MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL
MINNESOTA 7,
Detroit 5
TEXAS 6,
Milwaukee 2
Chicago White Sox 6,
TORONTO 5
SEATTLE 4,
NY Yankees 2
MONTREAL 2,
St. Louis 1
CINCINNATI 11,
Colorado 4
FLORIDA 4,
Chicago Cubs 2
Philadelphia 3,
LOS ANGELES 0
Pittsburgh 4,
SAN FRANCISCO 2
SAN DIEGO 12,
NY Mets 5
HOUSTON 2.
Atlanta 1
PRO
BASKETBALL
Detroit 100,
DALLAS 82
MIAMI 97,
LA Clippers 87
New York 94,
CLEVELAND 88
PRO
HOCKEY
St. Louis 1,
DETROIT 1
Tampa Bay 1,
PHILADELPHIA 1
New Jersey 1,
WASHINGTON 0
4
Wednesday
April 2, 1997
10
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JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
The Wolverines hope to establish a bit of consistency in a weekday doubleheader
against Western Michigan today in Kalamazoo.
Western serves as
tune-up for Blue
:L
By Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan softball team might
not know all that much about Western
Michigan, but the Wolverines know
what they expect out of today's 2 p.m.
doubleheader in Kalamazoo - two
wins.
"I don't know anything about
them," Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins said of the Broncos (4-8).
"We haven't played them in two years
due to weather, and to be honest, we
don't really focus on the other team.
We just focus on Michigan and play
our game."
The ninth-ranked Wolverines (28-
8-1) are led by a strong trio of pitch-
ers. Ace Sara Griffin has shut down
opposing offenses, going 14-1 in her
16 starts with a 0.87 ERA.
Griffin has also added plenty of
support at the plate. The two-time All-
American is batting .317 and is sec-
Kond on the team with two home runs.
Jamie Gillies should also get a con-
siderable amount of playing time
today. The freshman only got two
innings of work last weekend and was
hit pretty hard, allowing four hits and
one run.
Gillies "may need to learn how to
pitch in this weather," Hutchins said.
"It also takes a pitcher a good inning
or two to get settled into her game,
and she didn't get that opportunity."
Sophomore Cathy Davie has been
spectacular at the plate, but the first
baseman's fielding has been sub-par.
Davie's .408 batting average is tops on
the team, as are her 13 extra-base hits,
but her four errors put her fourth on
the team.
While the pitchers have been very
successful, the other half of the bat-
tery has struggled. The Wolverines'
two backstops, Jen Smith and Jen
McKittrick, have combined for seven
errors, and both are hitting well below
the Mendoza line, with Smith at .176
and McKittrick still looking for her
first base hit.
All season long, the Wolverines
have been looking to find one thing
- consistency. They struggled to find
it early on but are coming into their
own as of late.
"We're just looking to play consis-
tent softball, which means play good
defense, pitch well, and hit the ball
hard," Hutchins said. "In the last five
games, since we came back from a 2-
O deficit at Purdue, we've shown
signs of consistency both at the plate
and in the other two categories."
The break from the Big Ten sched-
ule should actually help the
Wolverines achieve that goal, accord-
ing to Hutchins.
"Consistency is gained during
(games against) your non-conference
opponents," Hutchins said. "It's a
chance for us to stay sharp for the
weekend, and that's why we play mid-
week games."
One area in which the Wolverines
should have the edge is experience.
Michigan has already played 37
games this season; the Broncos have
played just 12.
And the Broncos have struggled in
the few games they have played, only
gaining victories over Akron, Ferris
State and Central Michigan. In their
three games against Big Ten oppo-
nents, the Broncos were outscored 22-
5, losing twice to Michigan State and
once to Iowa.
Western Michigan has shown flash-
es of solid pitching, but often, when
their pitching is on, their offense fails
them. In a loss to Illinois-Chicago,
pitcher Jennifer Vanover threw eight
shutout innings, only to get no run
supportl. Vanover surrendered three
runs in the ninth, taking the loss.
Angie Rosich has had several out-
standing outings on the mound, pick-
ing up three of the Broncos' four
wins. Saturday against Akron, Rosich
held the Zips to one run and struck
out nine. In the second game of a
tripleheader, Rosich again held Akron
to one run, only to be relieved by
Vanover.
Michigan
blanked as
Falcons
roll, 5-0
By Richard Shin g
Daily Sports Writer
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio
After scoring 17 and 14 runs in its
previous two games, the Michigan
baseball team's potent offense faced a
Bowling Green team that has been
equally hot at the plate.
In the end, the Wolverines played
the April fool and the Falcons had the
last laugh. Bowling Green scored one
run in the fourth and four in the sixth
to defeat Michigan, 5-0. -T
Bowling Green (10-6) took adv4a
tage of two Michigan (16-10) errors
that led to a three-run homer by pinch
hitter Matt Best in the sixth innin.
Michigan's best chance to score
came in the seventh against Bowling
Green pitcher Rick Blanc, when the
Wolverines loaded the bases with two
outs. Blanc settled down, howeier,
and struck out Derek Besco on three
pitches to end the inning.
Five Bowling Green pitchers sed
tered six hits over nine innings en
route to the Falcons' second shutout
in the past three games.
For Michigan, it marked the first
time this season that the Wolverines
could not muster a run.
"For whatever reason, we took a lot
of pitches, and we weren't aggressive
with the bat," Michigan coach Geoff
Zahn said. "Their pitchers, for their
part I give them credit. They c4ng
right after us, and they weren't afraid
to throw strikes."
After a dominating five-game
homestand, Michigan batters could
manage only six hits while striking
out 14 times.
The Falcons did not score in the
first three innings, as Michigan
pitcher Brian Berryman allowed only
one run on three hits before being
replaced in the fifth.
Jeff Hundley earned the win in
relief for Bowling Green, raising his
record to 1-1.
Hundley was masterful in three
innings of work, allowing two hits,
no runs and two walks while striking
out five. Berryman suffered his sec-
ond loss of the season, dropping to
2-2.
Despite the loss, Zahn was encur-
aged by Berryman's performance.
"I think, overall, our pitching
getting a little bit better," Zahn said.
"We just have to stay patient with the
young guys.
"Berryman's starting to come
around. He pitched defensively again
today and got away with it. He's got
too good of stuff to be nibbling o the
corners,"
Best paced the Falcons, clubbing
his second home run of the season i.
a pinch-hit appearance.
Bowling Green designated hitter
Jason Calvin drove in center fielder
Matt Mlynarek for the first run of the
game, singling to center. Shortstop
Drew Niles drove in Bowling Green's
final run and went 2-5.
For Michigan, shortstop Brian
Kalczynski and Besco each went2-4.
See FALCONS, Page 12
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
Michigan pitcher Pete Martay contributed to Michigan's 50 loss to Bowling Green yesterday, allowing two earned runs in
only 2.1 innings. On the bright side, Martay was not saddled with the loss - that distinction went to starter Brian Berryman.
* Baseball commentary
Simple mistakes evident in loss
By John Friedberg
Daily Sports Writer
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Moving runners into scoring position,
throwing first-pitch strikes and making
the easy plays in the field. All of these
things are routine for quality baseball
teams. They were also things that
Michigan did not do in its 5-0 loss to
Bowling Green yesterday.
Michigan made three errors in the
field and many others at the plate yester-
day. The miscues will have to be avoided
if the Wolverines expect to challenge for
the Big Ten crown.
While the Michigan pitching seems to
be coming around, there are still some
glaring weaknesses that need to be cor-
rected. Sophomore Brian Berryman had
one of his best outings of the season but
still experienced some control problems.
"(Berryman's) still only getting one
pitch over the plate," Michigan coach
Geoff Zahn said. "For them, they came
right after us and threw breaking balls for
strikes and fastballs for strikes."
Berryman walked three batters in four
innings and failed to strike out anyone.
Part of Berryman's problem was his fail-
ure to throw first-pitch strikes. Berryman
threw roughly two good pitches per at-
bat. But when he did throw quality pitch-
es, he was able to retire hitters.
Sophomore Pete Martay followed
Berryman and had similar problems with
his control, but he was more let down by
the defense.
During Bowling Green's four-run
sixth inning, the first three batters
reached base. Martay fell behind
Bowling Green center fielder Matt
Mlynarek, 2-1, before allowing him to
rope a single. Catcher Donny Schone hit
a weak groundball to the right of
Michigan first baseman Jeff Van Sickle.
Van Sickle took an easy play away
from second baseman Kevin Quinn as he
fielded the ball and flipped it to Martay,
who was beaten to first by Schone.
Michigan appeared to have caught a
break when Martay tried to pick
Mlynarek off second. Mlynarek was
caught leaning toward third, but when
Quinn threw over to Michigan third
baseman Mike Cervenak, Mlynarek was
safe.
Cervenak was not able to put the tag
on the elusive Falcon. That put runners
on the corners with no outs. Had the
defense made the routine plays there
could have been two outs and nobody on.
Martay then faced Bowling Green
pinch hitter Matt Best. Best took the first
pitch out of the strike zone for a ball.
Martay allowed the game-clinching
home run two pitches later.
The fundamental breakdowns were
not limited to the defense, as numerous
mistakes happened at the plate. Quinn
was unable to move Michigan catcher
Andrew Miller into scoring position after
Miller led off the fifth inning with a
walk.
Quinn ended up bunting a foul third
strike, and Miller, who represented the
tying run, did not advance. Michigan had
its best opportunity to get back in the
seventh as pinch hitter Dan Sanborn led
off the inning with a line-drive single to
center.
Again, Quinn was asked to move the
runner over. Again he struck out after
fouling off two bunts. After Michigan
designated hitter Bobby Scales fouled
out to Bowling Green third baseman
Brian Cannon, Rob Bobeda and Brian
Kalczynski hit back-to-back singles to
load the bases for clean-up hitter Derek
Besco.
Besco struck out looking, one of four
Michigan hitters to do so, to end
Michigan's best threat. The game was
basically over. Quinn's failure to lay
down a bunt cost the Wolverines a run,
but he is not to blame for the lack of
offensive output. It was a team effort.
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