MAJOR LEAGUE
*BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit 11,
TEXAS 5
Boston 5,
KANSAS CITY 3
BALTIMORE 10,
Tampa Bay 7
N.Y. Yankees at
Oakland, inc.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
FLORIDA 6,
N.Y. Mets 2
San Francisco 11,
CINCINNATI 8
Philadelphia 7,
ATLANTA 4
LOS ANGELES 8,
Arizona 6
Montreal 9,
PITTSBURGH 2
NBA
BASKETBALL
Indiana 88,
DETROIT 86
SPORTS
Don't feel like making the trip to Bowling Green to
see the Michigan baseball team this afternoon? Catch
them tomorrow afternoon when they come back home
to take on Toledo at 3 p.m. at Fisher Stadium.
Tuesday
April 6t 1999 9
ii M
North Carolina edges 'M' tennis, 5-4
By Dan Williams
Daily Sports Writer
A win against No. 27 North
Carolina in Chapel Hill might have
really signaled a change in momentum
for the Michigan women's tennis
4am. But a 9-7 decision in the final
doubles match last night gave the Tar
Heels a 5-4 victory and left the
Wolverines (3-2 Big Ten, 4-11 overall)
still looking for a chance to redefine
their season.
.Michigan sophomores Szandra
Fuzesi and Alison Sinclair fought late
into the night against North Carolina's
Sarah Hawkins and Caroline Hill at
No 3 doubles. The Tar Heels' tandem
on five of the last six games to close
out the match.
"Our attitude hasn't been the prob-
lem, we've had to work hard for every-
thing we've gotten,' Michigan coach
Bitsy Ritt said. "This is just one of
those matches where a few bounces
didn't go our way, and that was the dif-
ference."
After winning two singles matches a
week ago, Michigan junior Danielle
Lund seemed to get on track. But she
lost her second straight match last
night, this one to North Carolina's
Jessica Zaganzyck, 7-6, 6-5, at No. 1
singles.
Michigan was encouraged by three
third-set singles victories by players
who had previously been struggling.
Junior Brooke Hart won her second
straight match at No. 2 singles over
Caroline Hill, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6.
Fuzesi broke out of a three-match
funk at No. 3 singles with a 4-6, 6-3,
6-3 triumph.
Sinclair continued to reign as queen
of the three-set matches with a 6-2, 2-
6, 7-5 victory.
"Its a shame we lost, because we got
some outstanding individual efforts,"
Ritt said.
The other two losses in singles
came from senior Jen Boylen and
freshman Jen Vaughn. Boylen, after
picking up a win against South
Florida, fell 6-2, 6-0 to North
Carolina's Cena Hackler.
Vaughn lost her second-straight
match after showing significant
improvement last weekend.
The Wolverines' struggles have
resulted from their inability to produce
consistent wins from any singles play-
er or doubles team.
Unlike teams that go into every
match expecting a certain player to
win, Michigan doesn't have any domi-
nating players.
"We don't have superstars at the top
and we're not an especially deep
team," Ritt said.
Ritt altered the doubles lineups this
weekend, hoping to give the
Wolverines the lift they seem to have
been missing.
Hart and Lund, who had been play-
ing doubles together their entire
careers at Michigan, have found
renewed life with new doubles part-
ners.
At No. 2 doubles, Lund and Boylen
improved to 2-0 with an 8-5 win over
Emi Shaffer and Courtney Zalinski.
Hart and Vaughn fell to 1-1 after a
nip-and-tuck match with Zaganzyck
and Hackler.
"Brook and Danielle have handled
the decision (to change up the teams)
with real maturity and class;" Lund
said. "It's a bit upsetting because
they've been partners for two-and-a-
half years, and last year they were an
NCAA-caliber team."
The Wolverines return to Big Ten
play this weekend knowing that wins
against South Florida and North
Carolina could have made their road
into the NCAA tournament much sim-
pler.
But with ranked opponents like
Indiana and Northwestern looming on
the remaining schedule, the
Wolverines aren't ready to consider
this season a failure just yet.
"A loss like this is disappointing and
frustrating;' Ritt said, "but we can't let
people get really discouraged."
falcons a b eagn
warm-up 4¢q;
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Michgan.
By Michael Kern
Daily Sports Writer
Hitting has been the key for the
Michigan baseball team over the last:
feiv weeks, as it has won nine of its
last 12. But on Sunday against .
inois, the Wolverines' bats took a
-p, as they were limited to just two 'Auk
hits in the first inning for the entire
game.
This afternoon at Bowling Green R a
(3-1 Mid-American, 12-10 overall),
the Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten, 15-13
overall) will try to reawaken their
bats against the Falcons as they pre-
pare for a tough weekend series with
first-place Ohio State. The Buckeyes .
Sundefeated in the Big Ten, after I
eeping Northwestern this past
weekend.
After splitting the series with b M
defending Big Ten regular-season
champion Illinois, the Wolverines
are confident about their chances
against the Buckeyes.
"We are being put to the test this
weekend," Michigan assistant coach
Matt Hyde said. "But we know
we've got a good team. We're not
,ing to be intimidated by anyone."
n its last nine victories, Michigan
has scored 97 runs, outscoring its
opponents by 51. In that time, the
Wolverines have hit 16 home runs,
accumulated 51 total extra-base hits,
and driven in 90 runs. .
"We're really comfortable with '
our lineup;' Hyde said. "We're never
out of a game."
Senior co-captain Bobby Scales.
o has been the story for the
Wolverines all season, will look to '
keep his career-best I1 game hitting '
streak alive against the Falcons in
this afternoon's game.
This weekend against Illinois,
Scales hit safely in three of the four r
games and did not record an official
at bat in the fourth, walking three
times and scoring two runs in the The Michigan nine will use a game at Bowling Green this afternoon to warm up ft
See FALCONS, Page 10 The Wolverines are currently 53 in Big Ten play.
Iiot bats 'contagious' for softball
DANA LINNANE/DaSy
Brooke Hart won her singles match but dropped her doubles contest as the
Wolverines lost a tight one to North Carolina last night, 54.
Gymnastics favored
to advance Saturday
By Vaughn R. Klug
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 4 Michigan women's gym-
nastics team will travel to Lincoln,
Neb. and the Bob Devaney Sports
Center to compete in the NCAA
Region III Championships Saturday.
The Wolverines will be vying for a
spot in the NCAA Championships
along with Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Arizona, Illinois-Chicago and Illinois.
The two schools with the highest
scores will advance to NCAAs.
Here's a preview of Michigan's
competition:
NO. 7 NEBRASKA: The 19-2
Cornhuskers are coming off the great-
est performance in school history, set-
ting a school and conference record
score of 196.725 to win the Big 12
Championship.
Nebraska also achieved another
first by as it finishing the regular sea-
son ranked first in Region I1.
The Huskers are ranked in the top
10 in all four events for the first time
all season.
Senior Misty Oxford and junior
Heather Brink tied for the conference
title for the all-around with scored of
9.375.
A three-time All-American, Oxford
scored 9.825 or better in all four
events at the Big 12 Championships.
Her performance was highlighted by a
9.900 on the floor exercise.
Last season Nebraska finished fifth
at NCAA Regionals and failed to
qualify for NCAA Championships for
the first time since 1994.
NO. 22 OKLAHOMA: The 16-6
Sooners are highlighted by one of the
nation's best all-arounder - junior
Amber McCraken. The Big 12 gym-
nast of the year is ranked ninth nation-
ally in the all-around with an average
score of 39.2812.
McCraken is the second Sooner to
be named Big 12 Gymnast of the Year
as current senior Ginger Russel
earned the honor in '98. Russel fin-
ished sixth in the all-around this sea-
son and finished second on the floor
exercise.
As a team, Oklahoma finished third
at the Big 12 Championships, behind
Nebraska and Iowa State, with a score
of 194.675.
No. 25 ARIZONA: The Wildcats
maintained a mediocre record of 11-8-
1, yet remain one of the hottest teams
in Region III. Arizona clawed its way
from eighth in the region to fourth
thanks to three straight victories with
impressive team scores of 195.000'or
better.
This string of victories includes a
school-record score of 196.30 to
defeat then No. 7 Arizona State on
March 26.
Arizona fell at the hands of the
Wolverines in March yet defeated both
Nebraska and Oklahoma this season.
"After finishing fourth in the
region, I feel very good about .our
prospects for post season action,"
Arizona coach Bill Ryden said. "We
had such a rough start, and now we are
truly competing at our best."
ILLINOIS-CHICAGO: The Flames are
appearing in just their third NCAA
Regional with a No. 5 seed.
Illinois-Chicago won the
Midwestern Intercollegiate
Championships on March 27 with a
score of 193.30. The Flames madtea
statement by sweeping all four events
in the process.
The Flames' 18 wins this season
(18-5-1) is a school record and they
own a 2-1-1' mark against other
regional teams.
ILLINOIS: The Fighting Illini make
their second straight post season
appearance after placing fifth at the
Big Ten Championships.
Sophomore Gina Wiechmann
became only the second Illinois gym-
nast to win a conference title on the
balance beam, with a score of 9.875.
The Illini are 0-4-1 against regional
teams, including a pair of losses to
Michigan and two losses and a tie to
Illinois-Chicago.
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By Stephanie Offen
Daily Sports Writer
If hot bats are contagious, there's
something spreading around Alumni
Field.
Ever since the Michigan softball
m started its 26-game unbeaten
streak on March 4, the Wolverines
have been unstoppable at the plate.
Throughout the month of March,
the team's batting average went from
a dismal .253 to an impressive .335.
In that time, Michigan recorded over
with a .429 average. She slugged her
16th home run against Ohio State on
Saturday, which leaves her just three
shy of Michigan's home run record.
Davie also doubled twice in the
opener against the Buckeyes, giving
her 56 for her career. With two more
doubles, Davie will break another
Michigan record.
"Davie's demeanor is very conta-
gious," Hutchins said. "She keeps
calm and shares that with the team.
We can always count on her to bring
and has really come on over the last
two weekends."
Last weekend's series set team
records, too. The Wolverines really
caught fire in the last game against
the Buckeyes. Conrad and junior
Pam Kosanke both finished the game
with three hits apiece, to help the
team to a 17-hit performance. This
set a season-high team record for hits
in a game.
But like any fever, the Wolverines'
hot bats may cool down.
Lndon .............$577
School of Information
Student Projects Showcase
1 - 6fp.m.
Wednesday, April 7, 1999
411 West Hall
Right above the Arch!
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'Athens ................$89 1
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