Softball vs. Ohio State Friday, 3:00 p.m. Alumni Field S lRTS Women's Tennis vs. North Carolina Friday, 1 p.m. Chapel Hill, N.C. Tumblers *tune up for regional vs. Spartans By JOSH KARP DAILY SPORTS WRITER Rebound. That's exactly what the No. 6 Michigan men's gymnastics team is looking to do when it ends its Big Ten season at No. 17 Michigan State Sat- urday night. After adisappointing fifth place fin- ish at the Big Ten Championships a week ago, nothing would be more sat- isfying than a victory over the Spartans. "It would be great (to get back on . the winning track)," Michigan coach Bob Darden said. "It (would be) areal good (way) to really get back that super-competitive spirit." The Wolverines are a virtual lock for a spot in the Eastern Regionals, which will be held at West Point, N.Y., on April 9 . But with the regionals only a week away, Darden will use the Michigan State meet to decide who will represent the squad. "We're trying to use this meet to focus in on a lineup that will move us into a good competitive position for regionals," Darden said. Although last at the conference meet, MSU had higher scores than the Wolverines in two events - pommel horse and parallel bars. Michigan State holds aNo.5 ranking on parallel bars, and it owes its success on the event to the standout performances of junior Mark Garney (9.7 average, sixth na- tionally) and freshman Stephen Bello (9.63, 16th). But as solid as the Spartans have been on the bars, the Wolverines have been better. Michigan is ranked fourth nationally with a 47.42 average, and junior Brian Winkler, with his 9.77 average, leads the nation in the event. * 'We're trying to use this meet to focus in on a lineup that will move us into a good competitive position.' - Bob Darden 'M' gymnastics coach "I'm actually very surprised (with my performance on parallel bars)," Winkler said. "I never thought I'd be ranked this high." Last season, when the two teams met, Michigan State defeated the Wol- verines,277.50-270.75. But with sopho- more Bob Young leading the way. Michigan has turned things around. Young is 18th in the national all- around rankings (56.38), and has es- tablished himself as one of the top gymnasts in the country. "It's nice when at the end of the meet you find out that (Bob has) been one of the premier performers," Darden said. "He's a real good anchor for our team." At the conference meet, the Wol- verines didn't have their heads in the * right place. But in order to be ready for regionals, Winkler admits the squad must focus more. "Wejust need to get our heads back in the game," Winkler said. " I think (our poor showing at the Big Tens) is going to be a good wake-up call for us." - o 1]~ 'M' softball swept by Irish By BOB ABRAMSON DAILY SPORTS WRITER The Michigan softball team fi- nally got the offensive portion of its game going yesterday at Notre Dame. The only problem was that it couldn't bring anyone across home plate. Despite pounding out 17 hits in its first-ever doubleheader against the Fighting Irish (18-12), the Wolver- ines (12-14) stranded 19 runners on base - ten in the first contest and nine in the second. With little run production, the Wolverines were swept, 2-1 and 5-1. "We are leaving too many run- ners on base," an irate Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "And we are not getting the hits down when we need to get them down." In the first contest of the day, Michigan took an early lead in the top of the third. Cheryl Pearcy led off with a single, and after a Mary Campana sacrifice advanced her to second, Tracy Carr gave Michigan a 1-0 lead with an RBI double. Kelly Kovach (7-7) held Notre Dame scoreless until the bottom half of the seventh, when she was replaced by Kelly Holmes after giving up a single and a wild pitch. Entering with a runner on second base, Holmes walked Jenna Knudsen and gave up a single to Amy Reuter to load up the bases. Liz Goetz followed up with an RBI single to tie the game at one apiece, and Holmes walked in Andy Keys, giving the Irish a victory. "We've got to get Kovach to fin- ish the seventh inning,"said Hutchins, referring to the second time in over a week that Kovach has self-destructed. Kovach gave up three runs in the bottom of the seventh and a game- winning homer in last weekend's 5-3 loss to California at the Cellular One/ Capital One Classic. In the second game of the double- header, Michigan pitcher Kelly Holmes (5-6) continued to struggle, giving up five runs in the third inning. Keys' double scored Goetz to give Notre Dame a 1-0 lead, and following three two-out singles that loaded up the bases, Knudsen's double stretched the Irish's margin to 5-0. Michigan averted a shutout in the top of the sixth when Kelly Kovach's pinch-hit single scored Kathleen Berrigan. "Holmes is not in a good groove right now," Hutchins said. "She just can't find it and she has lost her con- fidence." The loss, Michigan's third in a row, does not bode well with Hutchins, considering the Big Ten season is just 24 hours away. "As of right now, we're not play- ing poorly," she said. "We need to get the team fired up. We are playing not to lose. It's not a good syndrome." With Ohio State coming into town for a pair of doubleheaders,and with Holmes struggling, Hutchins says she may go with Tracy Carr. Carr, a sophomore, pitched three and one-third innings in the second game, giving up three hits and no runs. "Tracy's pitching well,"Hutchins said. "We believe in her and we have got to find a way to win. "A new season starts on Friday and everyone needs to dig deep and re-focus." y _ 4 , i r . Michigan 001 000 0-1 9 1 ND 000 000 2-2 9 0 WP - Battersby, LP - Holmes; DP - ND; LOB - NO 10, UM 10; 28 - Goetz (ND). Carr (UM); SB - Marten (ND), Silver (UM); CS - Goetz (ND). Knudson (ND), Lang (UM); SH - Campana (UM), Martino (UM); WP - Battersby, Holmes; E - Carr (UM). Michigan 000 001 0-1 8 2 ND 005 000 X-5 9 2 WP - Kobata, LP - Holmes; LOB - ND 5, UM 9; 2B5- Cline (ND), Keys (ND), Knudson (ND); WP - Kobata; E - Connoyer (ND), Pinter (ND), Campana (UM), Smith (UM). t... >.: MARY KOUKHAB/Daily Shortstop Mary Campana went 1-for-7 at the plate against Notre Dame. Here the remIIng schdule for the Michigan softball teamrr: The season begins in Cincinnati for Blue crew Few seniors for the men, none for the women: youth will key Michigan's first regatta April 1 2 6 8 9 12 13 15 16 19 29 30 May 4 6 7 10 13 14 20-22 26-30 Ohio State (DH)3 p.m. Ohio State (DH)1 p.m. Toledo (DH) 3 p.m, N'western (DH) 3 p.m. N'western (DH) 1 p.m. at Mich.St. (DH)3 p.m. E. Mich. (DH) 3 p.m. at Penn St. (DH)3 p.m. at Penn St. (DH)1 p.m. at Ce.Mich.(DH) 3 p.m. Iowa (DH) 3 p.m. Iowa (DH) 1 p.m.. By HEATHER WINDT DAILY SPORTS WRITER This weekend the Michigan men and women's crew teams will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, for their first dual meets of the season with high hopes for a victorious regatta and a successful season. Even with no returning seniors, women's coach Mark Rothstein is optimistic about his team's progress. "With the loss of four seniors out of last year's varsity crew we knew we would have a tough time in rebuilding a fast crew," Rothstein said. "Early indications are that we are doing just that though." Returning varsity senior Pam Carroll also fore- sees a bright season for the Wolverines. "We are considerably faster than last year," Carroll said. "I'm excited for this weekend, be- cause Cincinnati has a good crew and is our best competition in the Midwest." The varsity women have not limited their focus to Saturday morning's competition. They are al- ready looking to take home medals at the National Championships in May. On the other hand, the men's team is concen- trating solely on the Bearcats and hopes to have a strong showing for both of its varsity eights despite the loss of several key seniors from last year's team. "In order for both boats to win we have to stay relaxed and execute the sprint we have been work- ing on," said senior Ed Gehres. "If we can do that we shouldn't have any problems this weekend. "Cincinnati is a really erratic team, though. We have to be ready for anything." Following last fall's 30-6 record, men's coach Gregg Hartstuff said he thinks this year's team is prepared to continue its winning ways. Addition- ally, he said he believes the Wolverines to be the fastest boats in Michigan crew history. "The stronger members of the last year varsity squad will combine with a strong group of first- year members," Hartstuff said. "I am happy with leadership shown by this year's seniors as they have played an important role in helping poise this team for success." Along with the varsity, the novice crews will each be sending two boats of men and women. "There is a lot of depth, excitement and enthu- siasm in this years' team," women's novice coach Amy Gregg said. "Everyone is real excited to race even though we are not to sure what to expect." W. Mich. (DH) at Minn. (DH) at Minn. (DH) Mich. St. (DH) at Indiana (DH) at Indiana (OH) NCAA Regional NCAA Champ. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. 1 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 1p.m. TBA TBA JOE PESCI - CHRISTIAN SLATER Home games at Alumni Field.- in bold *E N No1:1 Hook . ..... r n ..........