The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 12, 1999 - 5B

Michigan 8
Minnesota 3

Michigan 6

Player of the weekend
Made Bnd
Barda recorded her 14th straight win
yesterday in the 6-3 victory over
Minnesota. She also pitched all seven
innings in the first game of the series,
allowing only two runs on three hits.

Minnesota 2

Minnesota

3

L ILI

Conrad breaks hits record

By Michael Shafrir
Daily Sports Writer
When Traci Conrad knocked a single up the
middle in the fifth inning in the nightcap of
Saturday's double header, she ran to first base
just as hard as she usually does.
But this time something was different -
whether or not you knew it.
No one stopped the game. None of Conrad's
teammates came out to hug her or even give
er a high five. They didn't even retire the ball
r a souvenir.
So there was no real way of telling that
Conrad had just tallied her
314th career hit - enough SOFTBALL
hits to place her at the top of Notebook
the all-time Big Ten career
hit list.
Conrad wanted it that way. She didn't want
the fanfare and she probably wasn't even lis-
tening when the public address announcer told
e crowd what she had just accomplished. The
anding ovation the fans gave her was proba-
bly lost on her.
The 1998 Big Ten player of the year was -
iot surprisingly - unfazed by her accomplish-
4hent.
"It feels good definitely but it's not some-
thing I can focus on right now," Conrad said.
Conrad said that she didn't even go into the
game thinking about the record.
"I knew about it but I wasn't thinking about
it," she said. "Once you start thinking about it,
,u're screwed."
y Prior to setting this record, Conrad had
lready established herself as one of
Michigan's all time greats.
A 1998 GTE Academic All-American, a
two-time NFCA All-America and a Women's
college World Series all-tournament team
member in 1996, Conrad has racked up her
share of honors.
She has also drawn the praise of her coach,

Carol Hutchins.
"Conrad is one of our all-time greats,"
Hutchins said.
HOME AGAIN: This weekend's series marked
the first time Michigan had strapped on the
cleats at Alumni Field. But they weren't greet-
ed by the kindest conditions.
The cold front that swept through the mid-
west held the temperature on Saturday to
around 55 degrees. A steady wind made it feel
even colder.
When Michigan woke up on Sunday though,
it had gotten even worse.
An overnight rain had left a lingering mist
and the thermometer never broke the 45-
degree barrier. It was not a day for the light of
heart.
Outfielders Tammy Mika and Melissa
Taylor were wearing wool-knit hats while they
played.
The one brave soul was second baseman
Kelsey Kollen who played in her short sleeves.
Cold weather aside, Hutchins said that she
- and the team - don't put too much empha-
sis on where they are playing.
"Every series, it doesn't matter if you're
home or away, (it's) the same," Hutchins said.
"We don't look at it as home or away because
our team has learned to play well on the road."
WINNING IS FUNDAMENTAL: Yesterday's win
marked Hutchins' 600th win as coach of the
Wolverines.
Hutchins has won 50 or more games each of
the last four years.
The victory marked the 31st straight game
that the Wolverines have played without a loss.
They tied Iowa on March 21. But Conrad
said that the team is not content with just win-
ning - they look to improve with every game.
"We're getting there," Conrad said. "Right
now things are cookin' and it's all going our
way, but we need to keep coming out and take
advantage of everything we can.''

How the
Big Ten IFareml
Standings and records as of yesterday.
No. 1 Michigan (8-0) beat Minnesota 5-2, 8-
3,6-3.
No. 2 Northwestern (5-1) beat Penn St 5-4,
7-1, and lost 0-5.
No. 3 PennState (4-2) lost to Northwestern4-
5, 1-7, and won 5-0.
No.4 MchiganScae(3-2)lost to Purdue0-
2, 4-5.
No. S Purvtue (3-4) beat Michigan State 24
S-4, Sunday's game was cancelled by rain.
No.6 indlana (3-5) beat Wisconsin 6-2, an
lost 1-0, 7-6.
No.7 Wisconsin (2-3) lost to Indiana 6-2,
and won 10 7-6.
No.8 Minnesota t2-4) lost to Michigan 2-5,
3-8,3-6.
No.8Iowa-(24) beat Ohio State3-3, 2-0,
and lost 8-7 in eight innings.
No. 10 no State (-7t to Iowa 3-0, 2-0
and won 8-7 in eight innings.

/~
x- V
April 13
April 14
April 17
April 18
April 24
April 25

Next
Opponents
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
PENN STATE
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
at Northwestern
at Northwestern
at Iowa
at Iowa

CHRIS CAMPERNEL/Daily
Senior Traci Conrad broke the Big Ten record for hits on Saturday in Michigan's second victory over
Minnesota. Conrad singled up the middle to put herself on top of the record books.

arda shines among Blue pitchers in weekend wins
As Michigan extends its unbeaten streak to 31 games, Barda's power pitching has earned her 14 wins

By Jon Zemke
Daily Sports Writer
Record unbeaten streaks tend to
overshadow a lot of things. Coaches
and players get caught up in how
well the team is doing, and rightfully
so.
In order to go 31 games in a row
without a loss like Michigan has
something has to be going right. A
case in point is that Michigan's
pitching staff has been one of the
highlights so far his season.
"We have a great staff of pitchers,"
Michigan softball coach Carol
Hutchins said. "All of them work
really hard and complement each
other well."
With the trio of junior Jamie
Gillies, sophomore Marie Barda and
freshman Kate Eiland, Michigan's
pitching staff has been the most con-
sistent aspect of its game. All three
pitchers have reached double figures
in wins so far this season, and one
has the possibility of reaching 20
wins for the season.
Barda doesn't possess the most
commanding presence in a crowd.
She doesn't draw attention to herself
or bring the thought to mind that her
wiry frame could be imposing to
other people.
But she can be a commanding
presence on the mound.
After pitching two innings of relief
in Michigan's 6-3 win over
Minnesota, Barda came away with
her 14th win of the season.
Solid as her record is now,
Sunday's win made it even more
impressive because of the miserable
cold and drizzle that made her

appearance on less than 24 hours'
rest remarkable for a power pitcher
like Barda.
But the most impressive aspect of
her game yesterday was that the win
was her 14th in a row. Barda's win-
ning streak stretches back to the
same day that the Wolverines began
their unbeaten streak more than a
month ago.
She was 0-1 when she notched her
first against Providence, 4-1, on
March 2.
As Michigan's hardest-throwing
pitcher, Barda relies on speed. In
contrast, Gillies relics more on her
pitch selection and has been called
the most "durable" pitcher by
Hutchins. Rounding out the trio,
Eiland uses a combination of both
power and finesse to overcome her
batters.
"All three of us complement each
other and it's all pretty equal,"
Gillies said. "The coaches don't sep-
arate us. It's all equal."
Equal as they might be, there are
some differences in their styles.
Barda's method is proving to be the
most successful in earning wins so
far. She has collected 68 strikeouts in
109 innings.
Hutchins said Barda "relies on
speed."
But speed pitching is a fair weath-
er style of play. It doesn't work well
in lousy weather. Add in that power
pitchers ask a lot of their arms and
the little-to-no rest she had doesn't
bode well, either.
This was the situation that Barda
faced yesterday. She was coming off
a 5-2 win the day before.

Barda pitched her eighth complete
game of the season, allowing only
two runs of three hits with five strike
outs.
Coming in in the middle of the
fourth inning with the bases loaded
and only one out, Barda struck out
two of the next three batters, allow-
ing only one run to score.
She retired three of the next four
batters in the fifth to keep Minnesota
on its heels and allowed the
Wolverines to expand their 3-2 lead
to 6-2.
Barda's performance was enough
for the win and allowed Gillies to
come in for her second save of the
season.
"I just worked really hard out there
and hit my spots," Barda said.
Hitting her spots has been one of
her goals this season.
After relying on her power her
freshman season, Barda and her
coaches knew that her pitching
would be much better if her pitch
selection was more reliable.
Barda put an emphasis on improv-
ing her changeup and drop ball over
the off-season and in the early part of
this season.
All of her hard work has paid off
so far. Opposing hitters have a .174
batting average against her, best on
the team. Over the last eight games
against Big Ten teams the average
has only been .135.
Barda has only allowed one home
run so far this season another team
best.
But when asked if she expected all
this success this season she seemed
surprised about her numbers.

Top 25 teams
1. UCLA (36-1)
2. Arizona (32.4)
3 Fresno State (40-7)
4.Washington (25.7)
5 SW .ouisiana (1-5)
6. Mkchign (33-5-1)
7. Arizona State (30-10)
8. Stanford (28-9)
9. South Cailna (34-9)
10. L~ouisiama State (28.6)
It. Oklahomna (28-9)
12. Oegon (29-10)
13. Oregon State (27-12)
14. California (28.9)
15, Texas (26-12)
16. lllnois.Otuago (44-13)
17 SoutheniMisssippi(4-5)
18. South Florida (35.13)
19. Texas A&M (31-9)
20. New Mexico (3241
21 Massadw>sett(08)
22. Minnesota (26.13)
23. DePaut (23-10)
24. Missouri (27-12)
25. Iowa (22-12.1)
iu oXC!
MINNESOTA (3)
AB R H RBI BB O P A
Midthun, cf 4 1 1- 0 1 0 3 0
Hays, If 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Mooney, ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Beeler, ss 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0
Nygren 2b 3 0 1 2 1 0 2 3
Braden, b,3b4 0 0 0 0 3 5 1
Bennett,3b,1b3 0 1 1 1 0 2 2
Ballard, dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Holden, rf 2 0 0 .0 1 0 0 0
Hafemeyer, ph1 1 1 0 0 0 0-0
Smith, c 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Mohns, pr TO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brophyph,c2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Severson pr0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Klaviter, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brown,p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
totals 283 73 7 418 6
E: 2 (Nygren, Bennett). DP: none LOB: 14 2B:
Nygren B: none HR: none CS: none SH: 2 (Hays,
Smith) SF: none SB: Mohns
MICHIGAN (6)
AS R H RBI BB 0S PO A
Conrad 1b 1 2 0 0 2 0 7 1
Konen, 2b 3 2 2 1 0 1 5 2
Davie,If 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
Volpe, dh 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Kosanke,3b f3 0 2 4 0 0 0 4
Mika cf -3 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Tune, ss 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 4
Garzapr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lappo, c 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 0
Taylor, rf 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 0
Eiland, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Barda, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gillies, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 236 66 3 5211
E: 2 (Kollen, Kosanke) DP: none LOB: 6 2B: none
38: none HR: none SO: none CS: none SH: 3
(Conrad, Kollen, Taylor) SF: none
Minnesota...............10 0 101 0-3
Michigan........210 030 X-6
Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO AIRBF
Kaviter 4.1 5 6 3 2 2 18 23
Brown 1:2 1 0 0 1 3. 5 7

CHRIS CAM PERNEL/ Daily
Michigan's three-game sweep of Minnesota extended the team's unbeaten streak
to 31 games. Pitcher Marie Barda also extended her winning streak, capturing her
14th straight win in the last game of the weekend series.
M' offense fuels win

Mchign
Ei a n
Barda
Gillies

P H
3.1 4
2.0 2
1.2 1

R
2
1
0

0
1
0

3B
3
1

1
2
1

14
8
6

BF
20
11
7

OsPHERS
Continued from Page 1B
Hutchins said.
Hits from Kelsey Kollen and
Catherine Davie led to a three-run fifth-
inning. The Gophers closed the gap,
loading the bases and driving in a run at
the top of the sixth.
This led to the third pitching change
for the Wolverines, sending junior Jamie
illies in to replace Barda, who would
still receive the decision.
"Barda seemed to run out of gas,'
Hutchins said. "We needed her to step
up a little better"
Gillies would earn the save as she
retired the next two batters in the sixth

hang in there," Hutchins said. "We keep
us in the game with our pitching and our
defense and we find a way to get a run
and get another run."
The second game gave the Wolverines
a 2-0 record at home, as Gillies pitched
all seven innings for the win.
Michigan had a huge offensive per-
formance to begin game two, scoring
five runs in the first inning.
The Gophers came back in the fourth
inning. Gillies gave up a two-run home-
run to Minnesota's Angel Braden.
But Gillies stayed calm and retired ten
straight batters after the homerun.
"If she wanted to stay in the game she
had to have the attitude that she had at
Purdue," Hutchins said. "Then she threw

MINNESOTA (2)
AS R H IRB 3BBSO PO A
Midthun, cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hays,lif 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Money, ph1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Beeler,ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Nyuren, 2b 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 1
ohns, pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bennett, 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Brophy, dh'c 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Smith, c/dh 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Ballard, ph 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0
Lindberg, ph1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Holden, rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Klaviter,p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
Harrison, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 252 32 2518 9
E: 1 (Bennett). DP: none LOB: 4 2B: 1 (Ballard)
3B: none HR: none CS: none SH: none. SF: none
MICHIGAN (5)
AS R H RBI BBSO PO A
Conrad,l1b 4 2 2 0 0 0 6 0
Kollen, 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 1
Davie,If 0 1 0 0 3 01 0
Volpe, dh 4 0 2 3 0 1 0 0
Conner, pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0203
Kosanke 3b 2 1 0 1 0 1 2 3

At: Alumni Field
Attendance: 352
MICHIGAN (8)
AB R H RBI BB SPO A
Conrad,1b 4 1 2 1 1 0 5 0
Kolle,2b 4 2 3 1 0 0,2.1
Davie,ltf 4 1 1 1 0 0 2 0
Volpe dh 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kosanke,3b 4 1 3 1 0 0 1 3
Mika, cf 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Tune, ss 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 2
Lappo, c 4 0 1 0 0 2 6 0
Conner, pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Taylor, rf 4 0 2 1 0 0 2 1
Gillies, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 8 14 622 217
E: 1 (Tune). OP: 1 LOB: 11 28: none 3B: none HR:
none CS: none SN:1 (Kollen) SF: none SB: 1
(Mika)
MINNESOTA (3)

AB R H RBI BS O PO0
Midthun, cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 2{
1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Beeler, ss 3 2 2 0 0 0 2
Bennett3b 3 0 0 0 0 12
Brophy, c 3 0 0 0 0 1 2t
Ballard, dh 2 0 0 0 0 0 0t
uM,,.,,, f 2 0 1 0 0 1 21

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