U-M Settles for Doubleheader Split at Michigan State

Saturday, April 29

Lansing, Mich.

3:05 PM

Michigan

25-14, 13-5

Michigan State

20-20, 8-10

Michigan

Michigan State

4/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Lansing, Mich. (Oldsmobile Park)
Scores: Michigan 6, Michigan State 2; Michigan State 7, Michigan 6
Records: U-M (25-15, 13-6 Big Ten), MSU (21-20, 9-10 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 30 -- vs. Michigan State (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1:05 p.m.

LANSING, Mich. -- Fifth-year senior LHP Paul Hammond (Mason, Ohio/Mason) pitched his third complete game of the season and senior LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) hit his team-leading eighth home run to snap a 2-2 tie as the University of Michigan baseball team beat Michigan State 6-2 in the opener of Saturday's (April 29) Big Ten doubleheader at Oldsmobile Park.

MSU (21-10, 9-10 Big Ten) bounced back to win the second game 7-6 as the teams exchanged three-run rallies in the seventh and final inning with CF Adam Tripp's game-winning single with the bases loaded snapping a 6-6 tie.

The Wolverines (25-15, 13-6 Big Ten) dropped into second place as Northwestern beat Iowa 9-8, scoring five runs in the seventh to win. The second game was not played due to bad weather and will be played as part of doubleheader Sunday in Iowa City.

The first-game pitching matchup featured Michigan's Hammond (4-3) against MSU senior Jeff Gerbe.

Junior shortstop Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) singled to right with one out in the first inning for his fifth consecutive hit in the series, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Fifth-year senior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) singled to right after fouling off several pitches on a 3-2 count to make the score 1-0.

Sophomore 2B Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) followed with an infield single, but sophomore 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

MSU shortstop Troy Krider hit Hammond's first pitch for a double to the opposite field as U-M LF Schmidt missed a diving catch effort near the line. Following a walk to RF E.J. Daws, Hammond got out of the inning with a strikeout and a 6-4-3 double play started by Mahler and finished with a fine backhand pickup by Recknagel.

MSU 1B Steve Gerstenberger led off the third with a single, and 3B Oliver Wolcott's sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a single, putting runners on first and second. SS Krider moved the runner up a base with a sac bunt to Hammond.

Daws hit a grounder into the hole at short and Mahler made a strong throw for the out at first as the tying run crossed the plate. With a runner on third with two outs DH Kyle Day hit a shot up the middle that Hammond turned into a 1-3 out to end the inning.

Michigan regained the lead in the top of the fourth on consecutive singles by Pickens, Recknagel and freshman DH Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) to make the score 2-1, but again U-M grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Hammond hit MSU's 2B Alan Cattrysse with a 1-2 pitch to open the bottom of the fourth inning, and Cattrysse moved up on a bunt and scored the tying run on a single by LF Ryan Basham with U-M junior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) making a fine play in the gap to hold the play to a single. Catcher Sean Walker popped a single behind first and Basham was almost forced at second. Hammond got out of the inning on a fly to right and a grounder to second.

U-M senior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) opened the fifth with a triple to right-center, and LF Schmidt pounded his team-leading eighth homer on the embankment in left for a 4-2 lead.

Rose hit a grounder to short and reached on a throwing error, and he collected his 22nd stolen base of the year. Pickens hit a double down the third-base line to score Rose with the fifth run, and Recknagel singled in Pickens for a 6-2 lead and the final runs in the opener.

MSU 2B Cattrysse lined a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth to put runners on second and third for CF Tripp, and he lined out to defensive replacement Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) at second base to end the inning.

Hammond allowed just one hit in the last two innings and caught a line drive and turned it into a game-ending double play.

The second pitching match up was U-M's sophomore/freshman RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), the Big Ten ERA leader in league action, facing RHP Craig Brookes.

MSU grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first when leadoff batter SS Krider hit his first homer of the year off the foul pole down the leftfield line. Krider had a double and a homer in his two first-inning at-bats on Saturday.

Brookes limited Michigan to just one hit, Kunkel's two-out first inning single, over the first four innings.

Meanwhile, the Spartans chased Fetter with a three-run fourth inning which RF Jamey Embree started with a double down the first-base line. MSU had RBI singles from Tripp, Krider and Gerstenberger. An error by Mahler at shortstop in the middle of the rally made the last two runs unearned as MSU took a 4-0 lead.

The Wolverines bounced back with three runs in the fifth as they loaded the bases on singles by Recknagel, sophomore RF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) and Scheidt. Schmidt drove in two runs with a single to right, cutting the MSU lead to 4-2, and Rose came to the plate with runners on the corners and singled to left, making the score 4-3.

The MSU defense came through moments later with Krider robbing Mahler with a 6-5 fielder's choice play at third for the second out of the inning on his only play on a grounder in the hole. Rose was called out attempting to steal third base to end the inning.

The Wolverines took the lead in the top of the seventh, scoring three unearned runs after VanBuskirk reached on an error by shortstop Krider. Scheidt doubled to the gap in left-center, sending pinch runner Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) to third. Schmidt struck out for the second out, but Rose singled to center to give Michigan the lead, 5-4.

Rose stole second base, his 23rd steal of the year, and scored on Mahler's bouncing single to left, his team-leading seventh hit of the weekend.

The Spartans rallied against senior RHP Craig Murray (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) as Krider made up for his error with his fourth hit of the game and Gerstenberger reached on a fielding error at first base by Recknagel. LB Basham grounded out, driving in Krider, and that was the only out U-M recorded in the inning. Murray (4-2) worked three innings.

MSU catcher Kyle Day singled to tie the game at 6-6, and after a pair of walks, one by Murray and one by fifth-year senior LHP Ali Husain (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti), DH/RHP Abraham gave up the final hit to Tripp to snap the tie.

Scheidt paced the Wolverines with four hits in the doubleheader, while Recknagel, Mahler, Kunkel and Pickens each had three of the 22 U-M hits in Lansing.

The Wolverines close out the weekend by hosting MSU for a single game on Sunday (April 30, 1:05 p.m.) with junior RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) on the mound. Hess is 2-1 with a 5.23 ERA.

N O T E S

Saturday's graduation ceremonies at Michigan Stadium included eight members of the Wolverine baseball team: Ali Husain, Jeff Kunkel, Alex Martin (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), Craig Murray, Jeff Niemiec (Livonia, Mich./Catholic Central), A.J. Scheidt, Mike Schmidt and Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College).

Ken Hayward (1982-85), who played in a Wolverine-record 234 baseball games and has the highest career batting average at .376, was on hand at the doubleheader at Oldsmobile Park.

In Big Ten baseball action Saturday Northwestern took over first alone, scoring five runs in the seventh to beat Iowa 9-8. The second game was not played due to weather and will be made up on Sunday (April 30). U-M's split with MSU dropped the Wolverines into second, and Ohio State swept Purdue, 4-0 and 4-1, to remain in third place. MSU is still tied for fourth, but only with Illinois and Minnesota as they split with the host Gophers winning the opener 9-5 while Illinois won the second game 5-4. Indiana moved out of last place by sweeping Penn State 3-2 and 3-0.

Big Ten Standings (through 4/29/06)

 1. Northwestern 13-5 .722 2. MICHIGAN 13-6 .684 3. Ohio State 12-7 .632 4. Michigan State 9-10 .474 Illinois 9-10 .474 Minnesota 9-10 .474 7. Penn State 8-11 .421 Purdue 8-11 .421 9. Indiana 7-12 .368 10. Iowa 6-12 .333

Sophomore 1B Nate Recknagel extended his hitting streak to six games after Saturday's doubleheader.

Michigan's leading hitters after 40 games are: SS Leif Mahler (48-for-130, .369), CF Eric Rose (44-for-122, .361), C Jeff Kunkel (49-for-139, .353), 1B/C/DH Nate Recknagel (45-for-131, .344), 2B/ OF Doug Pickens (45-for-143, .315), LF/DH Adam Abraham (29-for-96, .302) and 3B A.J. Scheidt (37-for-126, .294).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423