Penn Wins Opener as Wolverines Split Pair With Iowa
4/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 4, Iowa 2; Iowa 5, Michigan 3
Records: U-M (18-9, 1-6 Big Ten), Iowa (8-15, 4-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Apr. 10 -- vs. Iowa (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1:00 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior RHP Michael Penn (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian) pitched one-hit baseball through six innings and led the University of Michigan to a 4-2 win over Iowa in the first game of Saturday's (April 9) Big Ten doubleheader at Ray Fisher Stadium.
Iowa (8-15, 4-3 Big Ten) moved into a three-way tie for third place with Penn State and Northwestern in the conference standings by taking the night cap 5-3 over the Wolverines (18-9, 1-6 Big Ten). The Wolverines are tied for ninth in the Big Ten with Indiana (1-6).
Michigan used a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning of the opener to snap a 0-0 tie, and Iowa used a four-run rally in the top of the sixth inning of the second game for a 5-3 comeback win. Iowa has collected a pair of wins from the Wolverines this weekend with rallies in the next-to-last inning including Friday's (April 8) 10-run eighth inning in a 13-12 win.
Penn flirted with a no-hitter in the opener as the Hawkeyes' first hit came on a Nathan Price bunt single leading off the sixth inning, but after one out in the seventh inning Iowa collected three straight singles by catcher Dusty Napoleon, 3B Andy Cox and 2B Jason White to load the bases and chase Penn.
Sophomore/freshman LHP Clayton Richard (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon HS) closed out the game, collecting his second save as he allowed a run-scoring single by Price and two groundouts.
Iowa's opening-game starter Casey O'Rourke (2-1) had a shutout through five innings but walked sophomore CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield HS) to open the sixth inning. Senior RF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic) advanced Rose with a sacrifice bunt and O'Rourke walked junior SS Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) intentionally before being removed from the game.
Iowa's Travis Sweet hit senior 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point., Wis./Area HS) with a pitch to load the bases, and senior/junior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) lined a two-run single to right-center. Bohm headed for third and scored as the ball rolled away for an error in the outfield. Kunkel reached third on the play and scored the fourth run of the rally on a two-strike squeeze bunt by junior LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS).
The Wolverines scored a run in each of the first three innings of the second game to take a 3-0 lead behind the pitching of senior/junior LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College). Taylor (2-2) was making his first start in more than a year.
Butler doubled in the first and scored on a single by Bohm, while in the second inning junior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) reached on a walk, moved to second on a balk and scored on a single by freshman 2B Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice). Getz walked in the third, stole second and reached third on a throwing error before scoring on a Bohm sacrifice fly.
Bohm, who leads the Wolverines with 35 RBI, has knocked in seven runs in the weekend series, and Getz leads theWolverines with 15 stolen bases.
Iowa catcher Kris Welker hit a solo homer to put the Hawkeyes on the scoreboard in the fourth inning.
The winning rally in the sixth inning was started by a bunt single by RF Nate Yoho, and he moved to third on a fly-ball double beyond first by CF Jesse Brownell. Cox tied the score with a sac fly and 3B Luis Andrulonis hit a 3-2 pitch for a run-scoring double to tie the game at 3-3. Justin Petty singled to center, but Andrulonis scored the winning run when the throw was not handled at the plate for an error.
Price knocked in the final run of the game with his second run-scoring single off U-M reliever Richard.
Iowa's Kevin Sunderman (1-1) entered the game in the fifth and retired the first four batters he faced, including Bohm with the bases loaded with one out in that fifth inning. In the sixth with two outs he hit pinch hitter Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) and walked Pickens to put the tying runs on base, but lefty Tim Gudex allowed just a Butler single in the last 1.1 innings to collect his second save of the weekend.
Butler had three hits in the second game, while Kunkel (opener) and Pickens (second game) had two-hit games to lead the U-M offense in the doubleheader.
Richard appeared in both games of the doubleheader and dropped his ERA to 0.57 in 15.2 innings. He has a pair of saves and has nine strikeouts in his nine appearances.
The Wolverines conclude the Big Ten weekend series with Iowa on Sunday (April 10) with a single game starting at 1 p.m. Junior RHP Derek Feldkamp (Adrian, Mich./Blissfield HS), 4-1 with a 3.64 ERA, is the scheduled starter for the Wolverines.
N O T E S
In Big Ten action on Saturday the split between Michigan and Iowa was the only one as sweeps were in order. Illinois took a pair at MSU, 9-2 and 6-5, to keep pace with Minnesota as the Gophers beat Indiana 7-1 and 5-4. Ohio State collected its first two wins of the season by beating Purdue 6-4 and 5-1, while Penn State took a pair at Northwestern, 4-2 and 2-1 in 14 innings. PSU and Northwestern have played 32 innings in three games so far, matching the usual four-game Big Ten total that includes two nine-inning games and two seven-inning games.
Big Ten Standings (Through 4/9/05)
1. Minnesota 7-0 1.000 Illinois 7-0 1.000 3. Iowa 4-3 .571 Northwestern 4-3 .571 Penn State 4-3 .571 6. Purdue 3-4 .429 7. Michigan State 2-5 .286 Ohio State 2-5 .286 9. MICHIGAN 1-6 .143 Indiana 1-6 .143
Senior RHP Michael Penn moved his career record against Iowa to 3-0 with the win in the opener on Saturday. In Penn's first two starts, both in Iowa City, he pitched four-hit, complete-game shutouts and won 4-0. In his third outing Penn went 6.1 shutout innings and left the game with a 4-0 lead having allowed four hits. The game ended 4-2. Penn's ERA in his starts against Iowa is 0.90 in 20.1 innings with 17 strikeouts and just five walks. For the season Penn is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA.
Freshman RF/2B Doug Pickens has gone 5-for-9 (.556) in the first three games of the weekend series vs. Iowa, and he has reached base seven times in his last eight plate appearances including reaching on an error and two singles on Friday, once with a single and a strikeout in game one of Saturday's doubleheader and all three times in game two with two singles and a walk. Pickens is leading Michigan in hitting in Big Ten play with a .417 (5-for-12) average.
Michigan's leading hitters after 27 games are 2B Chris Getz (40-for-99, .404), OF Matt Butler (45-for-113, .398), C Jeff Kunkel (25-for-68, .368), 1B Kyle Bohm (36-for-101, .356), 3B A.J. Scheidt (26-for-85, .306) and OF Mike Schmidt (20-for-68, 294).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Penn, Michael (3-1)
L: Casey O'Rourke (2-1)
S: Richard, Clayton (2)
Batting:
RBI: Nathan Price 1 ; Justin Petty 1
SH: Skylar Moss 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dusty Napoleon 1 ; Andy Cox 1
CS: Skylar Moss 1
HBP: Kris Welker 1

Batting:
RBI: Kunkel, Jeff 2 ; Schmidt, Mike 1
SH: Butler, Matt 1 ; Schmidt, Mike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rose, Eric 1 ; Getz, Chris 1 ; Bohm, Kyle 1 ; Kunkel, Jeff 1
SB: Schmidt, Mike 1
HBP: Bohm, Kyle 1