Michigan Defeats Iowa to Stay Alive at Big Ten Tourney

Thursday, May 26

Champaign, Ill.

12:05 PM CT

Michigan

41-16

Iowa

28-29

Michigan

Iowa

Michigan Defeats Iowa to Stay Alive at Big Ten Tourney

5/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan baseball team scored six runs in the late innings, and lefties Ali Husain (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) and Brad Seddon (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) closed the door in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Wolverines beat Iowa 8-6 in Big Ten Tournament play Thursday afternoon (May 26) at Illinois Field.

The win keeps No. 4-seeded Michigan (41-16) alive in the tournament, while third-seeded Iowa (28-29) is the first team eliminated from the 25th edition of the conference baseball tournament. Michigan advances to third-day action to play in the second elimination game Friday at 12:05 p.m. against No. 2 seed Purdue, a 6-5 loser to Ohio State in Thursday's second game.

The Wolverines held an 8-6 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth, but Iowa's leading hitter DH Travis Sweet and SS Andy Lytle opened the inning with singles against senior RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./William S. Hart HS).

Tognetti, who had retired the two batters he faced to get out of an eighth-inning jam, was replaced by Husain to face Iowa RF Nate Yoho in a lefty-lefty change. The first thing that happened was Wolverine catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) caught Sweet leaning off second on a missed Yoho bunt attempt and he fired the ball to second. Sweet scrambled to third and was credited with a stolen base.

With runners on first and third Yoho fouled out to senior 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) for the first out. Exit Husain and enter sophomore/freshman lefty Seddon to face Iowa catcher Kris Welker. Welker popped the second pitch to Bohm at first and there were two outs.

Next up was Iowa CF Jesse Brownell, who had lined a pinch double in his previous at-bat against hard-throwing sophomore/freshman lefty Clayton Richard (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon HS). On Seddon's second pitch Brownell checked his swing and tapped a grounder to junior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS), who fired to Bohm for the final out more than three hours and 30 minutes after the game had started.

The Wolverine veterans clicked on offense as Michigan used a "team attack" that included two hits, two runs and two RBI from Bohm; a double and two runs scored by junior 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS); a single, a double and a key sacrifice bunt from catcher Kunkel; three hits, a run batted in and the winning run scored by 3B Scheidt; and two hits and two runs including a game-tying homer from senior LF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic).

Meanwhile, when the smoke cleared it was Iowa nemesis senior RHP and first team All-Big Ten selection Michael Penn (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian) who collected the win for the Wolverines. Penn (7-2) pitched 5.2 innings, allowing five hits and four runs as he collected his fourth career win over the Hawkeyes.

Penn pitched long enough to get the benefit of the U-M comeback that included a three-run rally in the top of the sixth to give Michigan the lead that held up for the rest of the game. Richard closed out the sixth inning, Tognetti the eighth and the lefty tag team handled things in the ninth.

U-M grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as senior 1B Bohm doubled down the third-base line with two outs and scored on a single by Kunkel. The Hawkeyes bounced back in the bottom of the first against Penn as the first three Iowa hitters -- CF Nate Price, DH Skylar Moss and SS Lytle -- singled to tie the game at 1-1. RF Yoho followed with a sacrifice fly and Iowa led 2-1.

Following a scoreless second inning junior Getz popped a double down the rightfield line to lead off the third inning and sophomore DH Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./River School), hit a grounder to the right side. Bohm hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2 with his 60th RBI of the season.

Once again the top of the Iowa lineup came up with a run as CF Price singled to start the bottom of the third inning and, after a pair of walks loaded the bases, catcher Welker topped a run-scoring grounder to Scheidt at third. The defense came up short in the bottom of the fourth as Iowa took advantage of a pair of two-base throwing errors from Scheidt and Getz to push the lead to 4-2 after four innings.

Kunkel paced the Wolverine defense in the bottom of the fifth inning with two putouts and an assist. Iowa SS Lytle singled to start the inning and he stole second on a bang-bang play. After catching a popped-up bunt, Kunkel caught Lytle trying to steal third. To close out the inning Penn notched his fourth strikeout of the game and Kunkel had accounted for all three outs in the inning.

After shining on defense, Kunkel led off the top of the sixth and doubled down the line in right. Butler followed with his seventh homer of the year to tie the game 4-4. When Scheidt singled with one out, Austin Seward entered the game to replace starting pitcher Casey O'Rourke (2-5). After Seward hit SS Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) with a pitch, sophomore CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield HS) hit a grounder to third that was booted for an error and Scheidt race around to score from second with what proved to be the winning run.

The Wolverines added two runs in the seventh off Iowa ace lefty Tim Gudex, the All-Big Ten first team relief pitcher, as Bohm was hit by a pitch and Butler drew a walk to start things. With two outs Scheidt singled to right to drive in Bohm, but when the ball eluded Yoho for an error, Butler scored from first base and Scheidt made it to third. Mahler hit a long drive that CF Price caught near the warning track to end the rally.

Michigan added the final insurance run in the top of the eighth as Getz reached on a bunt single, and he moved to second on a throwing error by catcher Welker. Bohm had a 3-0 count, and after getting a called strike he singled to left for an 8-5 margin.

Iowa kept plugging away scoring as Yoho homered off Richard in the seventh moments after Bohm turned in an unassisted double play on a line drive by Lytle. In the eighth inning Iowa scored again and had the tying run at the plate when Tognetti retired the side.

Scheidt paced the 12-hit Wolverine attack against Iowa with three hits, while Getz, Bohm, Kunkel and Butler all chipped in with two hits.

Either Paul Hammond (Mason, Ohio/Mason HS), 3-3 with a 4.27 ERA, or Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College), 4-2 with 3.83, both senior/junior lefties, will get the nod on the mound Friday against Purdue. The winner of that game at 12:05 p.m. CDT stays to play against at 3:35 p.m. against the Illinois-Minnesota loser from Thursday's final contest.

N O T E S

Senior RH Phil Tognetti added his 68th career pitching appearance during the win over Iowa as he ranks fifth on U-M's all-time appearance list. Meanwhile senior/junior LHP Ali Husain made his 59th appearance in the Iowa game. Junior RHP Derek Feldkamp (Adrian, Mich./Blissfield HS) made his 59th appearance in Wednesday's game vs. Ohio State and they are tied with Bryan Cranson (59, 1997-2000) for 11th place on the all-time list.

Michigan's leading hitters after 57 games are: catcher Jeff Kunkel (69-for-172, .401), 1B Kyle Bohm (82-for-214, .383), 2B Chris Getz (81-for-212, .382), OF Matt Butler (72-for-20, .360), OF Eric Rose (41-for-136, 31) and 3B A.J Scheidt (53-for-179, .296).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423