12A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 25, 1999
Non-conference foes
mean more 'M' woes
Pitching problems? Not"
an issue yet this.season
By Dan Williams
For The Daily
The non-conference woes contin-
ued for the 3-8 Michigan women's
tennis team yesterday as they fell to
No. 14 Notre Dame, 9-0.
The three top players for the Irish
set the tone by defeating Michigan's
three upperclassmen. Michigan
junior Danielle Lund fell to No. I11
Michelle Dasso, 6-2, 6-4. Junior
Brook Hart lost to two time All-
American Jennifer Hall, 6-1, 6-4.
Senior Jen Boylen fought hard, but
was beaten by No. 47 Becky
Varnum, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The sixth-ranked doubles team of
Hall and Dasso also handled
Michigan's top duo of Hart and
Lund, 8-3.
"They came through with the
biggest points while we lost all the
points we needed to get into the
match," Michigan assistant coach
Terry Zawacki said.
The loss was the sixth straight for
the Wolverines, including five
against higher-ranked non-confer-
ence foes. But the team's confidence
is yet to wane.
"Our confidence is still up
because we've played a number of
top 30 teams this season. Zawacki
said. "We're just trying not to think
too much about the actual record."
The Wolverines are happy to catch
a break from the non-conference
schedule this weekend, as they retu
to Ann Arbor to face No. 38 Io
Saturday and No. 34 Wiscon
Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Cent
The team has compiled a 2-1 Big T
record and is still in the hunt fo
Big Ten title.
"This weekend marks the re
beginning of crunch time for u
Zawacki said.
Michigan's first task is to aven
last year's tight 4-3 loss to Iowa
Iowa City. Iowa's top player, jun
Natalya Dawaf, beat Hart in the I
match to secure the victory. Seni4
Erin Wolverton and Emily Bampt
are also key for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa has compiled an 8-4 reco
losing 8-1 to Notre Dame in th
last match. The Hawkeyes are 1-1
Big Ten play with a win over Illinc
and a loss to Northwestern.
Sunday's opponent, Wiscons
features the two highest ranked s
gles players in the Big Ten. Top pl
er Barbara Urbanska is ranked N
46, and Andrea Nathan is No. 58.
Wisconsin enters the weeke
with a resume similar to Michigan
Wisconsin has dropped eight straig
dual matches to fall to 3-9, but ma
of those have come against high
ranked non-conference foes. T
Badgers are I-I in the Big Ten witi
win over Illinois and a loss
Northwestern.
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By Chris Grandstaff
Daily Sports Writer
KALAMAZOO - The biggest question fac-
ing the Michigan baseball team heading into
this season was the pitching. But now, 18
games into the 1999 season, Michigan coach
Geoff Zahn and his Wolverines (8-10 overall)
aren't too worried.
"I was unsure of our pitching at the begin-
ning of the season, Zahn said. "But I think our
pitching has been pretty good so far."
Yesterday afternoon Michigan starter Bryan
Cranson threw six solid innings, giving up two
runs while scattering eight hits. The effort was
enough to allow the Michigan bats to take a
commanding, 7-2 lead before Cranson's depar-
ture. The win was Cranson's first of the season.
The Wolverines also got a pitching boost
Wednesday afternoon from two hurlers making
their first appearance of the season. Freshman
Nick Bellows threw two and two-thirds innings
and allowed three runs on three hits to keep the
Wolverines in a position to win the game. 9
Senior Robbie Reid, who was last seen try-
ing to guard Scoonie Penn and his Final Four-
bound Ohio State Buckeyes, saw his first .
action of the season, closing out the game by
throwing two-thirds of an inning of perfect
baseball.
"I was really happy with the way Cranson
threw and we had two guys who hadn't pitched
at all who did well," Zahn said.
The early season success of his pitching has
Zahn sold on this year's staff.
"I think our pitching is going to be bette4
than it has been in the past," Zahn said. "The
pitching we have here right now is the best
we've had since I've been here."
DANA LINNANE/Daiiy
Scott Tousa turns a double play during the Michigan baseball
team's 9-5 victory over Western Michigan yesterday.
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in- Continued from Page 9A
ay-
lo. "I struggled earlier in the season
but I put everything together today,"
nd Cranson said. "My curveball and
I's. my changeup were working. I got
ght ahead with those pitches, and it
ny made me more effective."
her Cranson got in trouble in the sec-
he ond and fifth innings but managed
h a to work his way out of it with the
to help of some timely fielding.
"I was fortunate to get some dou-
ble plays when I really needed
them," Cranson said. "There were
some ground balls, and the way our
infielders are, they did a great job
by turning two, a couple of different
times. That helps a lot."
Providing relief for the
Wolverines were freshman right-
hander Nick Bellows and senior
Robbie Reid.
In Bellows' first appearance for
the Wolverines, he gave up three
runs on three hits, striking out one
and walking one in two and one
third innings.
Reid also made his first post-bas-
S ketball season appearance for
S Michigan, pitching the final two
thirds of the ninth. He was perfect,
~. allowing no hits or runss.
Next up for the Wolverines will
be four games this weekend against
Iowa to open the Big Ten season.
"The Big Ten is a good confer-
ence and they'll be tough games for
us," Zahn said. "But we're ready for
the Big Ten season."
By Adam J. Falkauff
For The Daily
The Michigan men's tennis team opens up its Big Ten
dual-match season this weekend with two road matches
against Iowa and Wisconsin.
Michigan will begin the conference season firing on
all cylinders.
The team is off to a scintillating start, finishing with a
7-1 record in its non-conference matches.
"Everyone on the team, has been playing well, and I
am looking forward to the Big Ten season," freshman
Ben Cox said.
On Saturday, Michigan and Iowa will meet on the
court for the 41st time. Michigan has a commanding 36-
4 advantage in the all-time series record. Last year, the
Wolverines dominated the Hawkeyes, 6-1.
Michigan and Wisconsin have competed in 69 meets
during their storied rivalry with the Wolverines notching
Men's tennis enjoying fab start'
an impressive 61-7-1 record.
The Wolverines defeated the Badgers twice last sea-
son. Michigan won 5-2 in a regular season matchup and
more importantly was also victorious, 4-3, in the first x
round of the Big Ten Championships.
The Wolverine's current 7-1 start is their best since the
1979-80 season. That year, Michigan had an 18-1
record, and also captured the Big Ten title.
In the team's last meet against Louisville, senior co-
captain Will Farah won his 90th match. Farah became
only the sixth Wolverine to win 90 matches.
Currently, no one is hotter than Michigan freshman
Ben Cox, who is rides an eight-match winning streak at
No. 6 singles into this weekend.'
Cox is tied for the team lead in victories with 15, and
has a team-best .789 winning percentage. Cox will
indeed be looking to extend his winning streak in this
weekend's matches.
Tanglewoo could be just what.
the Dr. ordered for men's golf
11
By Arun Gopal
Daily Sports Writer
After a two-week hiatus, the Michigan men's golf team
returns to action this weekend at the Dr. Pepper Tanglewood
Intercollegiate in Pottsboro, Texas.
This will be the first meet for the Wolverines since the
Miami (Ohio) Invitational in Ocala, Fla. on Mar. 13-14. This
tournament's field will include some of the nation's elite pro-
grams and every Big Ten school but Ohio State.
"We haven't had much of a chance to compete yet this sea-
son, so we don't really know how we stack up," Michigan
coach Jim Carras said. "We mixed up our team every week
last fall, and we have a different team from fall to now. The
other schools will probably be in a similar situation.
"We saw some of these teams last fall, but it'll still be a
good preview of what we're about this year. It's going to be
interesting."
Coming off of a 12th-place tie with Louisville in Florida,
Carras felt that the Wolverines needed to show more consis-
tency in order to continue improving.
"In Florida, our biggest problem was that a player would
shoot well in one round and then struggle in the other round,"
Carras said. "For example, Scott Hayes shot 75-81, and
Andy Matthews shot 72-82. We need to balance our scoring
properly."
Despite the inconsistency, Carras said he feels that the
team gained momentum and confidence from their experi-
ence in the Sunshine State. He attributed this to a team meet-
ing the Wolverines had during that meet. Captain Mike
Harris implored his teammates to push themselves harder.
"We cleared the air on some things that I felt the guys
needed to focus on," Carras said. "The captain said some
things that were very profound. We emphasized that the guys
need to make a strong commitment to the team in order for
us to keep moving up."
Carras said that he expects the Tanglewood Invitational,
with its field of teams from around the country, will be one
of the tougher meets that the Wolverines will compete in
during the spring season. Despite the tough competition,
Carras expects a solid effort from his young team.
"If as many Southwest Conference teams show up as
they've been saying, then it'll be a very strong field," Carra
said. "From here on in, we'll be playing mostly teams fron
the Midwest, and we'll need to play well to make it to NCAA
Regionals.
"I'm very confident in this team. The best thing for u$ at
this meet will be to improve individually and as a team. I've
told our guys that if we keep improving, we'll be a competi-
tive squad by the end of the year."
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