4
Softball
vs. Western Michigan
Tuesday, 1 p.m.
Varsity Softball Diamond
SPORTS
Baseball
vs. Western Michigan
Wednesday, 1 p.m.
Ray Fisher Stadium
The Michigan Daily
Monday, March 31, 1986
Page 10
I
'M' batsmen sweep outclassed Adrian
By SCOTT G. MILLER
April Fools' Day came early for
Michigan yesterday as the Wolverines
annihilated Adrian College 8-2 and 11-
0 at Ray Fisher Stadium.
The doubleheader sweep completed
a busy weekend for coach Bud Mid-
daugh's squad. On Friday, the
Wolverines split a twinbill at Miami of
Ohio, losing the first game, 4-3, and
winning the second, 7-5. Michigan
beat the Redskins twice Saturday, 10-
l and 6-5.
"I AM a little disappointed," said
Middaugh of the weekend. "I was
hopeful that we could take them all."
Adrian couldn't hope to take
anything. The Bulldogs resembled a
softball team out for a Sunday after-
noon of sun and fun.
The party began when Michigan
starter Kevin Gilles was chased from
the mound. Gilles surrendered three
hits and two runs while not retiring a
batter. The bad joke seemed to be on
the Wolverines.
"(THEIR lead) may have startled
us," said Middaugh, "but we would
have been ready to play regardless."
That readiness was displayed in the
form of three runs in the bottom half
of the first. Eight Michigan hitters
came to the plate in the stanza, and
the Wolverines never looked back.
The first and second hitters in the
lineup, center fielder Eddie Woolwine
and designated hitter Kourtney
Thompson, batted once in each of the
first four innings. First baseman Hal
Morris led the offense with two hits
and two RBIs.
RUSS REIN, backup quarterback
on the football team, pitched three-
and-one-third innings in relief for his
first collegiate victory. Paul Wenson
notched his first save of the season,
striking out seven, including five bat-
ters in a row.
The second game was a laugher
from start to finish. The Wolverines
scored two in the first and two in the
second off Bulldog starter Mike
Skuratovich. Batting practice began
in the third inning. Adrian relief pit-
cher Steve Thallman faced ten batters
and surrendered four hits and five
runs. The telling blow was a Morris
triple that knocked in two.
While the Bulldog pitchers
struggled, Michigan starter John
Grettenberger breezed for five in-
nings,giving up four hits and striking
out six.
THE WOLVERINES' total com-
mand made the contest appear to be a
scrimmage. "I think any time you
play it is totally different than a
scrimmage," said Middaugh.
"Scrimmages only have certain value
you can see. There is no uneasiness,
and people know each other. Even if
you bring in umpires it is not the
same."
Don't tell the Michigan players that.
Though they failed to capitalize on
numerous scoring opportunities, the
Wolverines were as relaxed as if it
were an intra-squad game. The entire
team rose to cheer on the batters in
the fifth and sixth innings when six
straight pitchers came to the plate.
Grettenberger and Greg Everson
walked. Wenson flied out to center
while Jim Abbott and Scott
Kamieniecki grounded out. Dave
Karasinski was the only one to strike
out.
"You can get into switches where
you lose the DH," said Middaugh,
"Pitchers love to hit, and they will
have to be ready for the conference
games."
FOR THOSE conference games the
team's offense must improve. Despite
the 19 runs scored against Adrian,
Middaugh wasn't overjoyed.
"We're not hitting as aggressively
as we did down South," commented
the Wolverine, head man. "We're not
driving the ball."
Michigan hopes the aggressiveness
will return as the team travels South
to Bowling Green for a double header
on the real April Fools' Day.
Dogged
R H E
Adrian .................2000000 2 7 2
MICHIGAN..............320 300 X 8 10 2
Adrian: Donat,Straub (2), Burgess (4) and Rainey
M: Gilles, Rein (1), Wenson (4) and Gillette
WP-Rein (1-0), LP-Donat (1-2), Save-Wenson (1)
R H E
Adrian ................. 000 000 0 0 4 4
MICHIGAN..............225 200 X 11 10 1
Adrian: Skuratovich, Thallman (3), Pscodna (4),
Hester (4) and Brownell
M: Grettenberger, Wolf (6) and Campbell
WP-Grettenberger (1-1), LP-Skuratovich (0-2)
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Michigan third baseman Jeff Kiel (3) chases down an Adrian baserunner between home and third during the
first game of yesterday's doubleheader sweep of the Bulldogs.
BATTLE OF BACKCOURTS:
Cards set to Duke i*t out
DALLAS (AP) - In college basketball's year of the
guard, the national championship will be settled in a bat-
tle of talented backcourts.
Duke's All-American Johnny Dawkins and Tommy
Amaker go head-to-head with Louisville's Milt Wagner
and Jeff Hall tonight in the championship game of the
NCAA Tournament.
TOP-RANKED Duke, with an NCAA-record 37 victories
in 39 games, has won 21 in a row, but a lack of height along
the front line keeps some from calling it an outstanding
team. Louisville Coach Denny Crum scoffs at that notion.
"I hear people say that Duke is not that strong of a
team," said Crum, whose team has won 16 in a row. "I
think you are as good as you play, and they play very well.
They just continue to win games. They have won 21 in a
row, are ranked number one, and they do everything you
want a basketball team to do."
Dawkins, a 6-2 senior, and Amaker, a 6-0 junior, make
up what might be the best backcourt in the nation.
"I'M THE quarterback," Amaker said. "Johnny is the
type of player who roams around the court. I'm there to
let him be free."
They will be facing the full-court pressure defense
which led Louisville past the strongest non-conference
schedule in the nation and to the Metro Confererence
regular-season and tournament titles.
Duke's defense, which has forced 19 turnovers a game,
is keyed by its ball-hawking guards.
"MILT IS a great offensive player and Louisville has
two very capable guards," Dawkins said. "It's going to
come down to who wants it the most. There is no easy way
out."
"They're both big and tall, so they definitely have the
height advantage, but we've played against big backcour-i
ts before," said Amaker, who leads the Atlantic Coast
Con(erence champions in steals and assists.
"They like to post up, too," Amaker said. "We've got to
try to force them as far out on the perimeter as possible."
DAWKINS, the leading scorer in Duke history and
owner of a 20-point average this season, has had a hot
hand in the tournament, averaging 25.8 points while hit-
ting 62 percent from the field.
Wagner, 6-5, a fifth-year senior, is one of five Cardinals
averaging double figures with a 14.9 average. Hall, a 6-4
senior, averages 10.4 points.
On the front line, Duke has 6-8 senior Mark Alarie, 17.1;4
6-5 senior David Henderson, 14.2; and 6-8 senior Jay Bilas,
6.9. The backup is Danny Ferry, a 6-10 freshman whose
clutch performance helped Duke down number-two Kan-
sas 71-67 in Saturday's semifinal game.
"DUKE IS stronger inside, but we do have a slight height
advantage with (6-9 freshman Pervis) Ellison, although
not in experience," Crum said. "As a duo, their guards
are quicker, but we have a height advantage. We have
ways of taking advantage of the size of our guards."
Billy Thompson, a 6-7 senior forward, averages 15 poin-
ts and 7.9 rebounds for Louisville, Ellison 12.8 and 8.1, and
6-7 sophomore forward Herbert Crook 11.9 and 6.3.
"They're a balanced team and you can't just concen-
trate on one player," Krzyzewski said, "and their bench is
a little deeper than ours."
Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON
Michigan pitcher Russ Rein hurls a pitch toward home plate in yester-
day's first game. Rein notched his first career victory in an 8-2 win.
THE SPORTING VIEWS
a'
Dodgers on top...
...Reds
By LIAM FLAHERTY
You hear it every year. Spor-
tswriters and fans gushing over the
beauty of the crack of the bat, the
color of the grass, the smell of the
leather. Whatever the reason (maybe
it's- the effects of a winter of Red
Wings' hockey) everyone is talking
baseball.
The National League West should
be one of baseball's most interesting
divisions. The Reds, second place fin-
ishers last year, have made some
major off-season moves. Four of the
six teams have new managers
(although Roger Craig joined the
Giants late last year). Yet, despite all
this change, the call here is that the
Dodgers will repeat and the Reds will
be bridesmaids once again.
DODGERS: This could very well be
the best team in baseball. Only the
Mets and Royals rival them for star-
ting pitching. Fernando Valenzuela
and Orel Hershiser are the best lefty-
righty combination in the majors, and
Jerry Reuss and Bob Welch both won
14 games last year.
The offense will be improved with a
full year of Pedro Guerrero in the out-
field and a fit, enthusiastic Bill
Madlock at third. Mike Marshall and
Mike Scioscia are coming off big
years, and Mariano Duncan solidifies
a sometimes shaky defense.
L.A.'s only potential area of
weakness is the bullpen, where Tom
Niedenfuer may still be recovering
from last year's playoff disaster and
Ken Howell is coming off a bad second
half. But they have added Ed Vande
Berg, a pitcher everyone wanted this
winter. Yet the Mariners, for reasons
known only to them, gave up the lefty
for ancient backstop Steve Yeager.
NL~W, est
L.A. has depth as well; only a great
run by the Reds will deny them.
REDS: Pete Rose, who after
chasing Ty Cobb should know
something about patience, has his
Reds going for it all this year. Over
the winter, Cincinnati acquired John
Denny and Bill Gullickson after ad-
ding Buddy Bell and Bo Diaz last
summer.
All the names are recognizable and
the tendency is to think this infusion
will put the Reds over the top. But
Denny has been unimpressive since
his 1983 Cy Young season, and
Gullickson always seems to have the
word "potential" attached to him.
Former ace Mario Soto prefers to pit-
ch in a five man rotation, while Rose
has already said he's going with four.
Rookie surprise Tom Browning
seems primed for a sophomore jinx.
Despite winning 20 games last year
his ERA was 3.55. But there's a lot of
may challenge
and 15-game winner Bob Knepper
head a rotation that will be even
stronger if Nolan Ryan can come back
from an off year.
GIANTS: For a team that lost 100
games for the first time in their recent
history, this may be a lofty prediction.
But the Giants were led by inept Jim
Davenport and it may be surprising.
that they lost only 100 games in the
cavernous hell of Candlestick Park.
Things can only go up.
Roger Craig should be able to do
something with troubled young talent
like Chris Brown, Dan Gladden, and
Jose Uribe. He can only improve a
pitching staff led by Mike Krukow and
newcomer Roger Mason. An in-
teresting story should be college sen-
sation Will Clark, who has already
been named as opening day first
baseman.
PADRES: In the Padres' minds
they've already won their biggest vic-
tory of the year - getting rid of the
tyrannical Dick Williams. It will be a
much looser club with Steve Boros at
the helm but it will make little dif-
ference in wins and losses. Steve Gar-
vey and Graig Nettles would be great
at the corners if it was 1978, but in 1986
they are nearing the fossil stage of
their existence.
The pitching staff is entirely
mediocre, and last year's best,
Lamarr Hoyt, was recently in a rehab
center. But the Padre's biggest
problem is an almost total lack of
speed. With its pocket of John Birch
Society members, the Padres may be
the only club in baseball with more
Barry Goldwater supporters than
threats to steal.
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