue salvaged one win at Minnesota, 15-6, dropping the Golden Gophers into a three-way tie for first at 13-7 with OSU and PSU. Michigan's split with Michigan State dropped the Wolverines to fourth place, with MSU and Purdue tied for fifth. In the other series Northwestern swept a pair of games at Iowa, 8-2 and 3-0, to vault from last to seventh place and leave Iowa, Illinois and Indiana tied for eighth.

Big Ten Standings (includes May 2)

 1. Minnesota 13-7 .650 Ohio State 13-7 .650 Penn State 13-7 .650 4. MICHIGAN 12-8 .600 5. Michigan State 10-10 .500 Purdue 10-10 .500 7. Northwestern 8-12 .400 8. Illinois 7-13 .350 Indiana 7-13 .350 Iowa 7-13 .350

Sophomore SS Jeremy Goldschmeding (Allegan, Mich./Allegan HS), who missed 10 games due to injury, returned to action as a pinch-hitter and saw action in the field in the second game vs. MSU. He had his seven-game hitting streak snapped.

Former Major Leaguer Leon Roberts, father of senior DH Brandon Roberts and a Michigan letterwinner 1970-72, saw Michigan play this weekend along with two more former Wolverine catchers -- former Big Ten batting champ Randy Wolfe (1984-85) and recent grad Alex Coleman (2000-03).

The doubleheader split Sunday gave Michigan and Michigan Sate a weekend split in the four games that count in the Pontiac Challenge Cup race between the two schools. Each school earned half a point in the standings, which the Spartans lead 3.0-2.0 with only men's and women's track and field remaining to be decided. MSU has clinched at least a tie of the spring Cup.

Michigan's leading hitters after 41 games include: 1B Kyle Bohm at .387 (58-for-150), Jeremy Goldschmeding at .355 (33-for-93), Brandon Roberts at .349 (45-for-129), Chris Getz at .337 (55-for-163), Matt Butler at .333 (49-for-147), 3B A.J. Scheidt at .321 (53-for-165), Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield HS) at .310 (31-for-100) and Jeff Kunkel at .300 (36-for-120).