Michigan
Michigan State
Wolverines Use Late Flurry to Top Spartans 9-2
4/30/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site:Â East Lansing, Mich. (Kobs Field)
Score:Â Michigan 9, Michigan State 2
Records:Â U-M (22-20, 9-8 Big Ten), MSU (24-17, 7-9 Big Ten)
Next U-M Games:Â Saturday, May 1 -- DH vs. Michigan State (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Senior righthander J.J. Putz (Trenton, Mich./Trenton HS) pitched a complete game and the University of Michigan baseball team scored twice in each of the last four innings to down Michigan State 9-2 Friday (April 30) in front of 1,250 fans at Kobs Field.
Putz evened his record at 3-3 on the season by scattering 10 hits and striking out six Spartans for his second consecutive complete game and third in his last four starts. The win improved Michigan's record to 22-20 on the season and 9-8 in the Big Ten Conference, strengthening the Wolverines' hold on fourth place in the league standings. Michigan State fell to 7-9 in the Big Ten and 24-17 overall.
The Spartans struck first, piecing together back-to-back two-out hits in the third inning to grab a 1-0 lead. Mike Wagner, who led the Spartans with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, doubled down the leftfield line and came around to score on a base hit by Carlos Fernandez.
However, the Wolverines responded with the equalizer in the top of the fourth. Brian Bush (Warren, Ohio/Howland HS), who finished the game 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, opened the inning with a double, moved to third on Jason Alcaraz's (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS) single and scored on Mike Cervenak's (New Boston, Mich./Dearborn Divine Child HS) sacrifice fly to leftfield.
Michigan broke the tie in the top of the sixth inning. Alcaraz led off with a walk and advanced to second on an error one play later. Bryan Besco (Westland, Mich./John Glenn HS) drove in Alcaraz with a double to right-center field. With two outs, Scott Tousa (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) reached on an infield single to drive in Cervenak, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.
One inning later, the Wolverines used a two-out rally to extend their lead to 5-1. Again, Alcaraz, who went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, was the catalyst, igniting the inning with a single. Cervenak kept the inning alive with a single, and Besco drove home Alcaraz with a single of his own. An error by the rightfielder on Besco's hit allowed Cerenak also to score on the play.
After MSU added a run in the bottom of the seventh to close the score to 5-2, the Wolverine offense responded with another two-run inning. Rob Bobeda (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt HS) started the inning with a single and moved to second on Tousa's sacrifice bunt. Bobby Scales (Roswell, Ga./Milton HS) added a one-out single, and an error by the leftfielder moved Scales to second and allowed Bobeda to score. Back-to-back singles by Dan Sanborn (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge HS) and Bush scored Scales to give Michigan a 7-2 lead.
The Wolverines closed the scoring in the ninth inning. Besco walked to start the inning and advanced on an error off of Mike Seestedt's (Mt. Plesant, Mich./Sacred Heart HS) fielder's choice. Seestedt and Besco moved up a base on a wild pitch and Besco scored on Bobeda's sacrifice fly. Tousa tripled to drive in the final run of the game.
Michigan and Michigan State play a doubleheader (two seven-inning games) tomorrow (Saturday, May 1) at 1 p.m. at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor before concluding the series back in East Lansing with a single game Sunday.
NOTES
• Senior RHP J.J. Putz has recorded back-to-back Big Ten complete games on the road (at Minnesota April 16 and at MSU April 30). His third Big Ten complete game was a seven-inning shutout vs. Illinois (April 3). Putz evened his overall record at 3-3 and he dropped his ERA to a team-leading 3.72.
• Sophomore SS Scott Tousa was in the middle of Michigan's two-run rallies at MSU. Tousa was 2-for-3 with two sacrifice bunts and drove in two runs and he also had a triple, giving him two three-baggers this year. Tousa, who wears uniform No. 2, had a run-scoring single with two outs in the sixth inning to knock in the second of U-M's two runs in that frame and closed out the scoring with his triple in the ninth.
• WTKA Radio will carry Saturday's (May 1, 1 p.m.) first game vs. Michigan State, with sports director Doug Karsch calling the action. Games carried by WTKA can be heard on the Internet.
• Senior 1B Bryan Besco's RBI double in the sixth inning proved to the game-winning hit. The double was the 43rd of his career to take over possession of seventh place on U-M's all-time doubles list, breaking the tie he had with twin brother Derek Besco (42 doubles, 1995-98).
• Senior CF Brian Bush went 3-for-5 to lead the 14-hit Wolverine attack at Michigan State. Bush extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games and moved his team-leading batting average to .371.
• Co-captain Bobby Scales is the only Wolverine to start all 42 games, and co-captain Mike Cervenak with 41 starts and senior RF Jason Alcaraz with 40 starts give the Wolverine three players who have played in all 42 games. In the MSU game, Scales had two hits, Alcaraz had two hits and Cervenak had one.
• With 263 career hits, Mike Cervenak is four shy of Ken Hayward's (267 from 1982-85) all-time Wolverine hit record.
