Late Rally Sparks Michigan Past WMU in Road Contest

Wednesday, May 18

Kalamazoo, Mich.

3:00 PM

Michigan

37-14

Western Michigan

25-21

Michigan

Western Michigan

5/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team scored three times in the seventh inning with senior 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) knocking in the winning run for a 6-4 non-conference win over Western Michigan on Wednesday (May 18) at historic Hyames Field.

Scheidt had three RBI and reached base three times in U-M's ninth straight win.

With the win the Wolverines push their record to 37-14 with nine consecutive wins. The 37 wins are the most since the 1989 team won 49 games.

The Wolverines grabbed the lead for the first time in the seventh inning with four hits as senior co-captains Bohm and Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic) came through. Butler tied the game at 4-4 with a sacrifice fly that scored freshman RF Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice), and Bohm singled in junior 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich,/South HS) with the winning run. Junior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS), who homered earlier in the game, singled to score Bohm with an insurance run.

Getz had opened the game with a single inside the first-base bag and moved to second with his 25tth stolen base of the year and on to third following an outfield fly by sophomore CF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./River School). Bohm knocked in the first run of the game with a grounder to short.

WMU scored in the bottom of the second off Wolverine sophomore/freshman starter Brad Seddon (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) with catcher Mark Albro hitting his fifth homer of the season to tie the game at 1-1. Later in the inning Chelsea's RF Tony Scheffler doubled in the second run of the inning, and he scored the third run of the inning after a throwing error.

The Broncos chased Seddon in the third inning after a single and a hit batter, and WMU added the fourth run of the game on a pair of wild pitches by sophomore RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS). Hess walked two and hit a batter in the fourth, and with two outs and the bases loaded junior RHP Craig Murray (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South HS) took over and got a popout to end the inning.

Murray ended up pitching 3.2 innings with three strikeouts and allowed just a seventh-inning walk and a one-out double in the eighth inning that brought Ali Husain (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) out of the bullpen. Murray (2-0) earned the victory, while Derek Feldkamp (Adrian, Mich./Blissfield HS) retired the last four batters for his fourth save of the season and second in two days.

WMU starter Bryan French settled down after the first inning and held the Wolverines scoreless until the sixth inning, when Bohm drew a leadoff walk and with one out Scheidt hit his fourth homer of the year to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Wolverines open the final Big Ten Conference series of the year Friday afternoon (May 20, 2 p.m.) needing one win to clinch a playoff berth. Fifth-year senior RHP Jim Brauer (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) will start the opener for the Wolverines with 7-2 record and 2.54 ERA.

N O T E S

DH Jeff Kunkel extended his hitting streak to a team season and personal career best 12 games. Kunkel has hits in 23 of his last 24 games.

1B Kyle Bohm extended his hitting streak to nine games with a third-inning single.

Michigan's leading hitters after 51 games are: catcher Jeff Kunkel (61-for-148, .412), Kyle Bohm (76-for-191, .398), 2B Chris Getz (72-for-187, .385), OF Matt Butler (65-for-177, .367), 3B A.J. Scheidt (47-for-155, .303). OF Eric Rose (34-for-113, 301) and Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) at .300 (21-for-70).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423