The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - April 12, 1993- Page 9
SOFTBALL NOTEBOOK
Solid pitching doesn't
gularantee 'M vetoriles
by Jesse Brouhard six runs in the series.
Daily Sports Writer INTO T HE WIN COLUMP
Hitters split Northwestern doubleheaders
Baides with Wildcats drop softball team fom top spot in Big Ten, 1-0,4-1,1-3,0-1
N:
Usually pitching 14 consecutive
innings without allowing an earned
run assures a pitcher at least two
wins. That was not the case for
sophomore hurler Kelly Kovach,
who performed the feat over the
weekend series with Northwestern.
Northwestern countered Kovach
in the second game of the Saturday
doubleheader with a two-pronged
pitching attack which shut down the
Wolverines, who left nine runners on
base in the extra inning contest.
TO HIT IS NOT TO SCORE: The
Wolverines managed to outhit the
Wildcats by a 25-16 margin over the
four game series. This advantage
translated into only a 6-5 scoring ad-
vantage, however. Michigan's two
losses were by a total of three runs.
STICK A FORK IN THAT
ARM, IT'S DONE: Northwestern
pitcher Michele Hawkins pulled a
marathon performance over the
weekend series while improving like
fine wine as the games progressed.
Hawkins was tagged for five
Wolverine runs in the first two
games on Friday. On Saturday, how-
ever, Hawkins returned to pitch 10
innings without allowing an earned
run, thus sweeping Michigan out of
Evanston in the final doubleheader.
WHO NEEDS SPECIAL K'?:.
Senior pitcher Kelly Forbis picked
up one win over the weekend with-
out recording a strikeout in either
game she pitched. Northwestern still
only had one hitter with a multiple
hit game in either of the games.
Kovach didn't follow the same
course in her weekend outings.
Kovach smoked Northwestern for 15
strikeouts while giving up six walks.
* The 2.5:1 ratio is right on pace with
her career average of 2.6:1.
DUCKS DROWNING ON
THE POND: The top two hitters in
the Michigan order, senior Kari
Kunnen and junior Mary Campana,
had trouble getting on the merry-go-
round over the weekend. Neither
Kunnen nor Campana crossed the
plate. However, third and fourth
hitters Patti Benedict and Karla Kun-
nen scored half of the Wolverines'
Northwestern's two wins Saturday
marked their first Big Ten victories
of the season. The Wildcats entered
Kovach
by Scott Burton
Daily Sports Writer
You've probably heard of teams
that live and die by their defense.
Well, in this weekend's series of
doubleheaders against the No. 15
Michigan softball team, Northwest-
ern lived and died by their Hawkins.
Junior pitcher Michelle Hawkins,
that is.
After picking up two losing de-
cisions when the Wolverines swept
away the Wildcats in Friday's dou-
bleheader, Hawkins came back in
Saturday's doubleheader to shut
down the Michigan and even her se-
ries record to 2-2.
With the series split, the
Wolverines (4-2 Big Ten, 18-8
overall) dropped out of first place in
the conference. They remain one
game ahead of Northwestern (2-2,
15-16) but now trail Iowa by two
games for the lead.
"We felt like (the series split)
was not that big of a deal,"
Wolverine pitcher Kelly Kovach,
who went 1-1 this weekend, said.
"We were expecting to do a little
better, probably take three at least,
but we played well and there is noth-
ing we can do about it."
The four games this weekend
were characterized by gutsy pitching
and tough breaks for both sides.
Nothing demonstrated this notion
more than Northwestern's sweep of
Saturday's action.
In Northwestern first victory on
Saturday, by a 3-1 score, the Wild-
cats struck through against pre-
viously unhittable Kelly Forbis,
streaking for single runs in the third,
fourth and fifth inning.
Michelle Silver homered for the
Wolverines in the sixth inning, but
Hawkins proved too stubborn for the
Michigan bats, limiting them to five
hits. Hawkins also struck out two
batters while surrendering no walks.
"They have a really strong
pitcher, and she kept them in the
game until they had a chance to
score," Kovach said.
Forbis, who had a four-shutout-
streak going into the game, took the
loss, lowering her record to 11-2.
Hawkins followed her standout
starting pitching performance in
game one with a winning relief ef-
fort in game two. But Hawkins' win
didn't come until after eight innings
of thrilling play.
Both teams threatened to score on
Shortstop Mary Campana tries to tag a runner out Michigan fell out of first place with a split against Northwestern.
If you don't have a lot
of time to spare, this
was your series. The
longest game of the
weekend was the hour-
forty-five minute 1-0
Northwestern victory
in eight innings. The
four games were
played in an average
time of an hour and 20
minutes.
the weekend series 0-2, 15-16 and
left the series only one game back of
the Wolverines 4-2, 18-8, although
the Wolverines have two more
league games played.
SPEED RACER: If you don't
have a lot of time to spare, this was
your series. The longest game of the
weekend was the hour-forty-five
minute 1-0 Northwestern victory in
eight innings. The four games were
played in an average time of an hour
and 20 minutes.
One trip to the concessions stand
and the game was about half over.
a number of occasions before the
Wildcats finally broke through in the
top of the eighth and held on for a 1-
0 conquest.
The Wolverines hardly died easy
though. They did all they could to
match Northwestern's run in the bot-
tom of the eighth, but fell heart-
breakingly short.
The inning began with a single
by Mary Campana, who exchanged
places with Karla Kunnen via a
fielder's choice two outs later. Traci
Carr next laced a two-out single,
moving Kunnen to second. When
Lesa Arvia followed with another
single, Kunnen tried to score from
second but was caught in a run-down
between home and third, giving the
Wildcats the victory.
"It's frustrating as a pitcher when
your team doesn't score but there is
nothing you can do about it - there
are going to be games like that,"
Kovach said. Her record fell to 7-5
with the loss. "We had some lapses
here and there in our game but we
played hard even in the last inning of
the last game we had a chance to win
so no one gave up - it was really
important."
Michigan, despite Saturday's
sweep, did have consolation in the
fact that they swept Northwestern in
Friday's game. In both games, a 1-0
shutout followed by a 4-1 win, the
Wolverines rode the hot pitching of
Kovach and Forbis, who limited
Northwestern to a total of six hits
and no earned runs.
In Michigan's first victory of the
day, the Wolverines chalked up a
run in the top of the sixth inning,
thanks to a milestone hit by Patti
Benedict. Benedict's double off los-
ing pitcher Hawkins was her 200th
career hit. She scored one out later
on a nearly-identical double by Traci
Carr.
The Wolverines managed four
runs the next day, split between
Wildcat starter Hawkins and reliever
Bev Stiglbauer. The big blow came
in the third when Karla Kunnen
smashed a two-run home run off
Hawkins. Michelle Silver added an
RBI in the fourth and Kathleen
Berrigan scored on a Stiglbauer
wild-pitch in the sixth.
"The first day they played really
well, but we just scored when we
could - when we had to - and
they didn't," Kovach said - fanning
eight Wildcats in Friday's victory.
"There wasn't any real difference at
all between us, we just got the
breaks and they didn't.
"I think overall we are definitely
a stronger team but we just didn't
get the breaks the second day,"
Kovach said. "I think if we'd played
them ten times we probably beat
them seven or eight out of ten."
Given Friday's sweep, you
might think Saturday's tough losses
might serve as a demoralizing force
to the team. However, as disappoint-
ing as the second day losses might
have been, the Wolverines say they
are not discouraged in their play.
"We know that everyone is going
to lose games here and there, so we
know that we have a shot at the Big
Ten title," Kovach said. "I just think
we will have to put it all together
and we will be fine."
Robertson's 26 points help lead Pistons past Bullets, 106-94
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - With Joe
Dumars and Isiah Thomas out, the Detroit
Pistons were looking for someone to step up
and be a hero.
Alvin Robertson assumed that role Yes-
terday. Playing the entire 48 minutes, he
scored a season-high 26 points, lifting the
Pistons past the Washington Bullets 106-94.
Dennis Rodman had 17 rebounds and
Terry Mills scored 22 points for Detroit,
which reached the .500 mark for the first
time since Jan. 14. The Pistons' season-high
sixth straight victory moved them into a tie
with Indiana for the eighth and final playoff
spot in the Eastern Conference.
"It's a big win. Somebody had to play
well, and today it just happened to be my
day," Robertson said. "There were just more
shot opportunities because our starting
guards were out."
The Pistons played without Dumars, who
had a strained right knee, and lost Thomas
with 11:53 left in the second quarter when
he picked up his second technical foul.
Thomas received the first technical when
he slammed the ball off the backboard after
being called for a foul in the final second of
the opening quarter. He continued the argu-
ment from the bench and was subsequently
ejected.
"I had a big scratch on my arm, and I said
to the official, 'That's not a scratch. It's a
gash.' Then he turned around and tossed
me," Thomas said.
Robertson picked up the slack, helping
keep the Pistons close with 16 first-half
points. He got 11 of his 26 points at the foul
line.
"What a great, great game he had," De-
troit coach Ron Rothstein said. "He was our
rock out there today."
The Pistons pulled away in the middle of
the fourth quarter, getting five points from
Bill Laimbeer in an 11-4 run that made it 92-
82 with 4:55 left. Washington never got
closer than six points the rest of the way.
The Bullets lost their fourth straight and
guard Michael Adams, who broke a bone in
his left hand in a first-quarter collision with
Thomas. Adams is out for the season.
"It's frustrating, but it's part of the
game," Adams said. "The season's winding
down and we're not going to the playoffs, so
if an injury is going to happen, it's best that
it happen toward the end of the season."
Harvey Grant led the Bullets with 19
points and LaBradford Smith had 17.
Detroit led 16-6 before Smith scored
eight points and Brent Price seven in a 21-9
run that put the Bullets ahead 27-25 after the
first quarter. Mills had 17 points at halftime,
but the Bullets led 47-46.
Washington expanded the margin to eight
points before the Pistons closed the third
period with a 14-4 surge for a 74-72 advan-
tage. Detroit never lost the lead.
"It was a great team effort. Everybody's
responsible for the win," Robertson said.
Birkesfsock
"I seemed to be the only one
in the license renewal line
* who wasn't getting hostile. *
The guy behind me
? was cussing his cowboy
boots when I realized
my Birkenstocks were
beautiful.
It must be the way they
cradle your feet because
I really didn't mind waiting for
my new driver's license.
I even smiled for the photo."
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