Thursday, April 15, 1999 - The Michigan Daily -15A You ain't seen nothing like the Mighty Quinn By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sports Writer *For all intents and purposes, the game was over when senior Kevin Quinn came to the plate in the ninth inning yesterday. Michigan trailed the Golden Grizzlies 12-4 with one out in' the ninth. The stands were virtually empty and the Wolverines looked as if they were mentally exhausted. Just then, Quinn slapped a single through the infield for a base hit and tuned on the jets when Oakland left- Oder Eric Paul had trouble scooping up the ball. Quinn's hustle stretched the hit into a double and gave the Wolverines new life. But there was no fairytale ending this.day as Michigan failed to score any more runs. Quinn's hustle, though, should be a wakeup call for the rest of the Wolverines. AYesterday, they looked sluggish mmitting three errors and going hitless from the fourth inning on, with the exception of Quinn's hit. On a day when Wolverine fans had very little to cheer for, Quinn was having the best day of his Wolverine career. He was 2-for-2 on the day, with two runs and two walks. He also played well in the field. Yet, virtually no one was there to notice. pike many collegiate athletes Quinn was a standout player in high school - earning conference player of the year in the Saginaw Valley Conference and was named to the Michigan All-State first team as a senior. But after entering the college ranks, Quinn was just a half step behind the talented superstars of the collegiate level. In four years, Quinn has amassed only 23 career starts, but that hasn't stopped him from coming to play hard every day. "Kevin Quinn hasn't gotten to play a whole lot this season," Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said. "He's a tremendous team player, he came in today and got a few hits and grabbed an extra base in the ninth. "He's a heads up player and he's ready to play all the time. It's a real tribute to him that he played the way he did today having sat on the bench for most of the season." Even more impressive is the fact that Quinn played so well despite a sub par effort from the rest of the team. Perhaps Quinn should be an example of what hard work on every play can do for you. Come Friday, senior co-captain Mike Cervenak will rightfully replace Quinn at third base. But at least now Zahn knows that should anyone be struggling he has another player he can count on to come off of the bench. "I feel really comfortable putting him in late in the ball game if we need a spark," Zahn said. "He's a very good third baseman who can come in if we need some defensive help, and we saw today that he can do some things with the bat too." l 1 7 J 1 i 1 i 1 I f 'MM'in critical condition Midweek frustrations leave Blue in confusion By Geoff GagIon 'oh well we'll win this game' Zahn Daily Sports Writer said. "We were a little slow, we waited Bruised by a weekend of abuse doled around and it just didn't happen. We out by Big Ten leader Ohio State, this know that you can't play that way." week, the Michigan baseball team And hopefully for Zahn and his club looked for redemption in its own back- that's the silver-lining in this weel 's yard. painful lesson - that they realize they What it found in back to back games can't play with such apathy and hopeto against southeast Michigan neighbors, compete. Oakland and Eastern Michigan, was a More than anything though, Michigan pair of teams that proved it hasn't earned the ability to tape weren't intimidated BASEBALL anybody for granted. by the Wolverines Commentary "Oakland isn't that bad a team t'at and were undaunted '-"& you can just go out and throw your by seasons full of------------ gloves out on the field and win," Zabl lopsided losses. said. "If you throw the ball over the mi- Whatever resolve Michigan had to dle of the plate somebody's going to lit turn its season around after three losses it." to the Buckeyes last weekend faded Zahn's description of his team's me- about as quickly as Eastern's ten minute tal preparedness and lack of intensityIs trip from Ypsilanti on Tuesday. more than a sad description of a team in The Eagles, eager to avenge a 12-3 the midst a struggle - its nothing shtrrt drubbing a week earlier, roared out to of a challenge to an uninspired club. score eight runs in the game's first two Michigan's showing yesterday boldly innings before Michigan was able to proclaimed the need for revitalized lead- take control of the situation and carve ership to rekindle the flame that lit the out a 10-8 win. Wolverines to a solid conference start. Though the Wolverines were able to "We're a senior laden team and wa're slide past their upset-minded Washtenaw going to rise and fall with our seniors, County rivals, in yesterday's match-up Zahn said. with Oakland, they were not as success- This week, Michigan showed it may ful. The Golden Grizzlies effectively be content to do the latter. DAJ NA LINANu LJ8i The Michigan men's baseball team, plagued by poor pitching and a lackluster per- formance, dropped its game to Oakland University last night, 12-4. The victory was the Golden Grizzlies first ever over the Wolverines. Pitching problemfor GRIZZLIES ContInued from Page 10A - to Texas A&M on March 21. The game also marked Oakland's first victory over Michigan in five attempts. "They came out and wanted it a lot more than we did," senior Brian Bush said. "We came out flat. We came out not ready to play, and they took it to us." Pitching was the key for the Grizzlies, as sophomore Jason Roberts pitched 4.2 innings of relief, giving up no runs on just one hit and striking out six. Sophomore Adam Sokoll also gave a solid performance for Oakland, pitching a scoreless final inning and striking out two. "The kids came out and threw strikes," Avery said. "You keep things simple that way and you've got the chance to stay in the ball- game." Similar to their game the previous day against Eastern, the Wolverines had a freshman struggle in the early innings. Starter Kirk Taylor gave up five runs on five hits in four innings before he was relieved by another freshman, Phil Lobert. Lobert turned in a solid perfor- mance for Michigan, giving up no runs on just two hits and striking out two in only his second appearance for the Wolverines. This weekend, Michigan will trav- el to No. 21 Minnesota (7-1, 24-7) to face the Big Ten-leading Golden Gophers in a four-game series. mauled Michigan to earn their first-ever win over the Wolverines, 12-4. Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said he couldn't take anything away from Oakland - they outplayed his club. "We were flat today, there's no ques- tion about it," Zahn said. "... Oakland was just the better team today." Both Zahn and his team realize Oakland shouldn't have been. Desperately hoping to capitalize on strong midweek showings against teams they should have steamrolled, Michigan is now forced to stumble into Minnesota. It will do battle with the Gophers this weekend reeling on the heels of the mid- week split. But more than simply coming up short in what could have proved to be a moral-building midweek stand, the Wolverines showed the dangers of com- placency. More frightening, though, for a veter- an team eyeing a post-season berth, once rattled, the squad failed to show the resilience that defined them as a team earlier spring. Oakland stormed out of the gates to grab a 4-0 lead yesterday, and from there, the Wolverines simply watched the Grizzlies pick them apart, tallying seven runs in the ninth inning. In underestimating the strength of the Oakland attack, Michigan was forced to hopelessly try to dig itself out of a hole it couldn't surmount. "Our guys kind of sat back and said S esterday s OX SCOre OAKLAND (12) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Kimball,ss 5 2 2 2 1.0 2 2 Haris, rf 6 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 Paul,If 3 3 2 1 2 0 3 0 Hardin,1lb 5 2 5 3 1 0 11 0 VanRobays,c3 1 0 0 1 1 8 2 Patterson. 3b5 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 Simmons,cf 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 Crossley, 2b 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 6 Prater,dh 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Varon, ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Green, ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0. Totals 36 12 12 109 627 12 E: none OP: 1 LOB: 11 28: 2 (Harris, Paul) 38: 1 SHardin) HR: none SS: none CS: none SF: 2 (Paul, Crossley) SH: 1(Van Robays) MICHIGAN (4) A, R H ,BBBsOPO A Scales, 2b 2 0 0 0 2 1 2 2. Sanborndh 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Dines, ph 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Bush, cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 1. Alcarez, rf 4 0 0 0 .0 1 6 0' Bobeda,lIf 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0' Cervanek, phl1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PappIf 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Seestedt lb 4 0 0 0 0 1 8 0' Parrish, c 4 1 1 1 0 1 6. 0k Qunn, 3b 2 2 2 0 2 0 2,1 LaRosa, ss 4 0 2 2 0 2 2 5~ Totals 31 4 6 4 6 9 27 9, E: 3 (Scales, LaRosa, Reid) DP: 2 LOB: 7 28: 2 (Parrish, Quinn) 38: (LaRosa) HR. none SB: none, CS: 1 (Bush) Ohio State ............2 2 4 310100--13 Michigan.............011 060110-10, Michigan Taylor Lobert Reid Bellows Oakland Robertson Roberts Sokoll IP 4.0 4.0 0.2 0.1 IP 3.1 4.2 1.0 H 5 2 3 2 H 4 1 1 R 5 0 6 1 R. 4 0 0 ER 2 0 0 1 ER 4 0 0 B8 6 0 2 1 88 4 1 1 SO 3 2 1 0 SO 1 6 2 AB 15 14 4 3 AB 13 14 4 22 16 8" 4.; BF4 18, 15= 5 , DANA LINNANE/Daily Yesterday, the Wolverines were misfiring on all cylinders as several costly errors resulted In Oakland's scoring spurt. At: Ray Fisher Stadium Attendance: 287 I 1 h Before. After. I