Baseball
splits with
Purdue
By Kevin Kasbrskl
DailySports Writer
If a tie is like kissing your sister,
then splitting a series is probably
ch the same.
The Michigan baseball team post-
ed a 2-2 record against Purdue this
weekend in West Lafayette, on the
opening weekend of Big Ten play.
Yesterday, Michigan (2-2 Big Ten,
11-9 overall) squeaked out a 3-2 vic-
tory despite being out-hit 10-7.
Pete Martay (2-0) allowed one run
in Tfive innings to pick up the win.
Tyler Steketee worked the last inning
two-thirds for his first save.
wo of Michigan's runs came on
solo homers by third-baseman Mike
Cervenak and leftfielder Jason
Alcaraz. Cervenak and centerfielder
Brain Bush had two hits apiece for
the Wolverines.
Michigan scored all its runs off
Purdue's Mike Hedman (3-2), who
went seven innings and took the loss.
Ryan Cole had two hits, including a
e run, for the Boilers (2-2, 8-11).
ichigan pitchers stranded 18 run-
ners on base.
Saturday the two teams split a dou-
bleheader. In the first game, the
Wolverines recorded their first con-
ference win by topping the
Boilermakers, 7-2, behind the strong
pitching of sophomore J.J. Putz.
Putz (2-0) went the distance, giv-
ing up five hits through seven
innings. He struck out a career-high
*and walked only four.
Michigan's steady effort at the
plate produced single runs in the sec-
ond, third, fifth and sixth innings, and
it put the game out of reach with a
three-spot in the seventh.
The Wolverines balanced offensive
attack was led by first-baseman Brian
Besco, who was 2-for-3, with two
doubles and two RBI.
Designated hitter Bobby Scales
Ri second-baseman Kirk Beermann
were the other Wolverines with multi-
hit games, each collecting a single
and a triple.
Derek Besco scored three of
Michigan's runs.
Matt Luce (1-1) took the loss for
Purdue, surrendering four runs in 5
2/3 innings worked.
In the second game on Saturday,
Michigan staked pitcher Luke
nner to a five-run lead, but the
sophomore hurler couldn't make it
stand up, as Purdue won, 13-8.
After Michigan struck for five in
the top of the second, the Boilers
knocked Bonner out of the game with
five of their own in the third.
The Wolverines came right back
with two runs in the top of the fourth
to go up 7-5, but Purdue scored three
in the bottom of the fourth frame,
*aining the lead for good.
Bonner gave up four runs and four
walks in 2 2/3 innings pitched. All
five runs scored on him were earned.
Michigan's Ryan Kelly, who was
on the mound during the Boilers
three-run fourth, took the loss, drop-
ping his record to 0-3.
Jeremy Ballard (1-1) got the win
for Purdue, as he and Jason Howard

combined to shut-down the
* verine bats over the final three
dings.
Derek Besco paced the Michigan
at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two
RBIs, and Bush added two hits.
Rod Metzler had three of Purdue's
13 hits, including a home run, and
also added five RBI. Mark Tomsyck
had two hits and scored a pair of runs.
In the Big Ten opener on Friday,
Purdue pounded Michigan, 16-6.
,Alcaraz went 3-for with a double
da home run to lead the
Wolverines.
h Heels and
Men'Fin*al Four set
Top-seeded Minnesota used its
depth to wear down No. 2 seed
UCLA on Saturday to earn the
hool's first Final Four berth ever.
Kentucky, meanwhile, shut down
Utah's All-American Keith Van
Horn while easily dispatching the
Utes. The defending-champion
Wildcats advanced to their second
consecutive Final Four under coach
Rick Pitino.
In Sunday's first game, North
Carolina withstood a late charge by
ouisville to gain a spot in.
ldianpolis. Tar Heels coach Dean
Smith continued to add to his win
total, the most of any coach.
Arizona needed overtime to take
care of Providence as the Friars'
Cinderella run fell short. The
Wildcats will face North Carolina

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Michigan
advances,
sets school
win mark
Blue makes it to 5th
semifinal in 6 seasons

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WARREN ZINN/Daily
Greg Crozier jumped into the arms of Marty Turco after the Wolverines defeated Minnesota to advance to the NCAA semifinals in Milwaukee ---
Berenson g es M' through challenge

By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writer
GRAND RAPIDS -Thirty-three seconds.
That's exactly how long it took Michigan captain
Brendan Morrison to dispel all the tension and appre-
hension that preceded yesterday's NCAA West Region
quarterfinal game.
Morrison scored on a pass from teammate Jason
Botterill shortly after the opening faceoff, and the
Michigan hockey team went on to beat Minnesota sound-
ly, 7-4, before a largely maize-and-blue crowd of 8,926 at
Van Andel Arena. The victory put the Wolverines (35-3-
4) in the NCAA semifinals against Boston University at
the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Thursday.
Michigan's 35th victory established a new single-sea-
son school record for wins.
Jason Botterill's lead pass early in the first period sent
Morrison in all alone on Minnesota goalie Steve DeBus.
Morrison deked left, brought the puck back, and put it
past DeBus with his backhand on the first shot of the
game to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
And the Gophers never recovered.
"We talked about that before the game," Morrison said
about his team's quick start. "We wanted to come out and
get a good jump ... The key was getting off to a good
start."
Minnesota's best chance to regain the momentum
came minutes later, but the Gophers failed to convert on
two Michigan penalties. Five big saves by Marty Turco
helped keep the Wolverines' lead intact.
"It was a good game for our penalty killers," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "Turco played outstanding in
the first period, keeping the puck out of our net, while we
were putting the puck in their net."
Bill Muckalt's breakaway goal with 1:19 left in the
period was followed by Botterill's rebound goal, and sud-
denly, Michigan's lead had swelled to 3-0.
The Wolverines didn't waste any time in the second
period, either. Botterill's second tally of the game came
just 23 seconds after intermission, on assists from
See GOPHERS, Page 5B

By Dan Stillman
Daily Sports Writer
GRAND RAPIDS - Holy
nervous.
It was like nothing
else had mattered.
The entire regular
season, the CCHAE
playoffs - all mean- 4
ingless.
It had all come
down to Michigan
and Minnesota, for
the right to advance to
the NCAA semifinals
in Milwaukee, in a game that
had no business occurring as
early as the quarterfinal.

GN
r/

But thanks to the misguided
fourth-seeding of the Gophers,
the matchup was set, the one
that every Michigan
fan feared. The
Gophers were hungry
for revenge after The
Goal helped seal their
doom in last season's
quarterfinal game
against the
Wolverines.
But as tense as the
situation was, that's
how quickly Michigan
struck. Thirty-three seconds it
took captain Brendan Morrison
to score the first goal.
See BERENSON, Page 5B

... where at least one Michigan fan plans to join them.

Woe'sgmnsis continues dointinf igTe
Cai, abncklead Wolverines tosit-ragtcnene crown
Caienxu-ss unLconernc
IK

By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
Six years is an awfully long time.
Long enough for an entire world war.,
Long enough for a toddler to begin
elementary school. And long enough
for a dynasty in college sports.
The Michigan women's gymnas-
tics team kept its dynasty alive,
winning an unprecedented sixth
consecutive Big Ten title this past
weekend in Minneapolis. The
Wolverines all-around score jumped
above 197 at the most crucial time
in the season, as Michigan set a new
Big Ten championships record with
197.15 points.
Michigan overcame the second
place Golden Gophers, 197.15-

After jumping out to a convincing
early lead, Michigan almost relin-
quished the margin on the balance
beam and needed an outstanding per-
formance on the final event, the
floor exercise, to secure the champi-
onship.
"Going into the last event, we were
only leading Minnesota by 0.3
points," Michigan coach Bev Plocki
said. "We knew we had to hit the
floor to win the championship."
And that wasn't a sure thing by
any means. The Wolverines strug-
gled earlier in the season on the floor
exercise, most notably against
Minnesota on Jan. 18, when they
almost blew another huge lead.
Saturday night at the Big Tens,

all season, which produces more 10s
but also more falls.
"We have had one of the more dif-
ficult times on the floor in the coun-
try," Plocki said. "If it would have
made (the team) feel more comfort-
able, I would have let us water down
the routines."
But Michigan wasn't about to take
the easy way out. The Wolverines
went with their high-risk strategy,
recording a 49.475 on the floor -
easily enough to put the meet away
and secure the title.
"We're very thrilled to win it
again," Plocki said. "The Big Ten
championship is really a source of
pride, and we never have any trouble
getting up for it."

.. .


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