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September 10, 1981 - Image 81

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1981-09-10

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 10, 1981-
Another trip to the Series
Pitching paces M' to 2nd straight Mideast cro

-Page 11-D,
wn

By MARTHA CRALL
At the beginning of the 1981 baseball
campaign, Michigan head coach Bud
Middaugh said, "The toughest thing to
do in sports is repeat as champion."
Based on that very reasonable
statement, Middaugh can boast of ac-
complishing "the toughest thing in
sports," as he closed his second year as
the Michigan mentor by again winning
the Big Ten championship and the
NCAA Mideast Regional, earning the-
Wolverines their second College World
Series (CWS) trip in as many years.
BUT ALSO FOR the second straight
year, it was Michigan which was
awakened early from its national
championship dream, by falling in its
* first two contests of the double-
elimination CWS, to Mississippi State,
4-0, and, finally, to Texas, 6-5.
Scott Elam was the ace of Mid-
daugh's young pitching staff. The
sophomore led Blue hurlers with a 1.88
earned run average en route to an 11-3
season. Gary Wayne also enjoyed con-
siderable success as a starter, winning
six and losing two, while giving up a
stingy 1.93 runs per game.

FRESHMAN BILL SHUTA, also a
member of the starting rotation,
finished with a 6-1 record and a 2.12
ERA. Rich Stoll compiled a 6-2 record
while primarily in a starting role, with
a 2.89 ERA. Sophomore Steve Ontiveros
became Middaugh's main man in the
bullpen and handled the new assign-
ment well, appearing in a record 21
games and finishing with a 7-5 record,
with 66 strikeouts and only 29 walks to
go along with a 2.44 ERA. All told,
Michigan hurlers compiled a 3.30 ERA
to their opponents' 5.45.
The season began with the spring trip
to Miami, Florida, from which
Michigan returned with a mediocre 6-7
record. The jaunt south was not really
considered a disappointment, however,
as some of the competition, such as
Florida International and Miami of
Florida, had begun their seasons much
earlier than the teams from the snow
belt.
,THE WOLVERINES THEN got in the
groove when they hit familiar territory,
starting their northern season by win-
ning four games in a row. By the time
the Big Ten schedule rolled around,

beginning at Columbus against arch-
rival Ohio State, the batsmen were 6-3.
They returned to Ann Arbor at 9-4, and
were off to a solid start in their quest for
their second league title in as many
years.
The route which the Wolverines took
to the championship was somewhat dif-
ferent than it had been in previops
years, as for the first time, the con-
ference was divided up into East and
West divisions, primarily to cut down
on travel expenses. The first- and
second-place finishers in each of the
two divisions would then advance to the
first-ever Big Ten Tournament, with
the winner of this double-elimination
series earning the crown.
The Wolverines finished 28-10 over
the regular season and 10-4 in the Big
Ten East, putting them on top of their
division. Purdue finished second in the
East standings, while Minnesota and
Illinois finished in the 1-2 spots in the
West division. And they all congregated
in Ann Arbor for the Big Ten Tour-
nament.
THE WOLVERINES WON each of
their first two games by one-run

margins, 4-3 over Illinois in the opener,
and 7-6 over Purdue the following day.
They needed only one win over Min- -
nesota to retain the coveted Big Ten
championship and got it with a 10-6 vic-
tory, earning themselves a berth in the
NCAA Mideast Regional and the privi-
lege of hosting the tournament.
Eastern Michigan, which won the
Mid-American Conference title by vir-
tue of a playoff, and the University of
New Orleans and Nevada Las Vegas,
two independents, invaded Ann Arbor
on Memorial Day weekend for one of
eight regionals played across the nation
to determine who would participate in
the CWS.
The host Wolverines got off to a poor
start, losing the opener to New Orleans,
2-1, despite an admirable pitching per-
formance by Elam. The road back
through the losers' bracket was long
and arduous; Michigan had to win four
games in a row to repeat as Mideast
champ.
BUT, OVERCOMING THE gloomy
odds, the Wolverines stormed their way
back, beating Nevada-Las Vegas, 6-2,
on Saturday, and coming back to
eliminate New Orleans in the opener on
Sunday before facing the unenviable
task of knocking off their previously
unbeaten (in the tourney) cross-
county rival from Eastern Michigan.
The Hurons had amassed 33 runs
against their first two opponents before
they faced Michigan. But the unin-
timidated Wolverines tightened their
belts and shut out Eastern on Sunday,
10-0, the first time any team had done so
all season.
Then came the championship game
before a packed Fisher Stadium on a
beautiful Memorial Day with Elam and
the Wolverines coming out on top of a 4-
0 score.
MICHIGAN WAS LED in the series,
and for most of the season, by junior
Jim Paciorek. Paciorek broke or tied
Michigan season records for games
(61), at-bats (224), hits (82), triples (8),
and total bases (125). The Mideast
Regional Most Valuable Player drove
in a team-high 46 runs on the year while
leading also in average with a .366.
mark.
Senior catcher Gerry Hool, the Big
Ten Tournament MVP, also played in
61 games and broke the record for
doubles with 19. Freshman third

baseman C
successful
the single-s
with 10 rou
baseman T
time outfi
have gradu
hitter Vic
Mark Clint
and Dave N
But ther

;hris Sabo concluded his very left for Middaugh in his quest for a third
rookie campaign by tying straight Big Ten crown. Centerfielder
season record for home runs Greg Schulte (.360) returns to anchqr
ndtrippers. Hool (.344), first the outfield; Sabo, Jeff Jacobson, and°.
Tim Miller (.309), and part- Tony Evans will be back in the infield;
elder Randy Wroten (.262) and John Young and Rich Bair, who.
uated, along with designated both saw action behind the plate last
Ray (.286), and pitchers season, bring experience to the big spot
ton (2-3), Joe Wissing (0-0), vacated by Hool. Middaugh will again-
Nuss (0-1). rely on his young but maturing pitching;
staff of three juniors and five -

Tis stun ia very soma nucleus

sophomores.

1981 Base ball Statistics

Name, Pos.
Paciorek, RF...............
Schulte, CF ....................
Sabo,31 .......................
Hool, C*.....................
Miller, 1B"..................
Young, C-DH..............
Evans, SS................
Ray, DH*......................
Wroten, LF'...................
Bair, C.....................
Erdmann, LF.............
Jacobson, 2B ..................
Stober, LF-IF .................
Froning, IF-OF............
Sygar. LF..................
Stol, P-LF................
Vela......................
MICHIGAN...............
Opponents ........
Froning ........... ....1
Elam......................17
Wayne..................13
Shuta ....................13
Ontiveros ..................21
Stoll........................18
Kopf .........................8
Clinton* .....................12
Bartlett. ................12
Wissing' ....................6
Dawson .....................4
Nuss* ........................21
* (Asterisk denotes those playersn
MICHIGAN .................61
Opponents ..............-.61
RECORD: 41-20; Big Ten 10-4;
World Series.

G
61
57
60
61
60
37
54
15
38
31
39
54
47
34
51
29
1
61
61

AB
224
189
185
218
175
85
174
21
65
66
65
150
96
45
31
27
1818
1755

HITTING
R H
46 82
49 68
34 63
36 75
44 54
9 26
27 53
4 6
14 17
7 17
9 16
27 35
16 22
7 8
15 5
6 4
355 551
219 399

28-38-H
15-8-4
9-4-3
11-1-1t
19-2-5
12-2-4
3-2-4
9-2-3
1-".
1-0-0
4-0-0
5.0-0
5-3-4
1-2-0
1-2-1
0-0-0
1-0-0
97-28-3
57-12-2

HR TB
4 125
94
0 106
5 113
82
45
75
7
18
21
21
58
27
16
5
5
8 818
5 557
ER
0
19
13
12
22
20
14
30
I5
10
16
4
175
281
Champs,

BB
23
42
16
1s
31
6
16
6
6
3
:5
22
21
3
14
4
233
277
BB
0
42
44
26
29
23
34
30
32
11
2
4
277
233

RBI
46'
35
40
43
22
27
9
7
11
23
8
5
3
2
311
187
iso
SO
60
41
26
66
-38
16
39
15
12
10
1

.366
.360
.343
.334
.306
.305
.286
.262
.258
.246
.233
.229
.178
.1311
.148
.303
.227
ERA
0.00
1.88
1.93
2.1'2
2.44
2.89
4.30-
5.03'
5.87:
10.29
21.56
3.30
5.45.

SAV W-L
0 0-0
0 11-3
0 6-2
0 6-1
4 7-5
1 6-2
0 1-1
1 2-3
1 1-1
0 0-0
0 1-1
*0 0-1
not returning in
7 41-20
1 20-41
Big Ten Chan

PITCHING
IP
91
60%
51
81
621
29%/
53%
23 1
14
1%
1982.)
477%
464% 5

H
0
70
31
33
61
60
34
55
11
13
27
4
399
551

R
0
25
23
15
28
24
19
34
15
10
18
8

M

219
355

:124
187

mps, Mideast Regional

7th place in the College

.

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Daily Photo by PAUL tNGSTKM
SOPHOMORE STEVE ONTIVEROS winds up on the mound for the Wolverines, Ontiveros began the 1981 season as
a starter, but was moved to the bullpen in midseason and responded admirably. He ended up appearing in a record
21 games on his way to a 7-5 win-loss slate, a 2.44 ERA, and a team-high 66 strikeouts.

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