, b More than a handful of Michigan players will have sweaty palms when the 1996 NFL Entry Draft begins tomorrow in New York City. Junior tailback Tshimanga Biakabutuka is expected to go to the St. Louis Rams with the sixth overall pick. As many as three other Wolverines - Amani Toomer, Jon Runyan and Joe Marinaro - could be first- round selections. The draft will televised by ESPN. Friday April 19, 1996 12 Sophomore hurler stellar in comeback By Jim Rose Daily Sports Writer Just about everything went well for Michigan baseball pitcher Tyler Steketee in yesterday's game - except the final result. In Steketee's first start of the season, the Wolverines (12- 4 Big Ten, 18-18 overall) were 4-1 losers to Eastern Michi- gan at Fisher Stadium. The sophomore righthander didn't figure in the decision, but he kept Michigan in the game throughout the first five innings. "I was happy with Tyler Steketee," Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said. "He pitched real well today." The Wolverines managed only four hits through the first five innings, but the Eagles were equally ineffective, thanks to Steketee. He allowed one run on two hits, while walking just two. When he left the game with the score knotted at one, the bullpen couldn't hold Eastern Michigan off. Steketee, who has been recovering from a stress fracture ,in his leg, was a member of Michigan's starting rotation last year. He injured the leg on this year's spring trip. Steketee gave up a single and a walk with two outs in the top half of the first yesterday, but he got out of the jam by getting the Eagles' Jeff McGavin to pop out to the catcher. .Then Steketee settled down and retired 10 straight hitters. In fact, Eastern Michigan couldn't even get a runner on the basepaths until the fifth inning. The inning that finished Steketee for the day wasn't even ,entirely his fault. He walked Eastern Michigan's Scott "Barrett then retired the next two Eagles in order. When Barrett tried to steal second, Michigan catcher Mike Haskell -rushed his throw, and it sailed into centerfield. Then Eastern Michigan's ninth batter, catcher Travis Wade - who, no doubt, was at the bottom of the lineup due in part to his .133 average -hit a fly ball fairly deep to right field. Michigan's Derek Besco initially appeared to have a bead on the ball, but the swirling wind dropped it safely just inside the foul line. Scored as a double for Wade, it allowed See STEKETEE, Page 13 I 4 a - .. -- :: , . . ._ Eagles soar past Blue" Flat bats doom Wolverines in 4-1 home loss to Eastern Michigan MARK""IEDMAN/"il" y Eastern Michigan reliever Mike Borkowski set down the Wolverines in order in the ninth inning to preserve the Eagles's 4-1victory over Michigan at Fisher Stadium yesterday. U ALL SONY AND EPIC BEST VALUE AND NICE PRICE CD's ARE ON SALE (EXCLUDES CLASSICAL) SPRING FLIN S ALE I (tM .IL 7 K j M I """ r:,r;', 'irr , , r. I, JOIN DAILY SPORTS. What else is there to do this summer? Go to classes? ROADWAY PACKAGE SYSTEM PACKAGE HANDLERS PERFECT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS Saving for tuition? Find part- time work, year round at RPS! - Earn up to $8.50 per hour Roadway Package System, a small package delivery service, hires package handlers to load and unload package vans and semi-trailers. if you are not afraid of hard work, are at least 18 years old and want to work 4-5 hours per day, Mon.-Fri., we can offer you $6.50/hr. to start, $7/hr. after 90 days, plus $1/hr. tuition assistance after 30 days. Excellent opportunity for promotion while a student and after graduation. Respond to: ROADWAY PACKAGE SYSTEM, INC. 296Jackson Plaza Ann Arbor, MI 48103 313 665-3323 E0AAE By James Goldstein Daily Sports Writer The Michigan dugout just didn't sound the same. In the past, the Wolverines have cheered when they have won and done the same when they have lost. But yesterday, Michigan players would tell you that their heads weren't into the game. For a good portion of the game, silence replaced "Hey now, let's get a hit" or "Come on, one more strike" or "Keep your head in there" in the Wol- verines' dugout. It's not as if there was no cheering or encouraging. It's just the dugout wasn't as lively as the earlier games in the season. And it spilled onto the field. Michigan fell to the Eagles 4-1 yes- terday at Fisher Stadium as the Wol- verines lacked the clutch hitbig pitch and the smarts in the field and on the Next up fa basepaths. "(We) were pretty A pair of Big Ten dead today," Michi- tomorrow and Su gan coach Geoff Ray Fisher Stadi Zahn said. "(We) didn't execute well) at all." The Wolverines dropped their record to .500 (18-18) heading into this weekend's crucial four-game home series against Penn State. Eastern Michigan (11-23) broke a - 1 deadlock in the seventh inning on Brent Miller's two-RBI, bases-loaded single off Mike Hribernik. Hribernik entered the game in the top of the sixth for the Wolverines' starting pitcher, Tyler Steketee. Hribernik started off strong, retiring the Eagles in order in the sixth and got the first out of the seventh on a fly-out to center field. ' But the sophomore pitcher from Birmingham struggled thereafter. Eastern Michigan's Scott Barrett got the team going as he beat out Michigan third baseman Brian Kalczynski's throw from the infield grass for an infield single. Designated hitter Mark Rutherford then crushed Hribernik's fastball off the left field wall for a stand-up double. Rutherford's shot looked as if it would go out of the park, but it plunked the wall halfway up, saving Michigan a run. Instead of Barrett scoring, he wound up on third. With two outs, Travis Wade walked to load the bases. Miller stepped up to the plate and took two straight balls. But Hribernik fought his way back to square the count with two pitches down the middle of the plate. Miller hadn't even taken the bat off his shoul- o n i iur lu der. Michigan fans yelled, "He'sg swinging, just throw it in there.' But how wrong they were. Miller grounded a base hit up the middle to score Barrett and Rutherford and gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Eastern Michigan added its final run in the eighth on a successful sui- cide squeeze. This came after Michigan's pitcher Matt Herr over- threw a pick-off attempt at first base into right field for a two-base error. Brian Mitchell picked up his fe victory for the Eagles in his second start of the season. Before yesterday's game, Mitchell only pitched eight in- nings in eight games. But against Michigan, he threw six solid innings and allowed one run on six hits, walk- ing none. Mark Borkowski threw in the ninth to notch his second save of the season. Hrbenik took'_e loss, dropping his record to 1-5. Zahn knot C 'M': what Hrbernik is going through in doubleheaders his four-game nday at 1 p.m. at losing streak. im. "Hrber dik started this sa- son as our' best pitcher." Zahn said. "He would be the first to say that he is make bad pitches in bad situations. And he just has to fight his. way through that." Steketee made the pitches to keep the Wolverines in the ballgame. The sophomore hurler made his first ap- pearance of the season. Steketee, who started 10 games last year, silenced the Eastern Michigan bats in hisAfive innings of work. He gave up a hie. the first inning before retiring the'-next nine Eagles. The only blemish in Steketee's-per- formance came in the fifth inning. He walked Barrett, who stole second on the first pitch to Wade. Then, the Eagles got help from another source en route to its first run -the weather. Winds picked up throughout the game that lifted the dirt around home plate, bothering both catchers. .T e wind was a factor in Wade's pop fl right field. It looked as if it would be an easy out to end the inning, but the ball tailed away from Michigan right fielder Derek Besco, who had to run from right-center toward the foul line to make the play. Besco didn't make the catch as the ball dropped in for a wind-blown double. Barrett came home and knot- ted the game at one. The sophomore pitcher allowed j s1 two hits and two walks in five in- nings. But Steketee impressed his See EAGLES, Page 13 ~V~CQ '~:~ . i. .. _ ^ i t i ry, .:: :Y Kasdan Scholarship in Creative Writing Arthur Miller Award Michael R. Gutterman Award in Poetry Jeffrey L. Weisberg Freshman Poetry Award Dennis McIntyre Prize Chamberlain Award for Creative Writing Helen S. and John Wagner Prize Andrea Beauchamp Prize Robert F. Haugh Prize Naomi Saferstein Literary Award Meader Family Award will be announced Monday, April 22 S-2r n m in the M r: Y I m -. -------