12 - The Michigan Daily -- Friday, March 3, 1995
Wolverines leave Florida trip behind for Minnesota
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika with a 4-4 record, but they have no baseball we're capable of," Freehan wentoutthere,"Freehan said."Ithink Either sophomore righthander Brian .310 mark. But other im
Daily Baseball Writer time to rest. said. "You don't want to be satisfied he'll come outjust as strong this week- Steinbach (0-1, 5.40) or freshman ters didn't ripen during
It's early March. Frigid Fisher Michigan heads to Minneapolis with4-4, especially afterstarting4-1. end." righthanderTyler Steketee(1-1,6.23) fruit season.
0
:)
1
portant hit-
the grape-
Stadium's field is covered with snow,
a brisk breeze is blowing from foul
pole to foul pole and nine-game
homestands in 90-degree heat seem
nowhere near.
No matter.
The boys of summer are back.
The bats and gloves have re-
turned to action and the Michigan
baseball team has begun the quest
for its first Big Ten title since 1989.
The Wolverines returned from their
annual spring trip to Florida Sunday
this weekend to compete in the Hormel
Foods Baseball Classic at the Hubert
H. Humphrey Metrodome.
The Wolverines face Minnesota
at7 p.m. tonight, 1993 NCAA Cham-
pion Louisiana State tomorrow at 6
p.m. and No. 3Florida State at 5 p.m.
Sunday.
Michigan coach Bill Freehan feels
the Wolverines must play up to their
potential if they hope to improve their
.500 mark.
"We've got to play the kind of
We have to hit the ball better, and we
need some good pitching."
Senior righthander Matt Ferullo(1-
0,3.68 ERA) will look to give Michi-
gan just that in his start against the
Golden Gophers. Ferullo pitched six
innings against St. Leo last Saturday,
left with a 2-1 lead, but did not record
a decision.
Later in the week, he went on to
beat Eastern Michigan 6-5, fanning 10
in 8.2 innings of work.
"Matt pitched well both times he
Louisiana State will likely have to
contend with juniorrighthander Mark
Temple (1-1, 7.59). Temple started
strong in the Sunshine State, allowing
two runs in six innings against St.
Leo, but he was tagged for seven runs
in Michigan's 13-4 loss to Florida
Southern.
"He struggled a bit in his second
game, but he's ready to come back
with a good outing," Freehan said.
Freehan will get a much-needed
look at his young hurlers on Sunday.
will head to the hill against the Semi-
noles.
"We still have to see how the young
guys perform,"Freehan said. "They're
always your unknown. We're going
to start (Steinbach or Steketee), but
everyone who travels is going to get
some work."
Freehan would like his offense
to go to work as well. Mike Muir is
hitting a team-high .385 and co-
captain Rodney Goble leads Michi-
gan with nine hits while compiling a
Junior outfielder Scott Weaver, al-
though displaying power with twohome
runs and six RBI, is only hitting .222.
Weaver led the Wolverines in RBI
last season.
Senior co-captain Ryan Van
Oeveren is slumping with only two
hits in his first 28 at-bats.
"We need our hitters to step up."
Freehan said. "We've played great
'D' and we've run the bases well, but
we've got to score more runs if we
want to win."
Softball faims for three more
rankedfoes a9CAtoiie
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Softball Writer
The No.18 Michigan softball team
embarks upon the UCLA Easton/
ReebokInvitational this weekend with
A couple of important notches on its
belt.
The Wolverines are owners of a7-
2 record after last weekend's Arizona
State University Classic. This is their
best start since the 1981 season, when
they went 7-0.
Three of those victories came over
top 20 teams - No. 8 Washington,
No. 9 Hawaii-and No. 14 Oregon.
One of the most important things
tocome out of the team's early season
record and play is confidence.
"We came out with a bang," Wol-
verine coach Carol Hutchins said.
"The team is very excited. Our team
has a lot of confidence in themselves,
which is a key factor in our sport. It
gives us an edge."
Last weekend's ranked opponents
served as good preparation for the
level of competition Michigan will
face in the UCLA Invitational, which
begins today and ends Sunday. The
field contains No. 2 UCLA, No. 5
UNLV, No. 7 Utah and the No. 18
Wolverines. The only unranked team
is South Carolina.
The Wolverines face the Runnin'
Rebels today at 3 p.m., the Utes and
the Bruins at 1 and 3 p.m. tomorrow
and the Gamecocks at 9 a.m. Sunday.
South Carolina holds a 3-1 all-
time edge over Michigan. The Wol-
verines have never beaten Utah or
UCLA and have never faced UNLV.
"This is our toughest tournament,"
Hutchins said. "Almost every team
we are facing in the tournament is
ranked. Wecan't giveaway anything;
we can't make errors. We have to play
solid ball. That's why we beat Wash-
ington (last weekend).
"We are going to face, in every
team we play, the best pitching we
have seen. It's important that our pitch-
ing keeps us in the game," Hutchins
added.
Michigan's pitching staff is one of
its greatest assets. The Wolverines
return senior Kelly Kovach, sopho-
more Kelly Holmes and junior Tracy
Carr and welcome newcomer Sara
Griffin.
Last season, Kovach led Michi-
gan in hitting (.306) and pitching (1.30
ERA/i 16 strikeouts) and was hon-
ored as a GTE Academic All-Ameri-
can. She is third in wins (54), second
in strikeouts (374) and second in shut-
outs (25) on the Wolverines career
all-time records list.
Holmes held a 16-11 record last
season with a 2.20 ERA and 82
strikeouts Carr had a 1.27 ERA and
seven strikeouts in seven pitching ap-
pearances.
They arejoined by freshman Grif-
fin who was the 1994 California player
of the year. Kovach, Griffin and
Holmes are 3-0, 2-1 and 2-1, respec-
tively, after last weekend's action.
Carr did not see any action pitching.
"(All of our pitchers) will start at
least one game (this weekend),"
Hutchins said. "Everybody came back
with three games under their belt, and
that's a bonus for us. We don't have to
throw tired which we have to use to
our advantage."
So far this season Michigan has
compiled 66 hits while its opponents
have totaled just 57. Sophomore Jes-
sica Lang notched two game-win-
ning hits in last weekend's classic
along with juniors Cheryl Pearcy and
Kathryn Gleason who each added one
game-winning hit.
The Wolverines have four
homeruns on the season thus far, two
by freshman Kellyn Tate and one
each by Kovach and Lang.
"We need to consistently get bet-
ter," Hutchins said. "The pitchers need
to continue throwing hard and getting
better, our hitters need to continue get-
ting better. I told them that they can't be
satisfied because it's only March."
Senior Lesa Arvia leads the out-
field contingent. Arvia moved from
right to leftfield for defensive pur-
poses last season, and will stay at that
position this year.
"We have a group of five that we
feel can play (in the outfield)," Hutch-
ins said. "The people who hit the ball
most will get in the lineup. Right now
we are giving them all shots to get
some opportunities."
01
The Michigan wrestling team heads to Bloomington tomorrow to square off against all of its Big Ten opponents.
Gra lerstraveltgTens
By Jed Rosenthal
Daily Sports Writer
With all of its dual matches com-
plete, it's all over for the Michigan
wrestling team. The regular season,
that is.
After a season of peaks and val-
leys where the No. 13 Wolverines
were constantly falling behind early
in their matches (only to come from
behind and win or tie in six of them)
Michigan has no time to relax.
Tomorrow, the Wolverines (5-2-2
Big Ten, 7-3-2 overall) venture to
Bloomington to square off against all
of its regular season Big Ten foes, as
well as those they didn't see in dual
meets, attheBig Ten Championships.
The championships will feature seven
conference teams ranked in the top 25
nationally and four in the top 10,
including No. 1 Iowa.
"Iowa is definitely the prelimi-
nary favorite," Michigan coach Dale
Bahr said. "They haven't lost in this
tournament since 1974 so they are
definitely the odds-on favorite for both
the Big Ten and National Champion-
ship."
With five wrestlers ranked in the
top 12 of their respective weight
classes, the Wolverines will display
only their best talent at the tourney.
That talent includes 167-pound se-
nior Chad Biggert, who sports a 30-3
overall record and a perfect 12-0 in
dual meets along with his unblem-
ished 9-0 mark in the Big Ten.
"Those dual meets are pointless,"
Biggert said. "No one remembers wha.f 0
you do in the dual meets. The only!
thing that matters is the Big Tens and
nationals. Ten years down the road, no
one is going to say, 'Hey, he was an
undefeated dual match wrestler.' They.
are going to say, 'Hey, he was a Na-
tional Champion."'
Biggert has a long way to go if he
wants to be a National Champion, let
alone a Big Ten champ. No. I Zac
Taylor from Minnesota, and No. 3
Matt Nerem from Iowa both stand in
Biggert's way. Biggert beat Nerem at
the Midlands tournament held in De-
cember, so Biggert should be seeded
ahead of the Hawkeye standout.
"Since I beat Nerem, that should
prove that rankings don't mean a
thing," Biggert said. "I'm peaking at
the right time. I have no injuries, and
I'm ready to perform. I want to come.
back a Big Ten champ."
The championships serve as the
only chance for wrestlers in the Big
Ten to qualify for the National Cham-
pionships, which will take place in
Iowa City in two weeks. The top six in
each weight class automatically get
the opportunity to wrestle at Iowa,
Sring ommencement Student
Speaker Call or [ntriesF
The Office of University Relations is making a Call for
Entries for a Student Speaker for Spring Commencement
Saturday, April 29, 1995
10:00 a.m.
Michigan Stadium
CRITERIA
-Must be receiving a Bachelor's degree during Winter Term
1995 or Summer Term 1995
SUBMIT
-Cover letter/resume highlighting U-M scholarship, campus
leadership, and/or public speaking experience
-Typed draft of speech (no more than 5 minutes in length)
-Audio cassette tape of yourself reading speech
I
Nigel Hawthorne Present This Coupon
THE MADNfSSOF When Purchasing A
KING GEORGE Large Popcorn & g
* SHALLOW Receive One e
* GRAVE - a
E what 0 ttlemurder r 32-z. DInk
Stand Out In YOUR Next Presentation.
See WRESTLING, Page 13
0
Use Color: It Stands Out!
T-SHIRT
PRINTING
HxrIH UALIT
WWPivveCES
b
0
..
,y.Y
4 ,w.
i , 1
1
. - a
No rnatter what your
place Iooks like -you can
findA a ci ,lf--cArI
0
I
i
I