The Michigan baseball team had a rude awakening last weekend.

In the rigors of conference play, you can't win them all.

The Wolverines won all of their Big Ten series, including three sweeps, before Illinois stole two games from Michigan to split the series in a four-game split this weekend.

Neither Michigan nor Illinois has swept the other in 16 years.

The Fighting Illini used the doubleheader on Saturday to even the series, sweeping the day's two seven-inning games, 7-4 and 6-3.

In the opening game, junior Nate Recknagel blasted a two-run homer over the batter's eye in centerfield in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

After the shot, the Wolverines grabbed all of the momentum going into the eighth inning. Michigan coach Rich Maloney sent pitcher Michael Powers in to close out the game, but he was unable to seal the deal.

Illini pinch runner Nick Stockwell advanced to second on Michigan's sixth wild pitch of the game. Shortstop Shawn Roof's deep single drove Stockwell in, sparking a three-run inning that put Illinois up for good.

Although the bats saved the Illini (11-11 Big Ten, 24-22 overall) in the first game of the doubleheader, Illinois coach Dan Hartleb credits his pitching staff for the day's success.

"(Sophomores Scott) Shaw and (Mike) Stankiewicz had some tremendous adversity over the past two weeks, and to step up against the best lineup in the conference and control their offense like they did today is an outstanding job," Hartleb said through the Illinois athletic department. "They made quality pitches that Michigan was only able to hit off the end or the handle of their bats and that allowed us to make a lot of plays in the field."

The two losses snapped a 10-game winning streak, part of a stretch in which the Wolverines won 27 out of 29 games.

Maloney was not upset about the winning streak being snapped, admitting that baseball is not a game that is conducive to stringing together that many straight wins.

"It was unfortunate," Maloney said. "But that's baseball. We've been playing at such a high rate and winning at such a high rate, but baseball is bound to catch up with you eventually."

On Sunday, Michigan (17-3, 34-10) used RBI triples from senior Eric Rose and junior Derek VanBuskirk to spark four-run innings in the third and fifth to get back to its winning ways. The Wolverines doubled up the Illini, 10-5.

The Illinois pitching staff held the explosive Michigan offense in check throughout most of the weekend, but by Sunday the Illini bullpen was too tired to silence the Wolverine bats any longer.

The win salvaged the weekend for Michigan, which retained a two-and-a-half game lead atop the Big Ten standings.

"You're bound to lose some games, but when you lose two in a row, that's a lot of adversity," Maloney said. "In a 32-game conference season, every game counts, and you can't get that one back."