18- The Michigan Daily - Monday, April:11, 1994 LDrives Weather steals hitters' Line Oe competitive thunder By BARRY SOLLENBERGER DAILY BASEBALL WRITER Spring has arrived, but it doesn't always feel like it. Nobody knows this better than the Michigan baseball team. In the past two weeks, the Wolverines have had three games postponed or canceled due to inclement weather. The first canceled contest against Siena Heights on March 29th was snowed out. It was Michigan's first home date of the season. Last Tuesday, freezing rain forced the postponement of a home game against Eastern Michigan, and snow kept the Wolverines from making the scheduled trip to Kalamazoo the next day to face Western Michigan. The weather may seem to be a problem that all college baseball teams must face, but it has an added impact on Michigan and the Big Ten. Because of the elements, the Big Ten and Michigan have difficulty competing on a national level. While warm-weather schools can schedule their first home game as early as the end of January, the Wolverines are forced to wait until the end of March before they are able to play outside. And even that isn't early enough, as this season indicated. The weather's impact is enormous. All Division I teams play approximately the same number of regular- season games. The only difference is how long teams have to compete. This season, for example, the Wolverines play 49 games in about two- and-a-half months. In contrast, warm-weather schools play about the same number of games in nearly three-and-a-half months. This gives the southern teams an entire extra month to play their seasons. As a result, they have more time to prepare for the postseason. "The weather is a huge disadvantage for us because we are inside on astroturf taking ground balls and (warm-weather schools) are already playing games and taking ground balls on the dirt," freshman third baseman Kelly Dransfeldt said. "We have just come out after they've had 20 or 25 games and we are just trying to get used to ground balls. "They are so far ahead of us in game situations while )ve can't practice those inside." It's no wonder that the Big Ten hasn't been represented in the College World Series since Michigan last went to Omaha in 1984. The conference hasn't had a school win the national championship since Minnesota did it in 1964. "College baseball has been dominated by climatic conditions," coach Bill Freehan said. "The success of the warm-weather schools is not (controlled by the weather) in football or basketball, but it is in baseball because they can play games earlier than the rest of us." Recruiting is also difficult at a school like Michigan when it can be 25 degrees in early April. "I do not sell the weather," Freehan said of his recruiting strategy. "I can sell a degree from the University of Michigan and I can sell one of the most competitive programs because we play the top programs, but I don't sell the weather." Michigan's academics and other factors can offset the weather, as shown by the signing of Dransfeldt, the nation's No. I incoming freshman according to Baseball America. "Michigan has the great education program and it's well recognized," Dransfeldt said. "It's got the tradition and everything and the coaching staff and facilities up here are top-notch." Furthermore, the problems with the weather do not mean that Michigan can't field quality teams. This year's squad is hardly devoid of talent. Going into the weekend, the Wolverines were hitting .289 as a team - a solid mark for any ballclub. The pitching staff is also strong. Ray Ricken, Ron Hollis, Chris Newton and Heath Murray form a solid rotation. The future may hold good news for schools in cold-weather climates. See WEATHER, Page 20 REBECCA MARGOLIS/Daily Chad Chapman waits for the throw at first base. Banseball allowsc two runs; splits with Lions Michigan's Scott Niemiec connects with the ball earlier this season. 4 --m" By BARRY SOLLENBERGER DAILY BASEBALL WRITER If the offense had shown up, the Michigan baseball team would have swept both games from Penn State Saturday. Instead, the Wolverines (6-4 Big Ten, 12-14 overall) must be content with only one victory even though they got two solid pitching perfor- mances in the doubleheader against the Nittany Lions in State College. In the first game, a 2-1 loss, Michi- gan managed only four singles off Penn State starter Dean Kerns. The Wolverines, however, gained a split by winning the nightcap, 4-0. The second doubleheader of the four-game series, slated for yester- day, was postponed until today be- cause of rain. In the opener Saturday, Michigan could not solve Kerns, who improved his record to 4-1 with the complete game victory. He lowered his earned run average in conference play to 1.06 by allowing only a single run in the contest. Michigan coach Bill Freehan was disappointed with the lack of offen- sive production in the first game. "We were facing a really strong wind," he said. "I was a little upset that we didn't make the adjustment and start hitting the ball on the ground. "Their pitcher had his best day and we just didn't adjust." In the second game, the Wolver- ines rebounded behind the perfor- mance of pitcher Ray Ricken. He allowed just three singles and struck out seven while walking none in posting his first shutout of the sea- son. The win was his fourth on the season against three losses. "Ray Ricken was outstanding," Freehan said. "I was really glad that we were able to come back and get the win." Offensively, Michigan was led by centerfielder Brian Simmons, who was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI in the second game. The Wolverines scored the game's first run in the fourth inning, courtesy of leftfielder Scott Weaver's first home run of the season. Michigan then broke the game open with three runs on three hits in the sixth to increase the lead to 4-0. Simmons' two-run double was the decisive blow. A switch-hitter, Simmons was hit- less in three at-bats in the opener, batting left-handed against the right- handed Kerns. He collected all three of his hits in the doubleheader batting right-handed off southpaw Randy See BASEBALL, Page 20 0 0 0 £)US is. registrreu rraoemark of ... ...osoa -orpora±taoit. vaater au uiw up t 'art: rauernarKS or (CanfonInc. 0 1994 Canon U.S.A., Inc. I. - T-SHIRT PRINTING HIGH QU4IITY lflWl RK2FS 0 ,w.w.nw wwweww 1; 4 ..AN.. 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