BASEBALL
The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 22, 1996 - 78
p ay i, day
out~ Temple
does the job
By James Goldstein
Daily Sports Writer -
iion't try toenter the Temple ofdoom.
ponents that try rarely succeed.
Just ask Penn State after its 8-1 loss to
Michigan (13-7 Big Ten, 19-21 overall)
Saturday - the Wolverines' only win in
the four-game series.
The Lions' batters were baffled by the
superb performance of Wolverine pitcher
Mark Temple.
Temple hurled his fourth complete
game this season and his seventh con-
, utivewin. The seniorfrom Farmington
's upped his record to 5-0 in the Big
Ten and 7-3 overall. His earned run aver-
age has dropped to a amazing 1.25 in the
conference and 3.10 in all games.
Temple has already totaled more vic-
tories this year than in both of the last two
years (4). He is leading the team with 52.1
innings pitched and is second on the squad
with 29 strikeouts.
In Saturday's game, Temple chewed
up the Penn State
batters with his con-
trol of his pitches.
"I think that was
my best so far this
, .season, as far as be-
. ing efficient and
throwing strikes and
getting ahead of
guys," Temple said.
"I thought I did well
Temple last week, but I did
even better this
week."
It's not as if the Lions didn't get on
base-they had seven hits in the game-
bftit was how Temple pitched out of his
few jams that tells the story.
With one out in the second inning,
Penn State first baseman Phil Bertolotti
scorched aline drive into left-center field
foradouble. Secondbaseman Scott Boruta
hen first after Michigan's second
emnMike Cervenak fell down on an
easy grounder. Man on first and second
and one out - the threat was there.
But Temple didn't panic, and got John
Dacostino to ground into an inning-end-
ing 4-6-3 double play.
Another example-the Nittany Lions
had runners on first and second and no
outs with the Wolverines leading 4-0 in
the top of the third. Temple didn't surren-
der a big inning, thanks to his and his
ates' execution.
ichigan catcher Mike Haskell threw
Ray Werner out at second base on a
double steal. With a man on third and one
out, Penn State left fielder Troy Strauser
was just trying to sacrifice fly to bring
Mike Rooney home. But Templejammed
him andgot Strauserto hita weak pop-up
to right field, holding the runner at third.
Temple struck out the next batter to end
the threat.
o run, no harm. That's the kind of
toughness that Michigan coach Geoff
Zahn loves and would like his young
pitchers to follow.
"Other guys see his work ethic, which
is fantastic, and how he's aggressive and
goes after the hitters," Zahn said. "Right
now he has refused to get beat and that's
a good example for our young guys."
Final line for Temple: seven innings,
one run, seven hits, no walks, five
ikeouts. Pretty good for a guy who
Urted off 0-3 this season.
"Temple has come on real well," Zahn
said. "He's an older guy and he's not
makingmistakes. He uses all four pitches
and has been throwing them for strikes.
You can't ask for anything more out of a
pitcher."
The senior pitcher couldn't ask for
aiything more from his fielders. The
Wolyerines snagged ground balls in the
e- and ran down long flies. It's no
incidence that Michigan's only win in
the-eries came when no Wolverine er-
rdrs lit the scoreboard.
:0; a day when winds gusted to ap-
proximately 50miles perhour, there would
hake been a fair excuse for poor play in
the-field. But Michigan seemed not to be
affected -especially Temple.
-The ace hurler said he was blown off
the" mound a few times, but he still fo-
c~ ~ on his mechanics.
he wind was something I got used to
a$ tle game went on," Temple said. "It
really didn't affectmetoo much. Itstraight-
enod out all my pitches, though. It was
tough to get a break on the ball, so I had to
c6ncentrate more on my slider. I had to
c9centrate on getting a lot of spin on it
and trying to get some movement."
'Michigan assistant coach Ace Adams
has been a pitching coach for most of his
eer and worked with Temple in his
rly years. Adams attributes part of
Temple's large improvement from last
season to his better control and a cut-
fastball that Zahn has helped him add to
his arsenal.
But Temple's mechanics are not the
only thing Adams admires. It's how he
__ ~ ~ , .. - _-- _ .C__ a - * _1 1 _4r- -r
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan's Kelly Dransfeldt returns to the dugout
after hitting a home run Saturday.
Remaining
Michigan baseball
schedule
Dransfeldt fils
leadership role
By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writer
With all of the defensive problems that plagued Michigan over the
weekend, there was one constant in the field - Kelly Dransfeldt.
The junior shortstop has stepped up his game since an error-plagued
spring trip, becoming a force at the plate, and the steadiest member of
the Michigan defense.
"I think Kelly has come a long, long way," Michigan coach Geoff
Zahn said. "He has really come on and is a leader in
the infield. He's making all the plays and he's hitting
for us."
Baseball This weekend was a particularly strong one for
Dransfeldt. He made four putouts, and recorded 12
Notebook assists. In addition, he batted .555 for the weekend.
He also clouted a monstrous home run - his seventh
of the season - in Michigan's lone win.
By the end of the weekend, Penn State coach Joe
Hindelang was an outspoken member of the Kelly
Dransfeldt Fan Club.
"(Dransfeldt) is a pro," Hindelang said. "He scared
us. He scared me more as a player than any other player we've played
against. What he does defensively - he just shuts you down. You can't
hit the ball to the left side."
Reports alleging Hindelang as a distant relative of Dransfeldt's are
unconfirmed.
SEEING DOUBLE: By now, most Michigan baseball fans are aware that
the Wolverines sport a set of twins in sophomores Bryan and Derek
Besco. But this weekend, the Bescos were just part of a crowd. Penn
State brought two sets of twins for the trip.
Adam and Dan Beers are sophomores, but Dan has freshman eligi-
bility because he transferred from Delaware. Adam logged time at
shortstop in three of the four games this weekend against the Wolver-
ines. Dan, an outfielder, did not see action.
Freshmen Corey and Eamonn Neary did not see action this weekend,
but the pair shouldn't have much trouble getting any practice in. They
can practice with each other- Eamonn is a pitcher, Corey is a catcher.
JUST A LITTLE HOBBY: Michigan sophomore Matt Herr is probably
most well-known for his hockey skills, but he's also a member of the
baseball team as well.
Herr, who pitched an inning in yesterday's first game against Penn
State, is one of two multi-sport pitchers for the Wolverines.
Lefty Chuck Winters is also a safety on the Michigan football team.
Winters, who pitches and plays in the outfield, was selected by Baseball
America as the top two-sport baseball player in the Big Ten in 1996.
BEERMAN RETURNS: Senior second baseman Kirk Beerman returned to
the Wolverines' lineup yesterday after missing several games for
personal reasons. Beerman was 2-for-6 in the doubleheader, and he hit
several balls hard at the plate.
"it was good to get Beerman back in there," Zahn said.
April
Western Michigan 3 pm,
28 Siena HeightsI.p.m (DH)
May
2
at Notre Dame 7 p.m.
4-$ at Ohio State 1 p.m. (DH)
7 at Eastern Michigan 1 p.m.
8 at Cincinnati 6 p.m.
11 at Michigan State 1 p.m.
(DH)'
12 Michigan State 1 p.m. (DH)
16-19 at Big Ten Tournament
(TBA)
Mick Kalahar turns on the jets. MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily.n
Slopydefense
hurt Woverines''
By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writer
Defense, sothe sayinggoes, winscham-
pionships.
Maybe, but after this weekend, it is
clear that defense also wins Big Ten
doubleheaders.
And if the Michigan baseball team has
many more defensive outings like this
weekend's, the
Wolverines will
be winning nei-
ther.
Michigan
dropped three of
four to Penn State
at Fisher Stadium, '
falling to 13-7 in d
the Big Ten, 19-
21 overall. The
Nittany Lions
used the occasion to vault ahead of the
Wolverines in the conference standings.
There were several things that went
wrong for Michigan this weekend.
The pitching, however, wasn't the
major problem - the Wolverines got
solid startingperformances fromJ.J. Putz,
Mark Temple and Bryan Besco. The of-
fense was not largely responsible either
-although Michigan was unable to come
up with the all-important clutch hit in
each ofthe losses, the team did manage 29
hits over the course of the weekend. By
process of elimination, then, the culprit
becomes ... the defense.
The Wolverines were not sharp, and
the veteran Penn State squad was able to
capitalize on the sloppy play. All told, the
Wolverines actually only committed five
errors in the four games -but the mental
mistakes were too numerous to count.
"I think (theNittany Lions) were a little
bit more of a veteran team," Michigan
coachGeoffZahn said. "Theydidn'tmake
many mistakes, and we did."
Take yesterday's second game. In the
fourth inning, Penn State had runners o
the corners with two out in a scoreless tie,"
When Nittany Lion Phil Bertolotti triedto
steal second, Michigan catcher Mike,
Haskell's throw was off target. Not only
did Bertolotti slide in safely at second, but
Penn State's Jared Sadlowski was also.
able to score from third.
"We didn't execute very well," Zahin
said. "They forced us on that first and
third play."
Then, after Besco issueda walk, Haskell
tried to pick Bertolotti offsecond. No one,
covered the bag, and the ball sailed un-
touched into center field. Suddenly, in-
stead of having a force at any base, tle
Wolverines were faced with two runners
in scoring position.
The next batter rolled another infield,,
hit -this time between second and third
- that would have been an easy out 4t ,
third, but instead scored Bertolotti forq
Penn State's second run of the inning
and the final run of the game.
Michigan's defense in the first game
was even worse. In the second inning, a
Nittany Lion blooper dropped in between
Michigan first baseman Mike Muir anid'
pitcher Brian Steinbach. Both playgs
hustled after the ball - but nobody coy-,
ered first base. The runner eventually
scored. There were no errors in the in-
ning, but the defense was clearly to blame,
- it was the type of run that a first-place
team shouldn't give up.
One need look no further than the fifth
inning of the same game for more ev
dence of the Wolverines' defensive
struggles.
With Penn State runners on second arid,
third -- due in part to a Mike Muir error
on a potential double-play ball - the
Nittany Lions' Sadlowskichoppedahigh-
hopper to Mike Cervenak at third.
Cervenak threw home, but the runner.
beat the throw and scored. The next battyr
blasted a three-run homer to ice the game.
Michigan first baseman Mike Muir's tag is not in time to get Penn State's Ray Werner yesterday at Fisher Stadium.
LETDOWN
Continued from Page 1B
Penn State had the lead.
"To come back from 5-2 ... was a
big thing," Nittany Lion coach Joe
Hindelang said. "The kids believed in
themselves and just hung in there."
Yesterday, it wasn't the wind that
blew the Wolverines awa. It was Penn
State's bats and left-handed pitchers.
Junior southpaw Matt Dalsey had
plenty of help from his teammates, as
they churned out eight runs on 10 hits
en route to an 8-2 Penn State victory.
Although the Wolverines managed
seven hits in the game, they simply
were not able to convert the
baserunners into actual runs, and
sophomore pitcher Brian Steinbach
took his third loss.
The final game was nothing if not a
pitching duel, pitting Michigan left-
hander Bryan Besco against Penn
State southpaw Jim Jaskowski.
Besco started strongly for the Wol-
verines, retiring the first eight batters
in order and giving up only one hit in
the first three innings.
But with two outs and a runner on
base in their half of the fourth, the
Nittany Lions rallied. With the hit-
and-run on, first baseman Phil
Bertolotti drove one to the edge of the
outfield grass between first and sec-
ond. Michigan second baseman Kirk
Beermann was able to snag the ball,
but could make no play, either to get
Bertolotti at first or to nail Jared
Sadlowski, who took third base on the
hit.
With center fielder Jeremy Deitrick
at the plate, Bertolotti took off for
second. Michigan catcher Mike
Haskell' fired to Beermann covering
the bag, but the throw was neither
quite on line nor in time. Meanwhile,
Sadlowski made his move toward
home plate, and was able to beat
Beermann's throw to the plate, put-
ting the Lions on top, 1-0.
Bertolotti scored one batter later,
when right fielder John Dacostino's
grounder pinned shortstop Kelly
Dransfeldt too deep to make a play.
That was all Penn State needed, and
Jaskowski coasted to a complete-game
win.
"We didn't execute very well,"
Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said.
"They were a little bit more of a vet-
eran team - they didn't make mis-
takes."
"Our kids battled today, and they're
frustrated," he said. "But we're a
young team, and we faced a team that
executed a little bit better."
Despite the loss, Zahn remains con-
fident about his team's prospects.
"This is the first series we've lost,"
he said. "We're still right there (in
contention for a playoff spot)."
With final exams just around the
Im