4 Women's Tennis vs. Illinois and Purdue Today and Tomorrow, 2:30 p.m. Track and Tennis Building SPORTS Women's Softball . Doubleheaders vs. Indiana Today and Tomorrow Varsity Softball Diamond The Michigan Daily Friday, April 17, 1987 Page 10 First-place M' voyages to Columbus 4 By PETE STEINERT Whether it likes it or not, the Ohio State baseball team must face first-place Michigan (3-1 in the conference) in its Big Ten opening series this weekend in Columbus. "You have to play 'em some time," cracked Buckeye head coach Dick Finn. "I don't know if it's good or bad, but ready or not, here we come. I think it will be a tremendous challenge for us." Such is the attitude a coach has to take when his team comes off a 'You have to play (Michigan) sometime. I don't know if it's good or bad, but ready or not, here we come.' THE TRUE TEST for the Buckeyes (11-10), though, begins this Saturday and Sunday with the commencement of their conference schedule. They play the Wolverines in a pair of doubleheaders at Trautman Field. "They haven't played any conference games, so you know they're going to be ready to play," said Michigan head coach Bud Middaugh, whose team swept four games from Ohio State last season at Fisher Stadium. "You never know (about the Big Ten season)," Finn said. "That's a different world compared to the rest of (the schedule). I think we're going to do better than we did last year. I think we're a little bit stronger than we were." Finn has been pleased with the performance of his starting pitchers. His ace, David Burba (3-1, 3.48 earned run average), won his first three decisions of the year before losing last weekend for the first time. Jim Townsend (3-0, 4.21), Carl Myers (1-2, 4.84), and John McCormick (0-0, 3.00) round out the rotation. OHIO STATE'S hitting has complemented the Buckeyes' pitching. Michigan's pitching staff will have to contend with outfielder Tom Eiterman who leads Ohio State starters in hitting (.390 batting average), home runs (four), and RBIs (25). Tom Harris provides some power from his third base position (.329-3-22). After a slow start, Scott Meadows has also started to hit. An All-Big Ten selection last year at shortstop, Meadows has boosted his average to .350. How the Wolverines' hurlers fare against the Buckeyes' offense should play an important role in the series. Fortunately for Michigan, it appears Jim Abbott (4-1, 2.06 ERA), who has thrown brilliantly of late, will pitch this weekend. The sophomore lefthander became a question mark for the series earlier this week when he checked into a hospital for an examination due to illness. He is out of the hospital now, and if all goes well, will take the mound for the opener on Saturday. "The biggest thing you're going to have to fight off with them is (Chris) Lutz, Abbott, and (Mike) Ignasiak," Finn said. "If they throw well, which seemingly they did last weekend, you're going to have to come up with equally strong pitching to keep the ball game close. How well they pitch, I think, is really going to be a deciding factor on the series," Finn said. For the Wolverines (25-7), they hit the road for the first time against Big Ten competition. "Anytime that you play on the road, the intensity has to come from within because you really don't have the support of your people," Middaugh said. "We hope that the preparation that we've had playing in some of these tournaments will help us," the eighth-year coach added. 4 -Ohio State coach Dick Finn baseball I last-place finish in the Big Ten's East Division. Ohio State finished last year with an overall 21-27 record and only a 4-12 mark in the conference. According to Finn, however, things look up this season. "We think we've played pretty well," the 12th-year coach said. "I feel we've progressed maybe a little bit more. than I thought we would." 4 4 Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON If Michigan pitchers leave Ohio State batters looking helpless like they did much of last weekend against Purdue, it could be a long weekend for the Buckeyes. Ohio State opens its Big Ten season on Saturday against the Wolverines in Columbus. JOSTENS A M E R I C A S C O L L E G E R i N G Stop by and see a Jostens representative this week to save on the gold ring of your choice. Wednesday April 15-Friday April 17, 11a.m. to 4p.m. ,LONDON SUMMERINTERNSHIPS Law/Accounting Theater/Arts Communications Journalism Computers Languages Earn up to 8 credits in these and other courses. Apply Now: Janet Kollek, Director American Academy of Overseas Studies 158 West 81 St. - Box 112 New York, New York 10024 (212) 724-0804 Read and Use Daily Classifieds r " ) ~ " @ 'UE RECORDSO . Rock Collectibles Soundtracks Comedy Classical Soul R & B We Buy 619 PACKARD 663-3441 NEAR STATE STREET BY PETER ZELLEN What is a Hoosier and how do you defeat it? That is the question that the Michigan softball team will try to answer today and tomorrow when they face Indiana in a four-game series. Indiana is in first place in the Big Ten and will be the Wolverine's toughest opponent to *date. Coach Carol Hutchins feels that a lot needs to be done in order to be victorious. "Indiana is a real exciting ballclub to watch. They've improved a lot over the last year.. We have to keep their offense under control and we've got to play good defense. That's the only way to stop them." INDIANA is indeed an offensive force to be reckoned with. They are led by All-American centerfielder Karleen Moore. She bats leadoff and has a batting 55YEARS ' MORE THAN A BOOKSTORE Softballers to meet lUfor Big Ten lead 549 East University Ann Arbor, MI (313)662-3201 (at the corner of East U. and South U.) 1 ENSIN THE 1987 YEARBOOKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE Starting Tuesday, April14 They may be picked up at Student Publications Building, CHILDREN'S SPORTS-0-RAMA sponsored by UM Department of Recreational Sports Designed for children 4-10 Provides structured and supervised recreational activities with an emphasis on loco motor movement, " ,, aerobic fitness, tumbling, groups activities andl swimming. Saturday mornings : May 9 - June 20 ; average of .429. Coach Hutchins says that Indiana as a team gets on base a lot but that "Karleen is an incredible contact hitter. She hits the ball every time up." When Moore can't get on base, then the job falls upon shortstop Jenny MacDaniel who is hitting over .300 this season. Michigan has a few talented4 batters themselves. All-American catcher Alicia Seegert is batting .386 with nine runs batted in. Coming off a red-hot series against Michigan State is infielder Jenny Allard who takes a rapidly rising average of .296 into the series as well as her share of the team lead in RBIs with 11. Also coming off a hot series is Sara Dyksterhouse, who plays first 4 base. After her hitting heroics on Wednesday, she now has an average of .288 with eight RBIs. COMING OFF the bench; with strong performances has been outfielder Beth Mueller. She went two-for-two against Michigan State and carries an average of .280. "We're going to have to keep swinging the bats the way we have been these past few games," said coach Hutchins. Offense may be the main attraction at the series, but who wins might just come down to who gets the better pitching. Indian( will probably start their leading- hurler, Teresa Raine, in the first game. Raine has an earned run average of 0.44. The Wolverines will send the' highly successful pitching tander6i of Vicki Morrow and Michelle Bolster to the mound against the Hoosiers. Morrow is 10-4 with ani ERA of 0.70 and has thrown siN consecutive shutouts. Not only cat- Morrow pitch but she's batting .308 and shares the team lead with Allard with 11 RBIs. Bolster has an ERA of 1.42 bu a record of only 7-7. Coach 9:00 a.m.-10:40 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.-12:40 p.m.