Page Sixteen THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, May 6, 1977 PageSixeenTHEMICHGANDAIY Fiday Ma 6,197 Blue nine ready for pennant drive By PAUL CAMPBELL The return to form of Rick Leach and the emergence of freshman Steve Howe as the ace of the pitching staff high- lighted the action of the Michigan base- ball team in the past two weeks. The Blue nine have won seven of their last ten games to raise their overall rec- ord to 19-11, including three of four Big Ten contests to raise their conference record to 5-3, This puts them in third place behind Ohio State (4-0) and Min- nesota (10-2). The Wolverines face the Buckeyes and Indiana in road double- headers this weekend. LEACH, HAVING finally pat the dis- tracting rigors of spring football practice behind him, broke out of his early season slump in grand style. The centerfielder from Flint collected eight hits in fourteen at bats during the four conference games to boost his Big Ten average to .391. The sophomore also upped his overall average 70 points to .260. He drove in five runs and now leads the team in that department. His slugging percentage for the four games was 1.000. FOR HIS PERFORMANCE, Leach was named Spring Athlete of the Week by the Big Ten. Meanwhile, most of coach Moby Bene- dict's worries about pitching staff depth have been alleviated by Howe's surpris- ing spurt. The freshman was hit hard in his first game this season in Florida, but since that time he has been the most effective hurler on the staff. HE HAS COMPLETED seven consecu- tive games, winning six and losing only one when Eastern Michigan managed two unearned runs in the fourteenth inning to win 3-2. "He's my ace," Benedict confirmed. "I've never had a freshman come in and do what Steve has done. He just takes control of the situation." Howe's season slate is 6-2, with an ERA of 2.06 in just under 60 innings. He leads the staff in all three departments. Michigan also swept Notre Dame, 6-1 and 8-3. Ohio State Minnesota MICHIGAN Wisconsin Iowa Northwester'n Michigan State Illinois Indiana Purdue BIG TEN BASEBALL BIG TEN W L Pet. GB 4 0 1.000 2 10 2 .833 - 5 3 .625 3 7 5 .583 3 7 5 .583 3 5 5 .500 4 4 4 .500 4 5 7 .417 5 1 5 .167 6 0 12 .000 10 ALL GAMES W L 17 18 22 9 19 11 16 18 34 10 19 12 16 20 17 21 18 17 9 22 Habs edge 76ers trip Rockets in opener, 128=117 ivy 'it Associated Press PHILADELPHIA-Julius Erv- ing scored 24 points and George McGinnis 21 as the two super- star forwards led the I~hitadet- phi 76ers to a 128-117 victory over the IHuston Rockets last> night in the opening game of their best-of-seven NBSA playoff semifinal. Philadelphia broke an 8-8 tie on a 20-footer by McGinnis and never trailed in the shoot- out of fast-breaking offenses. H o u ton ' s Moses Malone scored 32 points, 22 in the first half, to lead five Rockets in double figures. But the 76ersz were generally successful in shutting down the 6-foot-10 Ma- - a 4 lone in the second half. Doug Collins added 23 points MOSES MALONE of the Houston Rock for Philadelphia, Lloyd Free had just seen a ghost, but he's actually coll 18 and 6-foot-1'% Daryl Dawk- prepares to stuff one during last night's ins scored 15. against Philadelphia. The 76'ers won, 128 Major League Standings I slanders 2-1 Gainey's two goals lead Habs into Cup tilt against Boston By The Associated Press UNIONDALE, N. Y. - Two goals by Bob Gainey - the first coming after just seven seconds of play-carried the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 triumph last night over the New York Islanders, sending the Canadiens into the NtHL. playoff finals against the Boston Bruins. Canadiens' center Doug Jarvis won the game's opening faceoff from Bryan Trottier and tapped the puck back to defenseman Guy Lapointe. Lapointe bounced the disc off the left wing sideboard for Gainey, who sneaked behind defenseman Bert Marshall and sent a 20-foot shot into the net off the catching glove of New York goalie Glenn Resch. Gainey's second score came at 9:12 of the third period, when the speedy left wing took a pass from Murray Wilson and wristed the disc into the New York cage from five feet out. Montreal goalie Ken Dryden stopped 27 shots, losing his shut- out with nine seconds left in the game when a 55-foot shot by Denis Potvin streaked past his right leg. Join The Daily Sports Staff -come to 420 Maynard Street A Photo ets may look like he's ecting his energy as he NBA semi-final game -117. AMERICAN LEAGUE East - W L Milwaukee 14 8 New Yorw 13 10 Baltimore 11 9 Boston 12 10 Toronto 11 14 Cleveland 8 13 Detroit 0 14 Minnesota 15 10 Chicato 13 9 Kansas City 1 10 Oakland 14 11 Texas 11 9 California 9 15 Seattle 9 19 Yesterday's Games Boston 5, Seattle k Okiand 5, New York2 G 4'. 5' it; at; lv' NATIONAL LEAGUE East W L Pittsburgh 14 7 St. Louis 14 8 Montreal 11 9 Chicago 10 10 Philadelphia 9 11 New York 9 12 West Los Angeles 20 4 Cinocinati to in Houston t0 a4 San F'rancisco' 9 14 San Diego 10 17 Atlanta 8 16 Yesterday's Games Ciago 8,Houstons Miontrrai 7, San Francisco 1 Hardship list announced; King to turn pro early'? GH 2% 3 % 4' 5 9 10 11% 12 By The Associated Press NEW YORK-First team All-American Ber- nard King of Tennessee headed a list of 13 undergraduate players who are now eligible for the National Basketball Association's col- lege draft June 10. THE NBA ANNOUNCED yesterday the list of players who have renounced their remaining year or years of college eligibility for the lure of pro riches. The players can change their minds up to 24 hours before the start of the June 10 draft, allowing them to return to their college pro- grams. Other top players who have declared them- selves eligible for NBA selection next month are Kenny Carr, an Olympic forward from North Carolina State; Mike Thompson, 6-10 center from Minnesota;, Brad Davis, a slick guard from Maryland, and Freeman Williams, third-team All-American from Portland State who led the nation in scoring with more than 30 points per game last season. THE REST OF THE filing players were Larry Belin, Seminole Junior College in Se- minole, Okla.; Ray Epps, Norfolk State Col- lege; Brad Holland, UCLA; Earl Holmes, Los Angeles Mission College; Larry Moffitt, Na- vada-Las Vegas; James Redwine, East Wash- ington State; Frank Sanders, Southern Uni- versity, and Ray Tatum, Malone College. King, who led the Volunteers into the NCAA playoffs last season, renounced his college- eligibility last year but changed his mind be- fore the cutoff date, Kentucky Derby Bloodline champions are Reigh Count, 1928 winner, and Pensive, 1944 champ. Reigh Count sired Count Fleet, who won in 1943 and then sired Count Turf, the 1951 victor. Pensive sired Pon- der, the first one home in 1949. Ponder sired Needles, winner in 1956. Two Super Bowl teams have gone through an entire cham- pionship game without incur- ring a penalty. The Miami Dolphins did it against the Dal- las Cowboys while losing, 24-3, in 1972. And Pittsburgh also did it against Dallas in 1976 while winning, 21-17. nrr