Michigan
Iowa
Bonner Hurls Michigan to Win in Big Ten Opener
3/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site:Â Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa Field)
Score:Â Michigan 6, Iowa 3
Records:Â U-M (9-10, 1-0 Big Ten), Iowa (9-10, 0-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game:Â Saturday, March 28 -- DH at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), noon CST
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Michigan baseball team scored four runs in the first inning, and that was enough for Luke Bonner (Taylor, Mich./Divine Child HS) as the senior hurled the Wolverines to a 6-3 victory over Iowa on Friday (March 26) in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. The Wolverines and Hawkeyes are both 9-10 overall.
Bonner (3-2) went the distance for the second time in his last three starts, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out six. In his last three outings, Bonner has allowed just six earned runs in 26 1/3 innings for a 2.05 earned run average. Iowa's James Magrane (2-1) suffered the loss a week after beating third-ranked Miami (Fla.) and earning MVP honors at the Homestead (Fla.) Challenge.
With one out in the first inning, Jason Alcaraz (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS) and Mike Cervenak (New Boston, Mich./Divine Child HS) rapped back-to-back triples to score one run, and Rob Bobeda's (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt HS) safety-squeeze bunt scored Cervenak. Brian Bush (Warren, Ohio/Howland HS) singled to keep the rally alive, and Bryan Besco (Westland, Mich./John Glenn HS) slugged a two-run homer to put the Wolverines up 4-0.
In the bottom of the inning, the first three Hawkeyes recorded hits, but after yielding two runs, Bonner settled down and held Iowa hitless until the fifth inning.
Michigan added a run in the fourth as David Parrish (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) doubled and scored when Magrane threw wildly to first on Rob Tousa's (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) bunt single.
Iowa cut the lead to 5-3 on Brian Mitchell's sixth-inning solo homer, his Hawkeyes-record 41st of his career. Michigan tacked on an insurance run in the ninth inning as Bobby Scales (Roswell, Ga./Milton HS) led off with a triple and Alcaraz doubled into the right-field corner for his second two-bagger of the day.
Alcaraz, Cervenak, Bush and Besco each recorded two hits as seniors accounted for 10 of Michigan's 12 hits. Besco's homer was his second of the season and the 25th of his career, tying him with Barry Larkin (1983-85) for seventh place on U-M's all-time list.
The two teams continue their four-game series with a doubleheader -- two seven-inning contests -- Saturday (March 27) at noon CST.
