Women's Softball vs. Ohio State Friday and Saturday Varsity Softball Diamond SPORTS Baseball vs. Bowling Green Today, 1 p.m. Ray Fisher Stadium Page9 hThe Michigan Daily Tuesday, March 31, 1987 w Men's tennis defeats trio of non-conference foes Netters sweep south C THE SPORTING VIEWS I By ADAM SCHRAGER The men's tennis team prepared for the Big Ten season, which starts this Friday, by crushing non- conference foes Kansas, West Virginia, and Richmond in a three team dual match in Morgantown, W. Va. last weekend. The weekend was supposed to provide tough competition for the Wolverines who start the Big Ten season by hosting defending champion Minnesota this Friday, but the result was the opposite. 1 Michigan lost only one match the entire weekend. "I was concerned with the fact that we were going outside," said Michigan head coach Brian Eisner, who now owns 274 career wins. "After playing for so long indoors, you never know what could happen." The 27th-ranked Jayhawks of Kansas were the first team to feel the wrath of the 17th-ranked Wolverines. Michigan swept the six singles matches and thoroughly dominated their opponents in the process. Fifth and six singles players, John Morris and Brad Koontz led the way with 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0 victories, respectively. The doubles matches were not played due to the one-sided singles results. Against West Virginia, Michigan continued its domination, losing one set in six singles matches. The Wolverines led by the strong play at number one singles by Ed Nagel defeated the Mountaineers on their own home courts. Once again the doubles matches were not played due to the Michigan's domination in singles. The final match of the weekend further completed the Wolverine BY PETER ZELLEN Here it is, the National League West. I like to call it the crap shoot Division because almost anyone could win it. In such a weak hitting division, the teams have become dependant on pitching. The team which scores just enough runs to squeak by will win this division. And that team will be: San Fransisco Giants - This pitching staff is underrated. For the last two years, it's simply been outstanding. Last season the Giants posted a 3.33 team earned run average, which was third in the league. There's no reason they can't do it again. Twenty-game winner Mike Krukow is back. Offensively, this team is no pushover. Look for outfielders Jeffrey Leonard and Chili Davis to finally achieve those MVP years that they've been toying with the last two seasons. Look for a strong bench and of course a great staff to take the Giants into the playoffs. The rest in order of predicted finish: Houston Astros - More great pitching, but it won't be able to compensate for the declining offense. They have no A .L catcher to speak of, and outfielder Jose Cruz isn't getting any younger. Their chances of repeating will be greatly improved if manager Hal Lanier can talk the front office into signing free-agent catcher Rich Gedman. Doesn't watching 40-year old Nolan Ryan throw at 94 mph just bring tears to your eyes? Los Angeles Dodgers - Gotta love that pitching. There's nothing you can say about their great staff. As for offense, I'm still waiting for Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Ron Cey, Steve Yeager, and Reggie Smith all to return. But they ain't coming back, and the offense just isn't Giants look big . .pitching the key there. Pedro Guerrero may never play the game as well after his career-threatening knee injury of last spring. Needless to say, the lineup is shaky even without the injuries. Wouldn't Tim Raines look great in Dodger blue patrolling center field in Chavez Ravine? Cincinnati Reds - This team is almost as overrated as its manager, Pete Rose. People think that Eric Davis is the next Willie Mays so therefore a pennant is automatic. Look up how many pennants the Giants won during Willie's 20-year stay. I'll tell you how many, two. The first was in his rookie year, 1951, and we all know that was the result of destiny. Besides, Mays didn't do so well that year anyway. The second came a few years later. The remainder was spent in futility. That's where the Reds will be if they don't get some starting pitchers. Name the rotation after Bill Gullickson and Tom Browning. Sometime during June Pete's going to call himself up to play first base after he gets mad at Nick Esasky, again. San Diego Padres - This team is going to finish towards the bottom in 1987, but there's nothing wrong with that. The Youth Movement has begun, and manager Larry Bowa will start rookies Stan Jefferson in center field and Benito Santiago at catcher. Forget about 1987 but look out 1989 or 1990! Atlanta Braves - There's going to be another trial in Manager Chuck Tanner's future. The prosecution will be similar to the one he faced during the Pittsburgh drug affair. They will ask "Were you at all aware that the team you were fielding was not of major league quality?" And he will reply just like he did in Pittsburgh, "I had no idea what was going on. I knew nothing about it." Chuck, you're absolutely right. F Lady netters edged by Irish, erased] By ROB LEVINE This past weekend the women's tennis team traveled to the Hoosier state to battle ninth-ranked Indiana and Notre Dame. The Wolverines fell to the Hoosiers, 8-1, on Saturday in Bloomington and were defeated by the Fighting Irish, 5-4, in a close match Sunday in South Bend. Michigan's record now stands at 7-8 overall, 1-3 in the Big Ten. Against a tough Indiana squad, the Wolverines only managed to come away with a win at number one singles. Tina Basle beat Kelly Mulvihill, 6-4,6-4. "Tina's had a great spring," said Michigan head coach .Bitsy Ritt. "She's really playing well: With each win, she's gaining more and more confidence. For her to get a win against Indiana was really to her credit." AT SECOND singles, Leslie Mackey lost a close three-setter to Indiana's Cindy Kopetzki, ranked 29th nationally. "It could have gone either way," said Ritt. The Hoosiers' third through sixth singles players gave strong performances. Angela Farley defeated Tricia Horn at third singles, 6-2, 6-1. Janet McCutcheon won, 6-0, 6-2, over Susie Patlovich at fourth singles. Jane Paulson downed Anne Marie Floreno, 6-1,6- 0, at fifth singles, and Ann Heidt edged Alison Miller, 7-6, 6-4. Indiana's dominance carried into the doubles matches. Mulvihill- McCutcheon crushed Basle-Horn, 6- 2, 6-0 at one doubles, and Farley- Kopetzki blitzed Mackey-Floreno by the same score at second doubles. The team of Patlovich and Big plans for Payton LONDON (AP) - Chicago Bear running back Walter Payton said yesterday that he wants to buy a pro football team, possibly to play its home games in London. Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, said that he would play one more season, then pursue his ambition to be a team owner. Britain, with a growing interest in American-style football, is a possible site for his team, Payton said in reiterating statements he 'first made last summer. "For a long time now I've wanted to own a professional team, in London or the States. But I think the time is coming when a British team could compete in the NFL," Payton said. "We'd be going into uncharted waters, but the potential is there for a gold strike." About 90 teams play in semipro football leagues in Britain each fall, anti me. rlo talevicinn shnme with Kathy Schmidt put up a fight before bowing at third doubles, 6-3, 7-6, to Paulson-Heidt., "On the big points we did not have the experience that Indiana had," said Ritt. "They have confidence they can come through. "Against Indiana, I was really happy because I felt we looked strong." PLAYING an easier opponent in Notre Dame on Sunday wasn't enough to register a win. Basle won again, 6-4, 6-4 over Michelle Dasso and Alison Miller squeezed past Rosa Kelly, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, but the Irish swept the middle four singles spots. Stephanie Tolstedt nipped Mackey, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6. Alice Lehrer stopped Horn, 6-3, 6-1. Tammy Schmidt beat Patlovich, 7-5, 6-3 and Floreno fell Natalie Illiq, 6-3, 6-3. The Wolverines won at the first two doubles positions, but couldn't pull out a victory at third doubles. Basle-Horn tripped Dasso-Lehrer, 6- 3, 6-3 and Mackey-Floreno edged Tolstedt-Illiq, 6-4, 6-4. Third doubles proved to be the decisive match as Schmidt-Kelly beat Patlovich-Schmidt in a tight three set match, 7-6, 0-6, 6-4. "Notre Dame was struggling a bit and we were concerned they would be really ready for a win," said Ritt, "and they were." Eisner ... racks up 274th victory domination. They defeated the University of Richmond, 8-1, losing only the number one doubles match in three sets. Chip McColl and Franz Geiger formed a doubles team for the first time and were successful at the number-three spot. r Women gymnasts place fifth By JULIE HOLLMAN A tenth of a dollar can only buy a gumball, but a tenth of a point can buy a higher position in a Big Ten championship. This was the unfortunate reality of gymnastics economics this past weekend as the women's team placed fifth in the title meet at the Wisconsin Field House. For the fifth consecutive year, Ohio State ran away with the crown but the next four teams were no more than .35 tenths away from each other. Second place Michigan State finished with a 180.65 and Minnesota ended with a 180.45. The tightness continued as Illinois came in only .25 behind the Gophers and finally the Wolverines grabbed fifth only .35 out of fourth. Wisconsin scored a 177.95, 1.10 behind Michigan, and Iowa filled out the field with a distant 173.10. Although Michigan head coach Dana Kempthorn had hoped to finish either third or fourth, she was not disappointed with her team's performance. "The kids did what I asked of them, we hit 22 out of 24 routines," said Kempthorn. "They went in and hit their routines and I couldn't be happier. We only had two falls on beam and I saw some teams falling eight or nine times." Although the Wolverines didn't win any of the events, they did post some of their best scores of the season. The all-around team score of 179.05 was Michigan's third highest mark and the team's 45.1 vault performance behind Jannie Klepek's 9.35 routine, ranked as Michigan's best in that event. The Wolverines' top performances were turned in by Klepek and Angela Williams. Williams finished with a 36.7 all- around score and Klepek recorded a 36.65. These scores helped both gymnasts qualify for the individual competition. Janna Jeffries also had a good day as she delivered a personal high uneven bars performance with a 9.3. In the individuals, Williams and Klepek made sure to leave a mark of maize and blue in the standings. Williams came in sixth in the all- around and Klepek followed right behind to notch seventh. Williams continued to show her stuff by capturing third on the vault and Klepek took fourth on the beam. Janna Jeffries also qualified for the individuals and capitalized on her opportunity with an eighth place routine on the bars. In the floor competition, Williams failed to recapture her 1985 title but still managed to come in fifth. Williams and Klepek's finishes qualified them for the NCAA regional competition to be held April 10 and 11 at the University of Alabama. All and all, the team was pleased with its performance but with eight freshmen on the squad, the Wolverines also learned something. "The freshmen know now that they have to get a little more difficulty and get those routines a little more perfected and because they know this they will be better prepared for next year," said Kempthorn. Williams ... vaults to third MEN'S TROPICAL PRINT JAMZ & KNEEBUSTERS $999 (4-- 4-) . 4) 0': MEN'S OCEAN PACIFIC Long Sleeve Tees (Latest 3 & 4 Color Prints) $399 It Pertect to $15.00 CLOTHING CONCEPTS PRESENTS MEN'S IZOD & Other Status Brand SHIRTS Stripes & Solids- A MANUFACTURER'S DIRECT CLOTHING SALEm 19 r 1 LIC Now If Perfecta to $38.00 , U - 5 '- tsI\ r i i 1 DAY ONLY! 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