Taylor, Garza Master Spartans in Doubleheader Sweep

Saturday, April 19

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

17-16, 5-7

Michigan State

11-22, 4-8

Michigan State

Michigan

4/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 2, Michigan State 1; Michigan 12, Michigan State 0
Records: U-M (18-16, 6-7 Big Ten), MSU (11-23, 4-9 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, April 20 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 1 p.m.

• Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan sophomore LHP Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ontario/Upper Canada College) and junior RHP Bobby Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS) pitched complete-game victories and limited Michigan State to one run in a 2-1, 12-0 Big Ten baseball sweep Saturday afternoon (April 19) at Ray Fisher Stadium.

Taylor (4-1) pitched the opener, allowing eight hits and the run, and gained the win as the Wolverines (18-16, 6-7 Big Ten) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was Taylor's second straight Big Ten complete-game victory as he dropped his ERA to 4.89, tops among U-M starters.

In the second game Garza (4-1) recorded his first career shutout and the second for the Wolverines this season. The complete game over the Spartans (11-23, 4-9 Big Ten) was the second for Garza as he retired nine of the last 10 batters and had all four strikeouts in the last two innings. He shares the team strikeout lead (37) with sophomore RHP Michael Penn (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian HS).

Senior LF Jordan Cantalamessa (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and sophomore DH Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS), former high school teammates, each had four hits in the doubleheader to pace the Wolverine offense.

MSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning of the opener on three consecutive singles after two outs, with LF Erik Morris driving in the run. Morris was 5-for-6 in the doubleheader and he has six hits in the series.

MSU RHP Tim Day (2-6) was the hard-luck loser in the opener as Michigan scored twice in the bottom of the sixth on just one hit to claim the 2-1 victory. Day hit senior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) with a pitch to open the sixth. Junior Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS) hit a grounder to short to force Koman and he advanced to second on a walk to fifth-year senior 1B Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS).

Cantalamessa dropped a double into left-center, the lone hit of the inning, to score Fox with the tying run and junior RF Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) drew an intentional walk to load the bases. With the score tied 1-1, redshirt freshman Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) was hit by a pitch to force Sokol home with the winning run.

The second game was not as dramatic as the Wolverines used a long three-run homer by Fox, his second homer of the weekend, to jump ahead in the first inning. The lead was 6-0 after three and the Wolverines doubled the score with a six-run outburst in the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run triple by freshman 2B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS).

Rudden, who made his DH debut in the doubleheader, was 2-for-3 in both games and had a run-scoring double in the second game as he moved his team-leading batting average to .425.

The Wolverine defense made several nice plays in the opener to keep the game within reach. Defensive gems included RF Roberts throwing out a runner at the plate with Fox making the tag, pitcher Taylor getting out of a first-and-third situation with no outs in the third inning with a 1-3 double play on a popup, and 3B Koman making three leaping grabs of line drives.

Michigan closes out the weekend series against Michigan State with an Easter Sunday (April 20, 1 p.m.) single game at Kobs Field in East Lansing, with sophomore Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS) listed as the probable starter for the Wolverines. Tognetti is 3-2 with a 5.61 ERA.

Notes

• Michigan has five complete games this season and four have come in doubleheader sweeps, with Bobby Garza collecting his two CGs in the second games of the sweeps of Iowa and MSU. Michael Penn had a shutout in the opener at Iowa and Drew Taylor had the other DH complete game. Taylor owns the fifth U-M complete game when he pitched the 4-3 nine-inning win vs. Illinois last weekend (April 13).

• Junior catcher Jake Fox is 7-for-17 so far this week with two doubles, two triples, two homers and 10 RBI. Fox is hitting .362 and he leads the team with 23 extra-base hits, including 14 doubles, two triples and 10 homers. He leads the team with 43 RBI and his .717 slugging percentage.

• The homer for Fox was the 23rd of his career to snap his tie for 11th on Michigan's all-time homer list with Derek Besco (22 homers, 1995-98) and Steve Finken (22, 1986-88). David Parrish (1998-2000) is 10th on the list with 25 homers.

• Fifth-year senior 1B Mike Sokol's 0-for-2 performance in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader snapped his Big Ten-only hitting streak at 11 games and his overall hitting streak at 10 games.

• Senior 2B/LF Jordan Cantalamessa, the only Wolverine with two hits vs. MSU on Friday, added four hits on Saturday in the doubleheader. He was 3-for-3 in the nightcap, his 40th career multiple-hit game as a Wolverine and sixth three-hit game.

• Senior CF Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS) was officially 0-for-1 in the second game of the twinbill, but he came to the plate each of the first four innings and was hit by a pitch, walked and hit a sacrifice fly that scored Scheidt with the final run of the game.

• Michigan's hitting leaders after 32 games include (37 plate appearances minimum): sophomore SS Nick Rudden (.425, 31-for-73), senior 3B Brock Koman (.390, 53-for-136), DH/OF/1B Mike Sokol (.376, 44-for-117), junior C Jake Fox (.362, 46-for-127) and senior OF Gino Lollio (.326, 42-for-129).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423