Wolverines Beat Gophers for Big Ten Tournament Crown

Sunday, May 28

Ann Arbor, Mich.

12:05 PM

Michigan

42-19

Minnesota

34-26

Minnesota

Michigan

5/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team showed it deserved its top seed, winning 9-4 over the Golden Gophers to clinch the Big Ten Tournament championship on Sunday (May 28). The victory was U-M's fourth straight win of the tournament and second straight over fourth-seed Minnesota.

Michigan earned the Big Ten's automatic berth in the NCAA Championship, putting the Wolverines in the national tournament for the second straight year. Pairings for the June 2-5 regionals will be announced at 12:30 p.m. Monday (May 29) on ESPN.

Sophomore 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), fifth-year senior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest), senior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) and junior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) were honored as all-tournament selections. Freshman DH/P Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) was honored three times, as a first-team pitcher and designated hitter and as the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Michigan's bats were blazing in the deciding game of the tournament. Every Michigan starter recorded at least one hit, with Rose leading the pack by going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in.

U-M broke onto the scoreboard early, scoring a single run in the first inning. Recknagel knocked a single through the infield and stole second to move himself into scoring position. With two outs, sophomore Doug Pickens' (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) single up the middle drove in Recknagel to give the Wolverines the 1-0 lead.

Michigan added to its lead in the next inning with an RBI single by Rose. Scheidt started off the two-out rally with a single and senior Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) drew a free pass. With two on and two out, Rose sent another single up the middle that scored Scheidt for the 2-0 Wolverine lead after two innings of play.

Minnesota answered with a run of its own in the top of the third after a Michigan miscue put a runner in scoring position. Mike Mee lined a shot to junior Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) at shortstop. Mahler knocked down the ball, but an errant throw to first base allowed Mee to advance to second. Andy Hunter used the opportunity to drive the runner in with a bloop single to rightfield, making the score 2-1 in favor of Michigan. Senior Craig Murray (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) set down the next two Gopher batters, but a hard hit that fooled Scheidt moved Hunter to third. With Minnesota poised to tie the game, Dan Lyons grounded out to end the threat.

The Maize and Blue tallied its third two-out run of the game on a solo homer by Abraham in the third inning. Abraham took the first-pitch offering from Marcus McKenzie and drove it over the leftfield fence for his sixth home run of the year, giving the Wolverines the 3-1 advantage.

Michigan turned up the heat in the fourth, pouring five additional runs onto its lead. Sophomore Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) sneaked a single past the diving Nate Hanson at third base and Scheidt's drive bounced off the rightfield wall. Schmidt laid down a bunt that the Minnesota catcher chose to toss to third base, where VanBuskirk was called safe on the fielder's choice to put a runner on every base for U-M.

With the bases juiced and no outs, Minnesota skipper John Anderson replaced McKenzie with Tyler Oakes. Rose looped a single into shallow centerfield to drive VanBuskirk and Scheidt across home plate for his second and third RBI of the game. Still with no outs, Mahler set down a slow-rolling bunt that Oakes was unable to field in time to make a play and Michigan re-loaded the bases on the bunt hit.

After facing just two U-M batters, Oakes was pulled and Andy Peters entered the lineup for the Gophers to face Recknagel. The Michigan first baseman hit a sacrifice fly out to leftfield and Schmidt tagged up and easily trotted home. A wild pitch moved both Wolverines over. With first base open, Minnesota chose to intentionally walk Abraham and face Kunkel.

The gamble proved costly for the Gophers when Kunkel drove in a pair of runs on a single to centerfield. Kunkel's hit effortlessly scored Rose, and a fielding error by Matt Nohelty allowed Mahler to cross the plate as well. Michigan ended the bottom of the fourth with five runs on five hits and one Minnesota error for an 8-1 lead.

Minnesota pushed across a run in the visitor's half of the fifth off a sacrifice fly by Hanson. Hunter and Kyle Baran led off with a pair of singles, and Lyons was hit by a Murray pitch to load the bases with no outs. Hanson hit a fly ball out to rightfield that gave Hunter the chance to tag up and score. After another flyout to VanBuskirk, Murray plunked his second man of the inning and was replaced by sophomore/freshman Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake). Coming into the game with two outs and the bases loaded, Powers got pinch hitter Bryan Jost to fly out to centerfield to again stymie the Minnesota offense.

Another sacrifice fly permitted the Gophers inched closer to Michigan in the top of the sixth. Mee turned a one-out pitch into a single to left-center and moved over to third when Hunter singled as well. Baran flew out to Schmidt to push Mee across home plate and pull Minnesota within 8-3.

The Maize and Blue extended its lead to 9-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning. With Schmidt on second base after a single and a sacrifice bunt, Recknagel was intentionally walked to bring up Pickens. The Wolverine second baseman reached base on a fielding error by the centerfielder that also allowed Schmidt to score.

In the top of the ninth, Minnesota mounted a final attempt at the Michigan lead, but the Michigan defense proved to be too strong for the Gophers. Lyons led off the inning with a double to leftfield and advanced to third with two outs. Pinch hitter Taylor VanderAarde singled through the right side to score Lyons, but Powers retired Nohelty on a groundout to Recknagel to end the game.

N O T E S

With the Big Ten Tournament championship, Michigan improves to 5-2 against the Golden Gophers this season. U-M took the regular season series 3-1 (April 7-9) in the Metrodome. The Wolverines faced Minnesota three times in the tournament, winning two straight to clinch the championship.

Michigan improves to 15-4 against Big Ten opponents at Ray Fisher Stadium for the 2006 season.

Michigan's tournament championship is its first since 1999 when it beat Minnesota 12-11 in the deciding game. This marks the first time that U-M clinched both the overall regular-season crown and the tournament title in its history. Previously, Michigan won the both division and tournament titles in 1981, '83, '84, '86 and '87.

The Wolverines filled six All-Big Ten Tournament slots, with Adam Abraham filling two of them on his own. The last time a team captured six spots in the balloting was the 2002 Ohio State team.

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423