April 9, 2004
IOWA CITY – Sophomore Kevin Sunderman’s RBI single in the 13th inning drove in L.J. Mims to give Iowa a 6-5 victory over Michigan at Duane Banks Field on Friday night. Sophomore Tim Gudex struck out four in four innings of two-hit relief, while Aaron Reasland picked up his third win of the season.
In the final frame, Mims led off the inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Kris Welker. After strikeout by Jesse Brownell, Michigan intentionally walked left-handed hitter Nate Yoho to set up the encounter with the right-handed Sunderman.
Iowa propelled in the 13th after leaving runners in scoring position the previous three innings. In the 12th, the Hawkeyes loaded the bases with nobody out, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t plate the winning run. Freshman Dan Lenz pitched the Wolverines out of the jam by getting Jeff Gremley to hit into a game-saving 6-4-3 double play.
The Hawkeyes used a four-run seventh inning take a 5-3 lead over the Wolverines. Designated hitter Cole Grandfield got things started by reaching on an error to start the inning. Second baseman Andy Lytle followed with a single that fell just in front of right fielder Matt Butler. Gremley laid down a sacrifice bunt and he reached on a throwing error by Michigan catcher Jeff Kunkel to load the bases.
Mims singled to knock in Grandfield and Welker hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. After Brownell line out to third, Yoho singled to left field to give the Hawkeyes a 5-3 advantage.
The Wolverines fought back in the eighth inning, plating two runs to even the score. With one out, Michigan loaded the bases off Iowa starter Nathan Johnson. Pinch hitter Chris Burhans knocked in the first run on a groundout to third and pinch runner Mike Schmidt tied the game on a passed ball.
Michigan came out of the gates quickly jumping to 2-0 lead in the first inning. 2B Chris Getz led off the game with a double to the warning track in right centerfield and scored on Butler’s RBI double down the right field line. The Wolverines plated their second run on an RBI single to left field by clean-up hitter A.J. Scheidt.
Michigan added another run in the third inning. With one out, Getz and Butler each reached on errors and stole a base. Getz crossed the plate on a wild pitch Johnson.
The Hawkeyes began chipping away at the deficit by scoring one run on three singles in the fourth. Third baseman Luis Andrulonis singled up the middle with two outs to drive in Welker to make the score 3-1.
Johnson tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in 8 1/3 inning of work, while allowing three earned runs and eight hits. Mims and Andrulonis collected three hits in the game. Brownell extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games, the longest streak by a Hawkeye this season.
The series will resume tomorrow afternoon at Duane Banks Field with the first game of the doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.