BASKETBALL
Detroit 93,
ATLANTA 77
Boston 109,
CHARLOTTE 99
Toronto 101,
CLEVELAND 91
ORLANDO 100,
New Jersey 98
MINNESOTA 84,
Dallas 60
Indiana at
NEW YORK, Inc.
Philadelphia at
CHICAGO, Inc.
Washington at
MILWAUKEE, Inc.
NHL
HOCKEY
Los Angeles 2,
BOSTON 1
Nashville 3,
WASHINGTON, 2
Carolina at
PHILADELPHIA, Inc.
OTTAWA at
PITTSBURGH, Inc.
U idj9fl If
Tracking 'M' postseasons
Already certain of an NCAA berth, the Michigan
women's gymnastics team learned this week that it
will compete in the NCAA Regional I1, which is hosted
by the University of Nebraska on April 10 in Lincoln.
Wednesday
March 31, 1999
9
Baseball clips
CMU, 73, in
home opener
By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
Warm weather and hot hitting highlighted the
Michigan baseball team's return to Ray Fisher
Stadium yesterday as the Wolverines used eleven hits
to beat up on Central Michigan, 7-3, in its home-
opener.
The win, Michigan's sixth in its last seven games,
upped the team's mark to 12-11 as the Wolverines
ade their long-awaited debut in Ann Arbor.
"It's feels really great to finally play at home after
so many games on the
Geoff Zahn said.
£ CENTRAL MIcH. 3 And Michigan made t
the most of its home-
coming, acquainting itself with the scoreboard early
as the Wolverines jumped ahead in the first inning
with a pair of runs on two hits. Senior co-captain B S s
Bobby Scales scored first off a Bryan Besco double
before centerfielder Brian Bush drove in Besco.
Central Michigan answered back, tying the game
with two runs on one hit in the top of the second x.
inning before the Wolverines wrestled the lead away
from the Chippewas for good.
On the strength of four hits in the bottom of the "
second inning, the Michigan offense came alive as
the Wolverines would mount a three-run charge from
which they'd never look back.
Orchestrated by the hitting of Jason Alcaraz, - d La
Besco and Mike Cervenak, Michigan's scoring came
as three straight shots found the left-centerfield wall.
" ith a pair of triples and a double, Michigan's potent
trio found the gap easier than a ninth-grader at DANA UNNANE/Daiy
Briarwood as Michigan built a 5-2 advantage.
The Wolverines used two additional runs from Bryan Besco's two RBIs helped propel the Michigan baseball team to a 7-3 victory over Central Michigan in
catcher David Parrish and Bobby Scales in the sixth yesterday's home opener. The Wolverines are riding high, having won six of their last seven games coming Into
inning before the Wolverines gave Bryan Cranson today's matchup with Detroit.
Softball travels to
Ypsi for double dip
By Michael Shafrir
Daily Sports Writer
You would have to forgive the
members of the Michigan softball
team if you've heard them chanting
"there's no place like home, there's
no place like home," recently.
Following 31 tournament games in
places like Sacramento, Tampa and
West Lafayette, the Wolverines
return home for a much anticipated
doubleheader against Eastern
Michigan.
Well, maybe home isn't the best
way to describe it, as Michigan will
travel across town to Ypsilanti to
take on the Eagles. But either way
you look at it, Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins is happy to be playing in
the area.
"It's nice to be out on our field"
for practice, Hutchins said. "This
week has just been great."
Lately, it hasn't mattered muchlo
Michigan where it has been playing.
The Wolverines come into today's
games with a 25-5-1 record and a
No. 8 ranking. Eastern Michigan
counters with a 10-9 record.
Michigan currently holds a 21
game unbeaten streak, and is one
win away from tying the school
record.
No Michigan team has ever gone
unbeaten for an entire month, which
the Wolverines can accomplish with
two wins today.
With all the winning, it could be
easy for the Wolverines to become
complacent, but Hutchins said she
won't let that happen.
"We haven't accomplished any-
thing yet," Hutchins said. "We will
be judged much later - we want to
win in May."
Senior Catherine Davie said that
Hutchins has not let the Wolverines
get ahead of themselves. Hutchins
will make sure her team plays one
game at a time.
"Even after we won the tourna-
ment last weekend, the first thing she
said to us was not to let our heads get
too big," Davie said.
"We need to stay balanced, being
confident but not being too confi-
dent."
Michigan's lineup has been pack-
ing a significant punch as of late, led
by Davie, who was named the tour-
nament MVP at last weekend's
Boilermaker Classic. She has a
team-high .406 batting average and
is also in the midst of a nine-game
hitting streak.
For her performance in Purdue,
Davie was named Big Ten player of
the week. She said, though, that the
individual honors mean nothing to
her.
"It's actually not important to me
at all," Davie said. "I mean, it's a
nice compliment, but it's really about
what I do for the team."
Michigan - hitting .306 as a team
- is strong from the top of the order
to bottom. Rightfielder Melissa
Taylor, who bats at the nine spot in
the lineup, is hitting a scorching
.358.
"We're getting better," Hutchins
said. "I'm pleased with our hitting."
Based on how Michigan has been
pitching though, the Wolverines may
not even need to bring their bats
against Eastern Michigan.
Junior Jamie Gillies pitched one-
hit shutouts twice last weekend and
currently holds a six-game win
streak.
Freshman Kate Eiland has' 10-2
record to go along with a stingy 1.34
ERA.
With such strong pitching,
Hutchins doesn't even worry about
who she puts on the mound. The
coach knows that each of the three
pitchers in her rotation will get the
job done.
"It's a chance for us to stay sharp
with our pitching, and practice our
fundamentals against good competi-
tion," Hutchins said.
There won't be a tornado to carry
Michigan over to Ypsilanti tomorrow
- they'll have to make the short
drive.
But on the way, the Wolverines
will be thinking about where they're
going, both today and in the future.
"We're not happy just to be win-
ning," Hutchins said.
"We have to continue to get bet-
ter."
his second win in as many appearances on the
mound.
"Bryan's been coming around for us," Zahn said.
"He got off to a shaky start, 0-3, but he pitched well
for us at Western Michigan last week and again
tched well today."-
Cranson contributed six innings on the hill while
handing out three strikeouts and four hits to 27 bat-
ters. He also found the offensive backing to keep the
Chippewas at bay the entire game.
"The pitching was good today; Cranson pitched
well,'Alcaraz said. "But the biggest key is that we're
hitting the ball very well. Our defense is playing well
and everything seems to be coming together at the
right time."
Things certainly came together well for Alcaraz.
The rightfielder marshaled the Michigan offensive
attack, going 2-5 with a trio of RBIs on two triples.
"I was feeling good today," Alcaraz said. "They
were giving me pitches right at my belt. I was just
trying to hit the ball hard and keep it out of the air
because the wind was just killing the ball."
It would be Alcaraz and his teammates that would
kill Central Michigan, as the Chippewas saw their
record fall to 4-14 on the year in front of 657 fans
enjoying the warm weather.
"It was a good win for us," senior co-captain
Bobby Scales said. "We opened up at home and we
had a lot of people in the stands on a beautiful day to
play on. You can't ask for much more than that."
Michigan will be asking for more of the same as
the team travels to Detroit to face the Titans this
afternoon.
Hitting streak sparks Blue to victory
Dan Dingerson
laily Sports Writer
There are three fundamental
aspects in the game of baseball, pitch-
ing; fielding and hitting.
With one of these lacking, it's tough
to win games.
Heading into the season, the
Michigan baseball team wondered if
it would be solid in all three areas.
Pitching was a major concern for the
team and was an uncertainty for the
'*ches.
After 16 games, it has become evi-
dent that the pitching wasn't the
major problem. It was hitting.
Michigan was getting solid pitch-
ing, but it couldn't put runs on the
scoreboard.
It opened the season strongly with
two wins over San Diego. But the
short win streak was followed by an
ended slump that lasted for 13
mes.
During that stretch, the Wolverines
only managed six or more runs twice
and only had 10 or more hits four
times.
As a result, the team went 4-9 in
that stretch.
Two weekends ago, in the final day
of the Continental Classic
Tournament, the team had a turn-
around. In a 17-15 Michigan victory
over Nevada-Las Vegas, there was a
scoring explosion.
Including that contest, the
Wolverines have won six of seven
games, thanks to their improved hit-
.ting.
In the seven games, Michigan has
only failed to score six runs once, and
has had at least 10 hits in every game
but one.
Not coincidentally, that one game
was this past weekend's loss to Iowa
in which the team had one run on five
hits.
The Wolverines' solid hitting con-
tinued in yesterday's home opener
against Central Michigan. Led by
Jason Alcaraz and Bryan Besco,
Michigan recorded seven runs on 11
hits. Both players had two extra-base
hits.
Alcaraz legged out two triples,
bringing home three runs. The team
leader with 24 RBIs, Alcaraz has
recorded 12 over the last seven
games.
"I've been getting a lot of chances,"
Alcaraz said. "I went through a period
of about ten games when I didn't get
anyone in, and.they were all getting
on base for me."
Besco had been in a slump for
much of the season, but recently
seems to have broken out of it.
Against Iowa he hit three home-runs
and yesterday he had two doubles to
notch two RBI's.
Besco provides the biggest power
surge for the Wolverines; his hitting is
critical to the team's success.
The team's most consistent hitter -
Bobby Scales - is now on an eight-
game hitting streak after opening yes-
terday's game with a single. He also
walked and scored twice in the game.
Scales is one of the keys to
Michigan's scoring. He has been per-
forming in this role so far this year,
leading the team in batting average,
walks and on-base percentage. With
Scales on base, Mike Cervenak,
Alcaraz and Besco have had chances
to collect some RBI's.
"We're starting to swing the bats
better. The last week or so we've
swung better than we have in the
past," Michigan coach Geoff Zahn
said.
The team must continue to hit well
if it hopes to regain the Big Ten crown
it won in 1997.
"We're getting there, we can play a
little bit better though," Scales said.
"The second you get complacent,
someone's creeping up on you. We
still need to get better."
Stop byW l
or call 764-0554 to have your
SENIOR WISH published April 15th
deadline March 31
Norm The six years you spent running up the tab at our>
bar was great business, an we're gonna miss you here.
No more seeing you in a drunken stuper and embarrass-
ing yourself in everyway possible. Good luck with collect-
ng garbage next year. -Sam (your bartender)
«
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