The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 18, 1996 - 3E
O~klahoma sweeps Michigan in three games
B James Goldstein
and Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writers
The Michigan baseball team was
probably thinking that 11 games in
Texas over spring break would pre-
pare the squad for this weekend's
ree-game series in Oklahoma.
But after their performance against
the Sooners, the Wolverines seemed
to leave their bats and gloves deep in
the heart of Texas.
Some might say they never even
took their equipment to Texas, as evi-
denced by the 10 losses incurred on
the trip.
Whatever the case, Michigan
needed more than working equipment
to beat Oklahoma this weekend.
The Sooners completed a three-
ame sweep of the Wolverines with a
13-8 win in Norman, Okla., yester-
day. This followed Friday's 14-2 drub-
bing and Saturday's 7-4 loss.
The three wins improved
Oklahoma's record to 15-7 and
diopped Michigan to 1-13.
lh yesterday's defeat, Michigan
pitcher Mike Hribernik (1-2) was
'tagged for 12 runs on 10 hits in four
aid one-third innings. But three er-
rors led to seven unearned runs.
Oklahoma's Jamie Gannn and Damon
Minior belted home runs, and Jesse
Zepeda drove in three runs. Minor con-
n~ted on his third dingerinthree games,
and ninth total, going 6-for-10 and
knocking in 10 runs for the series.
The Sooners used a four-run third
and six-run fifth to put the game away.
The Wolverines attempted a late-game
Ially, however, scoring four runs in
e eighth and threatening in the ninth
with four straight hits.
But Oklahoma converted a game
ending double play to cut the rally
short, nailing a Michigan runner at
the plate.
Michigan was *led by Mike
Cervenak, who had a four-hit day for
the Wolverines, giving the sophomore
third baseman eight hits in nine at-
bats for the series. Second baseman
Kirk Beermann also got four hits.
In Saturday's game, junior Brian
Steinbach started and took the loss for
Michigan. The Sooners touched
Steinbach for seven earned runs in
five and two-thirds innings of work.
Minor got things started early for
Oklahoma by hitting his eighth homer
of the year, a three-run blast, in the
first inning.
The Sooners added single runs in
the fourth and fifth innings and pro-
duced two more in the sixth.
Wolverine freshman J.J. Putz
pitched well in relief of Steinbach,
striking out one and walking one in
two and one-third innings, while al-
lowing no runs.
But the performance of the game
came from Oklahoma starting pitcher
Brian Shackelford, who, after hold-
ing Michigan to four hits through eight
innings, took a 7-2 lead into the ninth
inning.
For the Wolverines, Cervenak hit
his first homer of the season, doubled,
and knocked in three runs. Freshman
Bobby Scales andjunior Mick Kalahar
also had two hits apiece.
On Friday, the Sooners rocked
Michigan starter Mark Temple for
four runs - three of them earned -
on six hits, in just one and one-third
innings pitched.
Temple, who as a senior is the Wol-
verines' top returning starter,' fell to
0-3 in the short season.
Freshman hurler Luke Bonner was
one of the few bright spots for the
Wolverines. Bonner scattered six hits
over the final five innings, and three
of the four runs scored against him
were unearned.
All told, 10 different Oklahoma
players hit safely in the game. Minor
had a single, double and home run,
scored three runs, and had six RBI.
Cervenak led Michigan with two
hits and an RBI, while junior short-
stop Kelly Dransfeldt hit his first home
run of the season.
DARREN
EVERSON
Darren to be Different
Se/cc/i bwzcommiftee 4
IJo/ven7)zes mcewwil
udging by the NCAA's hockey tournament bracket (Page 2B), no one in
that organization has ever owned a dog.
Or, at the very least, no one there grasps the concept of dog biscuits. The idez
makes perfect sense, even to a dog: When you do right, you get rewarded with one,
When you don't, well ... all you've got for sustenance is your own saliva.
Oral fluids are about all that the hockey Spartans have produced lately, winning
four of their last 11 and blowing the CCHA title in the process. Meanwhile,
Michigan won the playoff title and beat the Spartans in the standings and three of 2
four times on the ice. And yet, Michigan must beat either Minnesota or Providence
at Michigan State's Munn Ice Arena to advance in the NCAA tournament.
That's about as fair as watching the family pooch sit, roll over and stay, and then
sending him off to scrap for food with the local junkyard dogs at their place. As for
the Spartans, who get to play at home, they're getting rewarded for basically
messing all over the living room floor.
"It's unfair to the purpose of the playoffs to give a team an advantage when it
hasn't earned it," Michigan coach Red Berenson says.
Berenson is right: The NCAA ought to try something else - like having higher-
seeded teams host games - than continue with the present system, in which
regional sites are determined by a bidding process. The reason: Undeserving teams
can get home-ice advantage.
And make no mistake: It's a huge advantage. Being at home in hockey means
being familiar with the rink's surface and its dimensions (these vary from one rink
to the next), not to mention having the crowd and not having to travel.
Not.coincidentally, your average hockey team fares better at home - and so
does your not-so-average team: Michigan has suffered six of its seven losses away
from Yost Ice Arena. One of those, by the way, was at Michigan State.
"But in fairness to that statement." Berenson says. "the teams that have hosted it
haven't won."
One such team was last year's Wisconsin squad, which lost to the Wolverines in
the quarterfinals. The Badgers still got to host Michigan, though, despite having an
inferior record, a worse seed and a loss to the Wolverines earlier that season.
And even though the Wolverines don't face the Spartans, they'll still be at a
huge disadvantage. In the 1994 West Regional at East Lansing, a raucous,
anybody-but-Michigan crowd cheered on Lake Superior State (whose band,
incidentally, played Michigan State's fight song) to victory over the Wolverines.
So what gives?
"There has to be home-ice advantage," says Rick Comley, chair of the selection.
committee. "If we were going to have two buildings (with good attendance) that
weren't on campus, that would be ideal. But so far we haven't had that."
The 1993 West regional at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit proved this point.
Michigan's quarterfinal game against Wisconsin that year drew a paltry 7,483.
Since then, schools have bid on on-campus regionals, and the NCAA has made
sure host schools have played at home, Comley says.
The Wolverines have yet to host one because, at first, they weren't aware of the
NCAA's decision to make the West regional available to bidders. Meanwhile,
Wisconsin and Michigan State have put in bids and hosted regionals.
Further handicapping Michigan has been the renovation of Yost, Berenson says,
as it makes the arena unavailable. The renovation has kept Michigan from having a
regional here for two years, since it was supposed to be done in 1995 but was
postponed until this year.
These problems won't saddle Michigan forever, though, and Berenson says he'll
probably put in a bid eventually. But for the time being, the Wolverines are forced
to play for their tournament lives in their archrivals' backyard.
I wouldn't do that to a dog.
- Darren Everson can be reached over e-mail at evey@umich.edu.
Michigan junior shortstop Kelly Dransfeldt and the Wolverines dropped three
straight games to Oklahoma over the weekend.
'ftbail loses final after 6 straight shutouts
By Dan Stillman
Daily Sports Writer
Wolverine pitching shutout oppo-
nents for a school-record 44 consecu-
tive innings as the Michigan softball
team continued its early-season suc-
cess at this weekend's Florida State
*ady Seminole Invitational.
Following six straight shutouts, the
No. 15 Wolverines (15-7) defeated No.
9 Florida State in ithe tournament's semi-
final yesterday morning, before losing
5-3 to South Florida in the afternoon's
championship game.
Junior pitcher Kelly Holmes high-
lighted the Wolverines' weekend pitch-
ing effort with a spectacular Saturday.
On that morning, Holmes (8-4) re-
orded a no-hitter against No. 20 Illi-
nois-Chicago. Saturday night, she held
No. 17 Indiana to one-hit.
Sophomore pitcher Griffin won all
four games she started while Holmes
went 3-1 on the weekend.
Michigan's pitching heroics did not
last into the championship game, how-
ever.
South Florida pitcher and tournament
MVP Monica Tri:nerstruck the big blow
-ofthe game with a two-run homer in the
ird, giving her team acommanding 5-
0 lead.
Michigan's three-run fourth was not
enough as the Wolverines did not
threaten the rest of the game and fell
short of successfully defending last
year's championship in the tournament.
The Wolverines' 7-1 weekend in-
cluded three victories over nationally
ranked teams.
Inthe semifinal, senior third baseman
Tracy Carr led Michigan over the Semi-
noles with three RBIs, including a two-
run triple in the first.
Griffin, junior second baseman Jes-
sica Lang and senior shortstop Kathryn
Gleason each knocked in a run to com-
plete the Michigan scoring.
The Wolverines' advanced to the
semifinal via Saturday night's 11-0
whipping of the self-destructing Indi-
ana Hoosiers in the quarterfinal.
Junior second baseman Jessica Lang
started the Michigan scoring with a
relatively harmless three-run homer in
the first inning - relative to a two-out
error by the Indiana third baseman,
which led to eight more first-inning
Wolverine runs, all of them unearned.
Hoosier pitching helped Michigan
out with six walks in the inning.
Friday the Wolverines began the tour-
nament by recording three shutouts in
as many games.
In the first game, Miami (Ohio) bats
were no match for Wolverine starter
Sara Griffin who shutdown the Redskins
in the 6-0 victory.
The shutout was Griffin's fourth of
the season.
Michigan did all of its damage in the
middle innings, scoring twice in the
third and four more in the fourth.
Another four-run fourth inning keyed
Michigan's second shutout of the day
against Samford in a 7-0 win.
Gleason's and Carr's two-run doubles
accounted for the bulk of Michigan's
scoring. Freshman outfielder Cathy
Davie added two RBI of her own.
As the day wore on, the Wolverines
kept getting stronger.
Michigan capped offthe opening day
of the tournament with a season-high
13 runs and season-best 15 hits against
Northern Iowa.
Griffin and senior co-captain Erin
Martino both went 2-for-4 from the
plate with a double and an RBI.
Saturday's set of Michigan shutouts
began with 7-0 victory over Illinois-
Chicago. Holmes recorded her first ever
no-hitter and the Wolverines' second of
the season.
The game remained close until Michi-
gan added to its 1-0 lead with a four-run
fourth. Michigan took the 5-0 lead with
back-to-back two-run doubles by fresh-
man first baseman Traci Conrad and
Griffin.
Wolverine catcher Jennifer Smith
suffered abad bone bruise on her throw-
ing hand late in the game, which forced
her to miss the rest of the tournament.
The junior is expected to return behind
the plate next weekend.
The Young Women's Health Project
University of Michigan Medical Center
SOPHOMORE WOMEN
The Young Women's Health Project is conducting an
ongoing, federally-funded study of nutrition and its impact
on menstrual function. Subjects are needed who have
experienced or are regularly engaged in any of the
following behaviors:
" binge eating
" intense dieting or fasting
* vomiting or other types of purging
The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
presents
The Nineteenth Annual
Hayward Keniston
Lecture
Blues
for Tomorrow
If interested,
and you are a sophomore woman, you may be
eligible to participate.
by
Stanley
Crouch
Tuesday
March 19, 1996
4:30 p.m.
Schorling Auditorium
School of Education
A reception will follow the lecture.
For further information, please contact Dina Pasalis,
Project Coordinator at 936-4867.
All subjects will be paid up to $265 on completion of
their participation in this research project.
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