Brauer Receives Lots of Support in Downing Ohio State

Thursday, May 27

Minneapolis, Minn.

3:35 PM CT

Michigan

34-24

Ohio State

32-24

Michigan

Ohio State

Brauer Receives Lots of Support in Downing Ohio State

5/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Michigan baseball team scored 10 runs in the first two innings and All-Big Ten first team RHP Jim Brauer (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) tossed a complete-game eight-hitter as the Wolverines beat second seed Ohio State by a 10-4 margin in second-round action Big Ten Tournament Thursday afternoon (May 27) at Siebert Field.

Kunkel drove in four of the team's 10 runs and capped the uprising with a three-run homer in the second inning.

The Wolverines (34-24) matched a season high with six doubles, and junior/sophomore catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS), who doubled in a run in the first inning, pounded a three-run homer in the second inning to push Michigan's lead to 10-0.

Brauer (7-3) allowed four runs in the game, two earned. He retired 11 straight and 16 of 18 batters from the fourth, including the first batter of the ninth inning. OSU freshman 3B Ronnie Bourquin's solo homer in the eighth inning was the only Ohio State score after the third inning.

OSU 2B Drew Anderson hit a one-out single in the ninth inning, but the Wolverine defense turned a quick 6-4-3 double play started by freshman shortstop Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) to end the game.

Michigan freshman CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield HS) led off the game with a double into the left-center gap and he moved to third on a one-out single by sophomore 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS). With Getz on the move, junior 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) grounded a single to right to plate Rose with the eventual game-winning tally. It was Bohm's sixth "gamer" of the year.

Senior DH Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) walked in the first inning to load the bases against OSU starter Mike Madsen (8-4). Sophomore 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) launched a sacrifice fly to center for the second out and the score was 2-0.

Catcher Kunkel doubled to left to make the score 3-0, and shortstop Mahler drilled a two-run double to right-center. Sophomore LF Jeremy Goldschmeding (Allegan, Mich./Allegan HS) lined a single to right-center to score Mahler, and the Wolverines held a 6-0 lead before Brauer had thrown a pitch.

Getz started up the offense again in the second inning with a double, and Bohm drew his conference-leading 40th walk of the season. Roberts followed with a double down the line in right, scoring Getz with the seventh run of the game, and that was it for OSU starter Madsen. Freshman LHP Jeffrey Carroll entered the game and, after Scheidt grounded out with the runners holding, Kunkel blasted his third homer of the season over the wall in left and the score was 10-0.

Roberts and Getz sparked the Michigan offense for the second straight day as each came up with another three-hit game as the Wolverines had 16 hits against the Buckeyes (32-25). Rose, Kunkel, Mahler and Goldschmeding each added two hits, and the only hitless Wolverine was Scheidt, who had a sac fly and was hit by pitches his last two times to the plate.

The Wolverines are 2-0 in Big Ten Tournament play for the first time since 1999, and the last time Michigan was 3-0 was 1986 in Minneapolis. Michigan won the title in both those seasons.

Michigan's next game in the tourney will by Friday (May 28, 7:05 p.m. CDT) evening against the winner of top seed and host Minnesota, which defeated Purdue 6-1 Wednesday night. Michigan's starting pitcher has not been determined.

N O T E S

In Big Ten Tournament play Thursday, Michigan State (33-25) eliminated Penn State (28-29) by an 8-7 margin in the early game. MSU plays Ohio State (32-24) in an elimination game to open Friday's (May 28, 12:05 p.m. CDT) schedule. The survivor of the MSU-OSU game will turn around and face Purdue in the second game Friday (3:35 p.m.). Michigan will play the late game against Minnesota, a 6-1 winner over Purdue in Thursday's late game.

Michigan's six-run first inning on Thursday was the second big inning for the Wolverines against the Buckeyes this season. Michigan scored nine runs in the fourth inning of the 13-2 series finale April 25 in Columbus, Ohio.

The Wolverines have had 10 hits or more 38 times in 58 games while collecting 16 or more hits six times. The 16 hits against OSU on Thursday were the most since getting 21 at Indiana on May 16.

The Wolverines have 34 wins for the season, matching the total that the 1999 team collected while winning the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, and taking a pair of games in NCAA Regional action at Notre Dame. The 34 wins are the most for the Wolverines since the 1997 team won 36 games.

Senior DH Brandon Roberts was 3-for-4 for the second straight game in the Big Ten Tournament, giving him a nifty .750 batting average for the early going of the tournament. Roberts is 11-for-13 (.846) with a walk in his last 14 plate appearances for an on-base percentage of .857. In his last six games he is 15-for-21 (.714), moving his overall batting average to a career-best and team-leading .379 (69-for-182).

DH Roberts added a pair of doubles against Ohio State to push his career total to 49, tying him for fifth place on Michigan's all-time doubles list with Casey Close (49, 1983-86) and Ken Hayward (49, 1982-85).

Sophomore 2B Chris Getz was 3-for-4 vs. Ohio State on Thursday, pushing his season totals to 84 hits in 233 at-bats for a .361 batting average. The 84 hits tie him with Casey Close (1986) and Derek Besco (1997) for the sixth best single-season hit total for a Wolverine. The 233 at-bats for the season mark the fifth best single-season total in Michigan history.

Michigan's leading hitters after 58 games of overall action include: Brandon Roberts at .379 (69-for-182), Chris Getz at .361 (84-for-233), 1B Kyle Bohm at .357 (75-for-210), Eric Rose at .333 (53-for-159), Jeremy Goldschmeding at .328 (40-for-122), catcher Jeff Kunkel at .315 (53-for-168), Matt Butler (Lombard Ill./Driscoll Catholic) at .314 (66-for-210), 3B A.J. Scheidt at .305 (68-for-223) and Leif Mahler at .301 (28-for-93).