6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - April 7, 1997
Weather dampens Michigan-
Minnesota series; teams split
By Kevin Kasiborski
Daily Sports Writer
It's a good thing for the Michigan
baseball team that the Big Ten schedule
now includes single games on Fridays.
Otherwise the Wolverines may have
traveled all the way to Minnesota last
weekend and only played a single
game.
Michigan (7-3 Big Ten, 17-12 over-
all) defeated Minnesota (5-1, 16-11),
10-5, Saturday after falling to the
Golden Gophers, 7-5, Friday, in an
abbreviated weekend series.
The second game of Saturday's dou-
bleheader was postponed due to rain
and snow and was scheduled to be
made up as part of a doubleheader yes-
terday. But Mother Nature again failed
to -cooperate, and both contests were
washouts.
In the baseball that was played
Saturday, Michigan jumped all over
Minnesota starting pitcher Justin
Pederson early. The Wolverines scored
four runs in the second inning - three
coming on senior captain Kirk
Beermann's bases-clearing double -
to chase Pederson. Michigan added a
single run in the third to give pitcher
J.J. Putz a 5-0 lead.
Putz nearly surrendered his entire
margin in the bottom of the third, giv-
ing up four run-scoring singles. Bryan
Guse, Ben Griffin, Eric Welter and Phil
McDermott got the RBI for Minnesota.
The Wolverines responded in the
fifth with an RBI single by Dan
Sanborn and another RBI double by
Beermann, extending their lead to 8-4.
Bryan Besco capped the scoripg with a
two-run homer in the sixth.
Sanborn, who was replacing slump-
ing designated hitter Bobby Scales in
the lineup, finished the game 3-for-4,
with three RBI and two runs scored.
Bryan Cranson relieved Putz in the
fourth inning, and allowed only two
hits and one run over the final 3 2/3
innings. He improved his record to 3-2.
Pederson (2-3), who lasted only the
first 1 1/3, took the loss for Minnesota.
Although the Wolverines pounded
out 13 hits, only seven of their runs
were earned because the Gophers made
five errors behind their four hurlers.
In Friday's game, with the score tied
5-5 in the bottom of the sixth,
Minnesota's Robb Quinlan hit a solo
home run off Michigan starter and
loser Brian Steinbach (4-3), providing
Minnesota with its first lead of the
game. Minnesota hurler Mike Diebolt
made the lead stand the rest of the way.
Quinlan's run-scoring single in the
fifth cut Michigan's lead to 5-4, and
Jeremy Negen tied the score in the
sixth with an RBI groundout.
The Wolverines established an early
3-0 lead by the third inning with the
help of some sloppy play by the
Gophers. Mike Cervenak opened the
game with a single, went to third on a
double by Jason Alcaraz, and scored on
a wild pitch. In the third, Cervenak's
double scored Kirk Beermann, and
Cervenak came around and eventually
scored on an error by Minnesota first
baseman Ben Griffin.
Minnesota got back in the contest in
the bottom of the third on a solo home
run by Welter and an RBI double from
McDermott.
Michigan scored twice in the fifth to
push its lead back to 5-2 before
Quinlan lead the Gophers back.
In addition to his single and home
run, Quinlan also hit his 17th double
and scored two runs.
Cervenak went 3-for-4 at the plate
and had two RBI to lead the Michigan
hitters.
Diebolt (4-2) pitched a complete
game for Minnesota - his second con-
secutive - to get the win. After allow-
ing five early runs, he completely shut
down the Wolverines over the last five
innings, holding them to one hit.
Steinbach surrendered nine hits and
six runs, all earned, in seven complete
innings of work.
Tyler Steketee pitched the eighth for
the Wolverines, and allowed Minnesota
to score an insurance run, giving up a
solo shot to Troy Stein.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Due to a hitting slump, sophomore Bobby Scales was benched at Minnesota.
Griffin-less, Blue softball struggles
By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
To say the least, the Michigan softball
team had a difficult weekend. First of all,
the Wolverines were in Iowa. Period.
In addition, No. 8 Michigan (3-2 Big
Ten, 30-10-1 overall) was swept by the
sixth-ranked Hawkeyes (5-0, 29-5), los-
ing by scores of 8-2 and 15-4.
Yesterday's second game was canceled
due to the weather. Finally, injury was
added to insult as the Wolverines lost star
pitcher/third baseman Sara Griffin for
possibly the remainder of the season.
Griffin and first baseman Traci
Conrad collided on Saturday, as both
players attempted to field a bunt. Griffin
wound up breaking her left arm, her non-
throwing arm, in the loss. Conrad suf-
fered a slight concussion and a sprained
left shoulder, as both players missed yes-
terday's game. And the two were sorely
missed by the Wolverines.
Iowa punished Michigan starter Kelly
Holmes early and often, scoring four
runs on four hits before finally getting an
out.
Michigan's Jamie Gillies was called in
to relieve Holmes of her duties and suc-
cessfully closed out the first inning.
It was smooth sailing after that for
Gillies - for an inning.
Iowa struck harder in the fifth inning,
scoring six runs to give the Hawkeyes an
10-0 lead. Saturday's contest wasn't
quite as lopsided from the start, but it
definitely was by the end.
Iowa's 5-2 lead was interrupted by a
two-hour rain delay, and when the two
teams came back to play, it was more of
the same. Michigan struggled with its
hitting all afternoon, tallying just four
hits off Iowa pitcher Debbie Bilbao.
Michigan pitching could have only
hoped for the same success as Bilbao in
Saturday's game.
Griffin started the game for the
Wolverines, but was moved to third base
at the start of the third inning after giving
up four runs - two of which were
unearned.
GRIFFIN
Continued from Page 1.6
the University.
"It typically takes three months to
completely heal this kind of injury,
but it depends on how the bone heals
in the individual patient:'
Carpenter said there's a chance
Griffin could see limited playing
time before the end of the season,
with a cast on.
"The doctor was happy with what
he saw and with the operation itself,"
Griffin's father said. "If we don't
have any infection over the next few
days, we'll start some kind of rehab
as soon as we can."
Griffin will spend one to two more
days in the hospital before returning
home with a cast on her arm.
The injury was not new to Griffin.
She broke the same bones in a roller-
skating accident in grade school,
according to her father.
The collision ruined a landmark
day in Griffin's career. When the
junior reached first base on a field-
er's choice in the first inning, driving
in Conrad, Griffin set the Michigan
mark for career RBI with 133, break-
ing the record previously held by
Tracy Carr.
The Wolverines are losing the star
of their team, arguably the best play-
er to ever play softball for Michigan.
Not only is Griffin a dominant offen-
sive player - coupling her RBI
record with a .397 career batting
average - but she is also the team's
ace pitcher. Griffin plays third base
when not pitching so her bat can stay
in the lineup.
Saturday, Griffin was dealt only
her second loss of the season, giving
her a 15-2 record and a 0.99 ERA.
Griffin is only one victory short of
the Michigan mark for career wins
a record that will likely have to
wait a year to be broken.
Griffin was lucky in one respect:
She broke her left arm, not her pitch-
ing arm.
Griffin has earned a slew of hon-
ors in her three-year career at
Michigan. The All-American was
twice named the NSCA national
player of the week, the most recent
being a month ago. Last year, Griffin
was named the Michigan female ath-
lete of the year and Big Ten player of
the year. Griffin has pitched one of
two perfect games in Michigan soft-
ball history. ,
The injury puts Michigan's squad
in a precarious situation. It will now
only have two pitchers to rely on,
including inexperienced freshman
hurler Jamie Gillies.
Throughout the season, Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins has been say-
ing how important it is to have three
pitchers, pointing to two reasons.
She doesn't want to overwork any of
them, and she wants to to take added
pressure off of Gillies. Last season,
Michigan only had two pitchers,
Griffin and Kelly Holmes.
Gillies and Holmes did not get off
to a good start in taking over all of
the pitching duties. The two surren-
dered a combined 15 runs in six
innings in a 15-4 loss to Iowa yester-
day.
'M' netters.
split two
Big Ten
matches
By Andy Latack
Daily Sports Writer
It was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
kind of weekend for the Michigan
men's tennis team.
After crushing conference foe Iowa,
6-1, Friday, the Wolverines (3-3 Big
Ten, 5-10 overall), in turn, became the
crushee, losing by the same count to
Minnesota on Sunday. The two match-
es were very similar, except for the fa
that Michigan was on opposite ends.
The matchup against Iowa (1-4, 7-8)
was hardly a contest. The Hawkeyes
only forced a third set in three of the
six singles matches, and the
Wolverines coasted to the victory.
Michigan also won two of three dou-
bles matchups, earning the doubles
point in a match for only the second
time this season.
The Wolverines were not so luc
against Minnesota, however. After
dropping all three doubles matches,
sophomore Jake Raiton posted the
Wolverines' only victory, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6,
over John Cheregi.
. Lars Hjarrand, a former Gopher who
toured on the pro circuit this year
before re-enrolling at Minnesota,
handed Michigan's No. I David
Paradzik his first loss in three matches,
7-6, 6-1. Paradzik led Hjarrand, 6-5, j
the first set but dropped three straig
set points as his opponent took the first
frame.
"It was pretty pathetic," Paradzik
said of his inability to close out the
first set. "I had him where I wanted
him. In the second set, he just played
lights out."
Paradzik was not the only Wolverine
to play his opponent closely. Matt
Wright, Arvid Swan and Br
McFarlane all battled their opponen
to a third set before falling.
Wright fell to .500 (6-6) in, dual
matches on the season with a 6-3, 2-6,
6-4 loss to Ben Gabler. Gabler and
Hjarrand also teamed up to saddle
Swan and McFarlane with a 9-7 dou-
bles loss, dropping the Michigan duo
to 2-2 on the year.
Michigan coach Brian Eisner.
warned that the score was not a 466-
sive as it appears. V
"The matches were very cose"
Eisner said "We were in a position to
win every one. The problem is that we
didn't do it. Minnesota hung in and
won the close matches:'
It was also apparent to the
Wolverines that they were far away
from the friendly confines of home,
where they have won eight in a row
dating back to last season. The cou6
at Iowa and Minnesota gave the horw
teams a distinct advantage.
The Hawkeyes played on a stickier
surface, while the Gophers played
inside air filled, dome-like bubbles.
"In the years past, the discrepancy in
quality between Big Ten teams was
quite large," Eisner said. "Now, as abil-
ity gets closer and closer, the home
court becomes a larger advantage."
TEAM LEADERS: Junior co-captain
Paradzik and sophomore Willi,.
Farah continued their hot streak of late,
each picking up their team-leading
20th win over the weekend.
Paradzik defeated Iowa's Tom
Derouin, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, and posted his
65th career victory.
Farah, playing at No. 4, dispatched
of the Hawkeyes' Damir Seferovic, 7-
5, 5-7, 6-4 , en route to career win No.
44.
Farah also leads- the team with 4
11-4 mark in dual-match play.
A RINGER?: Minnesota No. 1 Lars
Hjarrand, a recent addition to the
Gophers lineup, played in only his sec-
ond match of the season against the
Wolverines.
Hjarrand has been playing some
events on the pro tour, but has re-
enrolled at Minnesota during the heart
of the season, needing one more quar-
ter of classes to graduate.
OWNING THE HAWKEYES: With theW
victory on Friday, the Wolverines
boosted their series record against
Iowa to an impressive 35-5. Michigan
defeated Iowa by an identical 6-1 mar-
gin last year in Ann Arbor.
DOUBLES TROUBLE: Michigan won
the doubles point in the match against
Iowa for only the second time this sea-
son. Wright paired with Raiton, and
Paradzik joined with junior Mi0
Pusztai to take two of three doubles
matches from the Hawkeyes. Both
duos are 2-2 on the season.
Did you get *.
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Evenings at the Rackham presents
Women and Sports: Lessons from the Playing Field
Join our speakers-a noted women's sports authority, a university scholar,
a sports journalist, and a student athlete-as they reflect on the pains
and gains for women in sports since the passage of Title IX, and look ahead
to the ways in which those experiences can benefit future generations of women.
Panelists:
Dr. Donna Lopiano, Executive Director, Women's Sports Foundation
Dr. Nancy Cantor, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Psychology.
Nancy Colasurdo, Michigan Journalism Fellow and Sports Writer
Tearza Johnson, University of Michigan alumna and Track and Field Athlete
Moderator:
Dr. Elizabeth Hackett, Lecturer in the Women's Studies Program
and Advisor, Student Academic Affairs
7:00 p.m.
Wednesdav. Anril 9. 1997
After ail t
and writin
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We carn bind
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Now you can
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