Taylor Tosses Two-Hitter as Co-Captains Spark Sweep

Sunday, March 26

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:35 PM

Michigan

10-7

Oakland

1-17

Oakland University

Michigan

3/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Boxscore: Game 1 | Game 2

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Fifth-year senior LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College) tossed a two-hitter in the opener and the University of Michigan defeated Oakland University 3-2 and 8-5 to complete the weekend sweep in college baseball action Sunday afternoon (March 26) in Ray Fisher Stadium.

Sophomore/freshman RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) allowed one earned run in five innings in the second game to record his first career win and give the Wolverines (10-7) a five-game winning streak. Fifth-year senior LHP Paul Hammond (Mason, Ohio/Mason HS) worked the final two innings of the weekend series to record his first save of the year.

Senior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) snapped a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning of the opener with his second homer of the year and his eighth career game-winning RBI.

Fifth-year senior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) reached base six times in seven plate appearances in the doubleheader sweep and was 3-for-4 with two walks and a HBP in the Sunday action. Scheidt, Kunkel, Hammond and Taylor are the Wolverine co-captains for 2006.

Sophomore Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice), who played second base in the opener and in right field in the second game, hit his team-leading fourth homer of the year to give U-M a 2-1 lead in the second inning of the opener.

Taylor (1-2) allowed two hits and two runs while pitching Michigan's first complete of the season. He fanned three batters to push his U-M career total to 100 while collecting his 14th career win. Taylor has six career complete games.

Michigan took the lead in the first inning of the second game on back-to-back doubles by junior SS Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) and sophomore DH Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion). Mahler, who was held hitless in the opener, was 3-for-4 in the second game, and Recknagel, who transferred from Oakland, hit .313 (5-for-16) for the weekend with three RBI.

Oakland (1-17) grabbed the lead against Fetter with a two-out triple by Drew Jenison, but the Wolverines scored four times in the second inning to take the lead for good. Oakland led in all four games in the series.

Scheidt opened the second inning with a single and advanced to second on a fielding error in right. Pickens struck out but reached first on a wild pitch as the catcher missed a swipe tag and did not throw to first.

Scheidt and Pickens pulled off a double steal, and freshman 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) followed with a bases-clearing triple and the Wolverines had the lead, 3-2. It was Cislo's first "gamer" as a Wolverine. Cislo scored on a Mahler single, and the final run scored by junior CF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Riveres School) came in on a double-play grounder.

Michigan added a run in the fourth as sophomore Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) hit a sacrifice fly to score Mahler. Senior OF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) hit a solo homer, his third of the year and the ninth of his career, to make the score 7-4 in the fifth inning. The final U-M run came in the sixth inning as VanBuskirk singled, reached second on a passed ball, and scored on Kunkel's single up the middle.

Kunkel and Mahler each had three hits in the doubleheader to pace the 15-hit attack for the Wolverines as U-M collected its first doubleheader sweep of the year and first four-game weekend sweep.

The Wolverines host Bowling Green in the first mid-week home game of the season on Tuesday (March 28, 3:05 p.m.) with junior RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) with a 1-0 record and a 9.00 ERA expected to be the starter in a game that could feature many pitchers.

N O T E S

OF Mike Schmidt and catcher Jeff Kunkel each hit .583 for the weekend, collecting seven hits in 12 at-bats. Schmidt had a double and two homers to drive in six runs, and he had a 1.167 slugging percentage for the four-game sweep. Kunkel had three walks and had a .688 on-base percentage for the series. Schmidt and Kunkel each have four-game hitting streaks to lead the team.

Michigan's leading hitters after 17 games are: OF Mike Schmidt (11-for-28, .393), SS Leif Mahler (25-for-65, 385), 1B/C/DH Nate Recknagel (17-for-52, .327), CF Eric Rose (17-for-52, .327), C Jeff Kunkel (18-for-59, 305) and 1B/OF Derek VanBuskirk (17-for-57, 298).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423