If a team scores just 20 runs in four college baseball games, it
would be safe to figure the team did not do too well. But 20 was
enough for the Michigan baseball team to take three of four from
the Iowa Hawkeyes (1-7 Big Ten, 8-19 overall) in Iowa City this
weekend.
- Michigan Baseball
- Michigan junior Kyle Bohm leads the Wolverines with a .400 average. (WILLA TRACOSAS/Daily)
On the strength of great pitching from starter Bobby Garza,
Michigan downed the Hawkeyes 2-1 yesterday to take the series.
Garza went 6.1 innings, giving up one earned run on just four hits.
Consistent pitching had been a problem for the Wolverines, but not
this weekend.
“Definitely the pitching staff is getting more
consistent,” relief pitcher Phil Tognetti said.
“Definitely the starting staff is doing a good job; they
showed that this weekend.”
While Garza silenced the Hawkeye bats for the first 6.1 innings,
Tognetti came in and pitched the final 2.2 innings to preserve the
victory.
Michigan didn’t have trouble putting runners on base, but
did struggle to score runs, as the game was tied at one going into
the ninth.
The Wolverines started the scoring yesterday in the fourth
inning. After loading the bases, second baseman Chris Getz drew a
walk, scoring shortstop Jeremy Goldschmeding. But Michigan (5-3,
15-12) could not capitalize anymore than that in the inning.
Iowa bounced back in the bottom of the inning when second
baseman Andy Lytle singled home first baseman Mike Best. But, just
like Michigan, Iowa could not get any more runs in the inning.
The best scoring chance after the fourth happened in the seventh
inning, as Iowa had runners at second and third with just one out.
Tognetti came in for Garza and got Michigan out of the jam, forcing
a foul-out to the catcher and a fly-out to center.
The pitchers’ duel continued until the ninth, when
Michigan went up to bat. The inning started out poorly for the
Wolverines as two quick outs had Iowa ready to get out of the
inning. But first baseman Kyle Bohm singled to left field to start
a two-out rally. With Bohm on first, third baseman A.J. Scheidt
doubled to center field. Knowing that there were two outs, Bohm was
running on the pitch.
“When he hit it I thought it was a routine fly ball, but I
was running hard; I saw that he was going to send me home,”
Bohm said. “I thought we took care of business. These are the
kind of weekends where we have to win three out of four to get
closer to our goal of winning the Big Ten Championship.”
With that hustle, Bohm was able to score all the way from first.
Tognetti finished the game, getting the win for Michigan.
Good pitching was the theme all weekend, as Michigan had two
shutouts on Saturday. Sophomore Derek Feldkamp got things started,
dominating Iowa by yielding just four hits and no walks. Junior
Michael Penn followed Feldkamp’s shutout by throwing his
second shutout of the year, holding Iowa to just four hits in the
process. This was the first time Michigan pitchers had shutouts on
the same day since March 2002.
While pitching was the key to the weekend, the Wolverines also
displayed some good hitting. Getz led the Michigan hitters this
weekend with eight hits and five RBI.
The team’s batting leader, Bohm, also had a good weekend,
increasing his average to .400 on the year.
Michigan’s victories on Saturday were the 299th and 300th
for manager Rich Maloney in his career. But Maloney said he was
happier about getting the three victories than earning his
milestone victory.