Getz, Feldkamp Propel U-M to Weekend Split at Illinois

Sunday, April 17

Champaign, Ill.

1:05 PM CT

Michigan

20-12, 3-9

Illinois

20-12-1, 9-3

Michigan

Illinois

Getz, Feldkamp Propel U-M to Weekend Split at Illinois

4/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Junior 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) collected three hits and junior RHP Derek Feldkamp (Adrian, Mich./Blissfield HS) pitched four innings of two-hit relief for the win as the University of Michigan beat Illinois 8-5 in Big Ten Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon (April 17) at Illinois Field. The win for the Wolverines (20-12, 3-9 Big Ten) salvages a weekend split against the first-place Fighting Illini (20-12-1, 9-3 Big Ten).

Junior LF Mike Schmidt's (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) sacrifice fly scored Getz with the winning run that snapped a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning.

The Wolverines warped up the win by scoring twice in the top of the ninth on a run-scoring triple by senior 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) and a RBI double by senior/junior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS). Kunkel had eight RBI in the series. Senior RF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic) had opened the inning with a single and scored on Bohm's triple.

In the bottom of the first J.R. Kyes led off with a walk and moved to second on a one-out single by CF Drew Davidson. Dusty Bensko followed with his ninth homer of the year and the Fighting Illini held a 3-0 lead against U-M starter senior/junior LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College).

The Wolverines batted around in the second inning, scoring four runs and chasing Illini starter James Morris. Catcher Kunkel led off with a walk and moved to third on a single to right-center by junior LF Schmidt. Freshman DH Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) hit one up the middle and pitcher Morris snagged the ball and wheeled to start a double play, allowing Kunkel to score, but he threw the ball into centerfield for an error and Schmidt reached third.

Sophomore SS Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) knocked in the second run with a fielder's choice and junior 3B Alex Martin (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) kept the inning alive by beating the throw on a potential double play. After Rose followed with a bunt single, Butler singled to deep short and the throw to first was wide, allowing Martin to score the tying run. Getz singled up the middle to give the Wolverines a 4-3 lead and knock Morris out of the game.

Mahler was a defensive star in the bottom of the second as Illinois put the first two runners on, and he turned a two-strike fake bunt slash swing by SS Toby Gardenhire into a 6-4-3 double play. With two outs and a runner on third Mahler made a backhand play in the hole for a 6-3 play to end the inning.

The Wolverines added a run in the top of the fifth as Getz singled to center, moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on a fly to right by Bohm and scored on a Kunkel sacrifice fly for his seventh RBI of the series.

Illinois used a single and two walks to score twice in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5 with DH Mike Rohde knocking in the fourth run with a sac fly. 3B Chad Frk singled in the fifth run, and the inning ended with Illini catcher Chris Robinson getting thrown out at third base on a 7-2-5 relay play from Schmidt to Kunkel to Martin.

The Wolverines loaded the bases in the seventh inning on an infield single by Getz, his third hit of the game, and walks to Bohm and Kunkel and the third Illinois pitcher Jake Toohey, who saved the Friday series opener, was removed. LF Schmidt lined the first pitch from Brandon Murphy to CF, scoring Getz with the winning run.

The Wolverines host Toledo in a non-conference single game on Wednesday (April 20) before turning on the lights next Friday (April 22, 7:05 p.m.) for the first night game in Ray Fisher Stadium history, hosting Ohio State with ESPN on hand for the festivities.

N O T E S

In other Big Ten action Sunday, Minnesota beat Penn State 11-8, Purdue defeated Northwestern 10-5, Ohio State edged Michigan State 8-7, and Indiana downed Iowa 10-7.

Illinois and Minnesota are tied for first in the Big Ten at 9-3 (.750) with Iowa (8-4, .667) in third, followed by Penn State (7-5, .583) in fourth. Michigan State (6-6, .500) and Northwestern (6-6, 500) are tied for fifth, while Purdue (5-7, .417) is seventh, Ohio State (4-8, .333) is eighth and Michigan and Indiana are tied for ninth (3-9, .250).

Chris Getz's RBI single in the second inning gave him hits in all four games of the Illinois series. He has hits in 61 of his last 70 games the past two seasons and in 40 of his 44 career Big Ten games.

With three hits in the series finale at Illinois Getz collected his 55th career multiple-hit game, his 39th in two seasons at Michigan and his 23rd career three-hit game.

Catcher Jeff Kunkel capped off the "home state" weekend with a run-scoring double in the ninth inning to knock in the final run of the game. For the weekend Kunkel was 5-for-13 (.385) with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI.

The three-game total attendance for the weekend series was 4,182, the second largest weekend attendance since Illinois Field made its debut in 1988. The record is 5,820 when the Wolverines played in Champaign in 1990.

Michigan's leading hitters after 32 games are 2B Chris Getz (50-for-119, .420), C Jeff Kunkel (31-for-84, .369), OF Matt Butler (48-for-132, .364), 1B Kyle Bohm (43-for-119, .361) and 3B/DH Derek VanBuskirk (18-for-59, 305).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423