Michigan
Purdue
Michigan Comes Up Short in Series Finale at Purdue
4/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue RF Neal Gorka drove in four runs with a double and homer to lead the host Boilermakers to a 10-5 win over the University of Michigan baseball team Sunday (April 23) to avoid a weekend sweep in the fourth game of the weekend series at Lambert Field.
The loss snapped a nine-game Big Ten winning streak for the Wolverines (23-14, 11-5 Big Ten). Michigan remains tied for first place in the conference as Penn State beat Northwestern 15-5 on Sunday in Evanston, Ill. Purdue moved its record to 21-15 with the win and evened its Big Ten record at 8-8.
Junior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) walked to open the game and was called out attempting to steal second base on a throw from Purdue catcher Eric Nielsen, who was making his first start of the season. Fifth-year senior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) singled up the middle with two outs to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, but the Wolverines did not score in the first inning for the first time this weekend and Purdue snapped a streak of seven straight games allowing a first inning run.
Sophomore 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) singled with one out in the second inning and advanced to second on a fielding error by John Cummins, the DH in the first three games. Freshman DH Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) hit a fly to center and senior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) popped to first.
Junior RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS) worked a 1-2-3 first inning, but the Boilermakers took the lead for the first time on the weekend as DH John Hunter led off the second with a walk and Big Ten co-Player of the Week Neal Gorka blasted his team-leading sixth homer of the year over the fence in left to make the score 2-0 for Purdue.
The Wolverine belted the ball around in the third inning as senior LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) hit a drive that was caught by CF Ryne White as he crashed into the fence in the deepest part of the park for the first out. Rose singled to left and was caught stealing for the second time, and junior SS Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) hit a long fly to White in center for the final out of the frame.
Purdue 3B Dane Wolfe singled to open the bottom of the third and SS Mitch Hilligoss followed with a hit-and-run single to right moving Wolfe to third. Following a strikeout, 1B Eric Wolfe and DH Hunter had RBI singles to chase Hess (2-1).
Sophomore/freshman Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Southlake) replaced Hess with two on and one out and closed out the jam with a flyout and a grounder to short.
The Wolverines scored twice in the fourth as Kunkel led off with a double to left and sophomore 2B Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) reached on a throwing error. RF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) drew a walk to load the bases and Recknagel walked to drive in the first run. DH Abraham hit a sacrifice fly to left to make the score 4-2, but Scheidt grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Purdue came right back and scored four runs to chase Powers and bring DH Abraham into the game to pitch. The Wolfe brothers did most of the damage with 3B Dane getting a run-scoring double and 1B Eric getting a two-out, two-run single to knock Powers out of the game.
Rose doubled and Kunkel walked in the top of the fifth, but Purdue starter Ricky Heines (4-0) got Pickens to end the inning.
Purdue went to the bullpen in the seventh as RHP Trae Dauby came into the game and the Wolverines scored three runs. Mahler reached on a strikeout wild pitch, Kunkel singled, and 2B Pickens doubled to right-center to make the score 8-3, and 1B Recknagel had a two-run single to make the score 8-5.
Abraham singled to bring the tying run to the plate, and freshman Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) pinch hit for Scheidt and SS Hilligoss made a great diving stop and throw behind second base to nip a diving Putnam at first for the final out of the inning.
Purdue added runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run double by Gorka, giving him four RBI for the game and a 10-5 lead after eight.
Purdue closer Chris Toneguzzi worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts in a non-save situation.
Rose and senior co-captain Kunkel each had three hits Sunday to account for six of U-M's 10 hits in the series finale.
The Wolverines' next action will be hosting Michigan State on Friday night (April 28, 6:35 p.m.) at Ray Fisher Stadium with freshman RHP Putnam (3-0, 2.45 ERA) slated to start.
N O T E S
In Big Ten action Sunday, Michigan was the only road team that did not win, falling 10-5 at Purdue. The other games had Penn State winning 15-5 at Northwestern, Ohio State claiming a 8-6 victory at Indiana to take over third place by itself, Minnesota prevailing 6-3 at Michigan State, and Iowa cruising to a 17-3 win at Illinois.
Big Ten Standings (Through 4/23/06)
1. MICHIGAN 11-5 .688 Northwestern 11-5 .688 3. Ohio State 9-7 .563 4. Michigan State 8-8 .500 Purdue 8-8 .500 Minnesota 8-8 .500 7. Illinois 7-9 .438 Penn State 7-9 .438 9. Iowa 6-10 .375 10. Indiana 5-11 .313
Catcher Jeff Kunkel extended his hit streak to 11 games with his first-inning single, and when he added a double in the fourth inning it was his 51st career multi-hit game.
Michigan's leading hitters after 37 games are: CF Eric Rose (42-for-110, .382), C Jeff Kunkel (46-for-128, .359), SS Leif Mahler (41-for-119, 345), 1B/C/DH Nate Recknagel (41-for-122, .336), LF/DH Adam Abraham (27-for-86, .314) and 2B/ OF Doug Pickens (40-for-131, .305).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
