Ulie£tciqan Dat HOCKEY Avalanche lead, 1-0 PLAYOFFS MAJOR LEAGUE St. Louis 2, BASEBALL DETROIT 0 Atlanta 7, Blues lead, 1-0 CINCINNATI 1 DALLAS 5. Los Angeles 5. Edmonton 3 N.Y. METS 2 Stars lead, 1-0 Colorado 4, COLORADO 6, CHI.CUBS0 Chicago 0 FLORIDA 2. St. Louis 1 San Diego 7. PITTSBURGH 5 Seattle 7. DETROIT 3 MILWAUKEE 7, N.Y. Yankees 4 CHI. WHITE SOX 9, Baltimore 3 TORONTO 4, Oakland 3 BOSTON 11, Cleveland 6 PRO BASKETBALL DETROIT 94, Milwaukee 85 WASHINGTON 103, Indiana 90 Thursday April 17, 1997 iDA Blue baseball bucked by bRBroncos, 74 ByTracy Sandier Daily ports Writer "LAMAZOO - Another mid-week, non-conference game, and another loss for the Michigan baseball team. Yesterday, Western Michigan handed the Wolverines their fifTh mid-week loss, 7-1. Ironically, the Broncos are one of only two teams that Michigan (22-14) has beaten in weekday games. Usually, the Wolverines point to poor pitching as their biggest concern, but it looks like the Big Ten leaders might have 'a whole new problem on their hands. Normally heavy- hitteis, the Wolverines have managed just eight hits in their past two games, which has resulted in a total of four runs and two losses. "We're used to getting a lot of hits a game" third baseman Mike Cervenak said. "These last two games, we've gotten eight hits in two games. We're just not swinging the bats well. It's not really so much pitching or anything. It's the fact that were not swinging the bat. We're not seeing the ball. We're jusfcold right now at the plate." Michigan's only run came off a Bryan Besco home run in the seventh inning, when it looked like the Wolverines might start a rally. After Besco hit his 11th round-tripper of the season, short- stop Brian Kalczynski flew out to center, bringing team cap- tain and second baseman Kirk Beermann to plate. He hit a douabile, but catcher Mick Kalahar grounded out. Center fielder Brian Bush was hit by a pitch, but Cervenak ground- edout to end the inning. -Since the Wolverines are accustomed to big innings, the dry spell has been clouding the team's confidence. "I think our guys are frustrated," Michigan coach Geoff ,said. "They're trying real hard, and they're getting thempelves out more than the pitchers are. We'll have to aEthat adjustment, and they can. They're good hitters" 3o homore Brian Berryman started yesterday's game and Ilmfour innings. He surrendered six runs on six hits. :it;her Ryan Kelley relieved him in the fifth, allowing one r na k n three hits in two innings. In the seventh, sophomore A1'7Wozniak held the Broncos to only one hit before giving jimti Mike Hribernik a crack at Western. Neither pitcher 'd a run. , think in the first inning we gave them six outs," Zahn s4i2'You don't hold guys scoreless by doing that. Berryman gt ine other pitch up in the air. With the wind blowing the iy is, it's going to go out." ough his team was not perfect yesterday, Zahn was happy with what he saw. It was a big change from Tuesday, w the Wolverines lost, 16-3. :, ought Wozniak threw the ball real well," Zahn said. " ept it down. He changed speeds. Hribernik was throw- i . ball over the plate. I thought all the guys threw better t'da When I get back to the office, we'll see who's going to mae the trip this weekend:' #.~ Wolverines begin a four-game conference series with Iiaia tomorrow in Bloomington, knowing that if they want tMiy atop the Big Ten, they are going to have to find their c"I'tive swing again. Mtink, if anything, it taught our hitters that they can't take anything for granted," Zahn said. "If you stop working, or you stop doing the things that allowed you to hit in the first place, you're not going to hit. I'd much rather stop hitting in these games than I would on the weekends. We just have to regroup and put some things together, and then go from there." Knowing that the last two games are probably not going to determine Michigan's fate for the rest of the season, the Wolverines are not worried about a lack of confidence this weekend. "I think we'll go out there, and we'll play more aggres- sive," Cervenak said. "We'll play a lot looser. We're at the top of the Big Ten right now. We've got nothing really to lose. I think the guys we'll be focused for this weekend. They know what it's all about." Gainesville glory? Blue readies for first NCAA title4 By Jacob Wheeler Daily Sports Writer Num - ber - one! The phrase has a nicering to it. It's a number commonly shouted, sung and chanted by exhausted and teary- eyed yet triumphant men and women after winning championships. If all goes well for -the top-ranked Michigan women's gymnastics team at the NCAA championships in Gainesville, Fla. this weekend, the Wolverines will be the ones weeping' happy tears with their index fingers ir the air. But two major factors could plug the champagne and prevent Michigan's celebration Friday night - Georgia and Michigan sophomore Nikki Peters. Both dilemmas appear to be out of the Wolverines' hands. 4 It's too bad that defense isn't allowed in women's gymnastics, because Michigan coach Bev Plocki might be able to devise a nifty zone, defense in hopes of preventing the. Bulldogs from doing what comes nat- ural to them. Georgia, however, struggled at the Southeast Regionals. Michigan heard the best news ofits season over the phone, in the form o 195.725 -- Georgia's low regional. score. That, along with Michigan's record-breaking all-around score at the Central Regional, gave the Wolverines added hope for a national title. "We gained a great deal of confi- dence last weekend," Plocki said. "The kids are high, and I know that for the first time they really believe that they can win a national championship." But will lightning strike twice? .. After scoring 1.535 below their sea- son average, the Bulldogs may be a volcano waiting to erupt and any early See NCAAS, Page 12A Heather Kabnick and the rest of the Michigan gymnas- tics team are tee- tering on the brink of a national championship. NCAAs begin today in Gainesville, Fla. JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily Softball splits with Chippewas, home-win streak ends By B.). Luria Daily Sports Writer Alumni Field has been kind to the No. 12 Michigan softball team over the past few seasons. Very kind. So kind, in fact, that the Wolverines had a 27-game home winning streak entering yesterday's doubleheader with Central Michigan. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. For the first time since March 30, 1996, Michigan (7- 4 Big Ten, 37-13-1 overall) was defeated within the con- fines of its home field, dropping the second game to the Chippewas (24-13), 5-3. In the first game of the day, Kelly Holmes pitched a complete-game shutout for the 1-0 win, her 15th of the season. The ironwoman pitched three more scoreless innings in the second game. Holmes outdueled Central Michigan's Tina Kinney, who only allowed five Michigan hits. Michigan scored its only run in the bottom of the first. Left fielder Kellyn Tate led off the game with a walk. Tate moved to second on a sacrifice by Lisa Kelley. After Cathy Davie struck out, the hot-hitting Tammy Mika smacked a double to plate Tate. In Tuesday's doubleheader sweep of Penn State, Michigan pushed across 12 runs, including a school- record three home runs in one of the games. Yesterday, however, the hitting woes that plagued the Wolverines last weekend against Northwestern returned. They stranded five base runners in the first game and left 10 on in the second. In the loss, the Wolverines left a runner in scoring position in each of their final six innings. One major problem that the Wolverines had was swing- ing at bad pitches. On more than one occasion, Michigan batters helped Central Michigan pitchers out of a jam by swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. "I'm thinking that you have to be tough at the plate, and ... swing at good pitches," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. Perhaps the lone bright spot for the Wolverines yester- day was Holmes' performance. 0 The senior has shouldered the bulk of the pitching load since the loss of Sara Griffin to injury. And Holmes is showing no signs of slowing down. "If I have one kid who has really stepped up here, Kelly Holmes has been stellar," Hutchins said. "She did not give up any runs today, so I think that you have got to think that even if she is tired, she is in there getting the job done." Michigan's other pitcher yesterday was Jamie Gillies, who picked up the loss in the second game of the dou- bleheader. The freshman gave up five runs in four innings o work. Four of the five runs were scored with two outs. ,- "Jamie needs to have better movement and keep th ball away from the zone," Hutchin said. "It's too closetop" the zone and even with two strikes and two outs to be; able to shut the door to an inning and shut the door on a batter." The Wolverines have played six games in the past four,-, days and now have two days to rest before Minnesota' comes to Ann Arbor this weekend. The teams will play three games on Saturday an* Sunday. The Wolverines hope that home will continue4 t be as good to them as it has been in the past year. nat nhan .'F a z'' <. .,. . mu° ... .......- a::;..........