Men's and Women's Track and Field at Texas Relays Tod~ay through Saturday Austin, Texas SPORTS Ice Hockey vs. Wisconsin Tonight, 7:05 p.m. (EST) Albany, N.Y. * The Michigan Daily Thursday, April 2, 1992 Page 5 Softball opens at home with,'Cats by Meg Beison Daily Sports Writer The Wolverine softball players will be in for something new Friday. Not only will they finally play at home, they will christen Varsity Diamond's new renovations. The home opener will commence the Big Ten season Friday, when Michigan hosts conference foe Northwestern. The Wolverines will face the Wildcats in doubleheaders Friday (3 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.). Michigan was 12-12 in the preseason, and coach Carol Hutchins believes her team is ready to face the Big Ten. "We've had a lot of ups and downs," Hutchins said. "But we're beginning to play as a team." The Wolverines finished third in the conference last year, posting a 15-9 record. Hutchins believes her team has the talent to finish strong again this year, but she is aware that anything can happen in the Big Ten. "Every year it's a dogfight," Hutchins said. "We have to play one game at a time. We need to play our game regardless of who we play." Since the beginning of the season, Hutchins has stressed the importance of a dominating pitching staff with the ability to shut out the opposition. Hutchins saw much improved pitching at the National Invitational Softball Tournament last weekend, where they made it to the consolation final before losing. Junior pitcher Kelly Forbis leads Michigan into the Big Ten season sporting a 4-4 record and a 2.09 ERA. Also expected to help carry the pitching load is rookie Kelly Kovach who has spun three shutouts enroute to a 5-4 record. Offensively, junior left fielder Patti Benedict leads the Wolverines with a .333 average including eight extra-base hits. Senior co-captain Stacey Heams leads the team in RBIs with 12 and sophomore shortstop Mary Campana has contributed to Michigan's attack with a .311 average. Michigan wins, 5-4, streak reaches five by Ryan Herrington Daily Baseball Writer It might not be pretty, but the Michigan baseball team is on a roll. After a victory against Eastern Michigan in Tuesday's home opener, the Wolverines held on to defeat Toledo, 5-4, in a seven-inning game yesterday at Ray Fisher Stadium, extending their current winning streak to five. The Wolverines (3-1 Big Ten, 8- 13 overall) had a comfortable three- run lead heading into the final inning with ace reliever Todd Marion on the mound. But Michigan would make the game a little more interest- ing. After striking out the first batter, Marion gave up a double and a sin- gle to Toledo's bottom two hitters. With runners on second and third, Trent Clark took a Marion' de- livery deep to left field, hitting the top of the fence and just missing a home run. The ball caromed off the wall for a double, scoring a run to make the score 5-3. The Wolverines proceeded to get the second out of the inning on a fielder's choice but could not put the Rockets away. A single by Mike Cambridge scored another run and left runners on first and third before Marion struck out Troy Keegan for the game's final out. Heath Murray got the victory, his second, for Michigan. "The fact that we won the base- ball game is what is important," Michigan coach Bill Freehan said. "We've started to play better against teams with the same kind of climatic perspective that we have. We've played a pretty tough schedule com- pared to some of the Big Ten teams. I think we'll continue to improve." Despite the absence of some starters from the Wolverines' lineup, and the use of five different pitchers, Michigan jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when re- serve first baseman Chad Chapman singled and scored on catcher Scott Niemiec's one-out double to right center. Niemiec's hot bat continued to smolder in the fourth inning when the rookie drove in another run with a two-out triple to center field. He would score on a Matt Copp single, which pushed the Michigan lead to 4-2. "I felt real comfortable today," Niemiec said. "I was seeing the ball real well." Next on the schedule for the Wolverines is a pair of Big Ten dou- bleheaders against Northwestern this weekend. As for the Wolverines, their outlook may be as bright as its been all year. "We're a lot more confident now," Niemiec said. "The team's coming together. There's a lot more team unity." PAUL TAYLOR/Daily Michigan's Heath Murray collected his second victory in the 5-4 win over Toledo yesterday. FINAL FOUR, Continued from page 1 seed. The Badgers defeated the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the East, New Hampshire and St. Lawrence, by identical 4-2 scores last weekend in Providence. The defending national champion Wildcats took their best shot at knocking off the top-seeded Wolverines by taking a 6-3 lead be- fore succumbing to the Wolverines, as well as their own fatigue. Emotion had a heavy hand in the comeback, and the possible edge troubles Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer. "They have a real plus in the win last week," Sauer said. "We had - control of both of our games and we'll be ready to go out and play hard. But I think Michigan will have a small psychological edge" The four-day layoff between games and the excitement of being in the Final Four caused Berenson to discount any momentum. "We're not a team rolling into Albany, but we're not limping ei- ther," Berenson said. "We are in the position we want to be in and now we have to prove we can win. It's great to say you want to win it all, but now we have to prove it in what we hope will be a two-game series." The Badgers resemble Lake Superior, the only team with a win- ning record against the Wolverines this season. Like the Lakers, Wisconsin starts an all-American, Hobey Baker candidate at goalie - Duane Derksen. "He plays big in every game and his numbers have certainly shown that this season," St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. "He is defi- nitely one of the top goaltenders in college-hockey today." Wisconsin features a balanced at- tack with four front lines and six defensemen - another LSSU-type trait. However, the Badgers lack a prolific scorer. Jason Zent, Wisconsin's leading conference scorer, was 25th on the WCHA list. Season winds down for by Adam Miller Daily Sports Writer Is there justice in the world? Peace on earth and goodwill to men? The Michigan men's tennis team (3-1 Big Ten, 3-8 overall) may not find the answers to these eternal ponderings this weekend, but the Wolverines' prayers may be an- swered in matches Saturday at Ohio State and Sunday at Indiana. The match against the Buckeyes (1-2, 7-8) should spell R-E-L-I-E-F, if not R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N, for Michigan. Ohio State, like Michigan, is a top-heavy team. "It's obvious that their No. 1 (Gabor Koves) is much better than the rest of their team," Dan Brakus, Michigan's No. 2 singles player said. Koves' record stands at 2-1 in the Big Ten, 16-6 overall, earning him the No. 5 spot in the conference. But beating the Hoosiers in Bloomington may require a feat 'M'tennis greater than walking on water. The No. 19 Hoosiers (2-1, 7-6) should handle the Wolverines, although Indiana's greatest weakness is at the top. No. 1 singles Nigel Russel is 0- 3,2-11. "That may be," Brakus said, "but they're a very solid team all the way down the line." Brakus is right. 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