Baseball digs split
with Minnesota
The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 19, 1999 - 13
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
By Chris Grandstaff
Daily Sports Writer
At times this season it has been
difficult to say who has been a
tougher adversary for the Michigan
baseball team - Big Ten opponents
or the schedule makers.
The Wolverines (8-8 Big Ten, 21-
19 overall) continued their brutal
first half of the conference season
with a split against No. 23
Minnesota this weekend.
The four-game series with the
Golden Gophers (9-3, 27-9) marked
the third time in as many weeks that
the Wolverines have spent the week-
end challenging the first-place team
in the Big Ten.
The Wolverines needed at least a
split this weekend, not only to keep
pace with the rest of the conference,
but to prove that they can beat the
best teams in the Big Ten on any
given day.
"We knew coming into the season
that if we had thoughts of making the
playoffs or winning the Big Ten we
needed to win some of these games,"
Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said.
The Wolverines got off to a good
start on Friday, winning 8-3 behind a
strong, complete-game performance
from senior pitcher J. J. Putz. The
win snapped Minnesota's nine-game
winning streak.
Putz (2-3) struck out eight and
walked four in the first nine-inning
complete game of his career.
Michigan did most of its damage in
the eighth, when with two outs and
the game tied, the Wolverines rallied
for five runs, and put the game out of
reach.
Saturday's doubleheader turned
into an offensive highlight reel as the
two teams combined for 54 runs and
70 hits. Michigan scored at least one
run in every inning of the opener andt
won, 13-12. The Wolverines were led
by the outstanding play of Jason,
Alcaraz, and co-captains Bobby
Scales and Mike Cervenak.
Alcaraz launched two two-run
homers and closed the door on the
Gophers by chasing down what
looked like a hit for the last out of
the game. Every position on the
Michigan roster except the designat-
ed hitter had at least two hits. Scales
and Cervenak grabbed three each.
Michigan starter Bryce Ralston
upped his record to 5-1 on the sea-
son, despite allowing eight runs in
five innings of work.
In the nightcap, the Wolverines
continued their torrid hitting, as they
sent II batters to the plate and
scored seven runs in the first inning.
But Minnesota roared back to tie the
game in the fourth and entered the
final inning of the game with a
three-run lead.
Michigan rallied one more time by
scoring three runs in the top of the
seventh. Minnesota rallied, as
Scales' throw to the plate in the bot-
tom of the inning was too late to pre-
vent the Gophers' Matt Scanlon from
grabbing his fifth RBI of the game
and a Minnesota win, 15-14.
Minnesota closed the series yes-
terday with an 11-5 victory behind
eight runs in the first three innings.
The Wolverines now travel to
Grand Rapids for a game against
Notre Dame before taking a break
for finals.
At 8-8, with the toughest part of
their schedule out of the way, the
Wolverines now seem poised to
make a serious run for a Big Ten
playoff spot.
Who: Melissa Gentile
Hometown: O'Fallon, Mo.
High School: Wentzville
Sport: Softball
Position: DP/catcher
Year: Junior
Why: Gentile was questionable to return for this season after under-
going back surgery in November. But she made her first appearance
of the season this weekend in Michigan's sweep of Northwestern.
Gentile pinch-hit in the seventh inning of the first game of the series.
She was walked and replaced by a pinch runner. Yesterday with a
double in the second, inning, Gentile had her first RBI of the season.
scoring the first run of the game.
Background: Last season Gentile led the team with 13 homeruns and
57 RBI ... She was also second in batting average and in hits.
Gentile
.. :m -..
MICHIGAN (5)
AB R H RBIBB SO PO A
Scales, 2b 5 5 2 3 0 1 0 4
Sanborndh 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
Quinn, ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Bushof 4 1 1 00 14 1
Alcaraz,rf 4 0 0 1 0 0 2 0
Cervenak,3b 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0
Besco,l1b 3 0 1 1 0 0 7 0
Parrish, c 3 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
BobedaIf 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 0,
LaRosaph/ss1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tousa, ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
Dines,If 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Bonner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Trzos, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Young, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Koreckyp 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alexanderp 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 5 9 5 0 6 24 8
E: 1(Cervenak) DP: LOB: 6 28: 3 (Cervenak 2.
Besco.) 38: none HR: 2 (Scales 2)SB: none CS:
SH: none SF: none
MINNESOTA (11)
Al R H RBI BSO PO A
Howard,lIf 5 1 1 0 1 0 1 0
Scanlon,2b 6 1 2 1 0 1 0 6
Quinlan,1b 3 0 2 1 2 0 13 1
Amundson, dh 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0
Hannahan, 3b 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 2
Brosseauss 4 1 1 0 1 2 0 1
Arlt, cf 4 3 2 3 1 1 2 0
Negen, c 4 1 2 1 1 1 5 2
Kennedy, rf 4 1 2 0 1 0 3 0
Clarey, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Wagnerp 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 39 11. 16 8 7 5 27 13
E: none DP: none LOB: 12 2B: 3 (Scanlon, uinlan,
Amundson) 38: none HR: 2 {Hannahan, Arltt) SS: 1
(ArIt) CS: none SH: none SF: none
Michigan .......100 002 200-13
Minnesota ..........0 20 0 31 01-- 6
SARA SCHENCK/Daily
The Michigan baseball team split its four-game series with then-Big Ten leader
Minnesota. Michigan now rests in fourth place in the conference.
t-
900
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.556
.500
.500
.500
':500
.400
.300
.214
MICHIGAN (14)
AB R H RBI BBSOrPO A
Scales, 2b 5 1 3 3 0 0 1 2
Alcaraz,rf 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 0
Bush, cf 4 2 3 0 0 1 1 0
Seestedt, c 5 2 2 2 0 0 2 0
Cervenak,3b 5 2 4 4 0 0 1,2
Besco,lb 5 1 2 1 0 2 6 3
Parrish, dh 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0
BobedaIf 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
Dines, ph-If 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
LaRosa,ss 4 2 2 2 0 1 1 3
Pistilli, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Kelley, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Korecky, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reid, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 39 1419 13 2 5 1810
E: 4 (LaRosa 2, Bush. Seestedt) OP: 1 LOB: 9 2B:
2 (Besco, Bush) 38: none HR: 1 (Cervenak) 58: 1
(Bush) CS: none SF: none
MINNESOTA (15)
A R H RBI BB SO PO A
Howard,lIf 5 0 1 3 0 0 4 0
Devore,ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Scanlon, 3b 5 2 2 5 1 0 0 1
Quinlanib-rf5 2 2 1 0 0 5 0
Amundson,dh 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 0
Brosseauss 4 1 2 1 1 0 1 0
Nuss, 2b 3 1 1 3 2 1 0 3
Arlt, cf 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Negen, c 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 0
Holthausph-c2 2 1 0 0 0 2 0
Guetzlaff, pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kennedyrf 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 0
Horton,ph-1b 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 1
McGrath, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Haring, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gangl, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Wagner, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 38 15 16157 121 6
E: 1(Arlt) DP: none LOB: 14 28: 5 Brosseau,
Holthaus, Horton, Howard, Nuss) 38: nonrHR: 2
(Quinlan, Scanlon) SS: none CS: none SF: none
Michigan.-.....7 10 300 3- 14
Minnesota. 043 133 1-15
Michigan IP H R ER BB SO AS BF
Pistilli 4.1 11 11 11 4 0 23 29
Kelley 2.0 1 1 1 1 1 5 6
Korecky (L) 1.0 2 3 1 2 0 8 10
Reid 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO AS BF
McGrath 1.0 7 7 6 0 0 9 11
'Haring 2.2 5 4 4 2 1 13 16
Gangs 3.0 5 3 3 0 3 14 14
Wagner (W) 0.1 2 0 0 0 1 3 3
Upcoming M'
baseball schedule
Michigan
Bonner
Trzos
Young
Korecky
Alexander
Minnesota
Clarey
Wagner
IP
2.2
4.1
0.2
0.0
0.1
IP
7.1
1.2
H
9
6
0
1
0
H
9
0
R
8
2
1
0
0
R
5
0
ER
5
2
1
0
0
ER
5
0
BB
2
2
2
1
0
0
0
So
2
3
0
0
0
SO
2
4
AB
17
18
2
1
1
AB
31
5
BF
19
21
4
2
1
BF
32
6
Tennis edges Gophers to stay unbeaten
At: Siebert Field, Minneapolis
Attendance: 716
By Dena Krischer
Daily Sports Writer
They forgot about Notre Dame.
They edged Minnesota.
Now it confronts mighty Illinois.
The Michigan men's tennis team has
been preparing all year for this upcom-
Ong weekend's match as it hosts the No.
2 team in the country.
"They're not going to give us any
respect," senior co-captain Will Farah
said.
And nobody has.
The Wolverines have been laughed at,
looked down upon, and considered a
fluke match. But they have proved them-
selves better than that. The underdog.
"It'll be a great match," Farah said.
Whichever wins this weekend's con-
test will be the Big Ten champs.
Then, both teams will be competing
in the NCAA Championships for a spot
in the "Sweet 16" in Athens, Ga.
"I think we match up well against
Illinois," freshman Ben Cox said.
"People don't give us a chance because
they are the No. 2 team in the country.
But now people are starting to think of
us as more of a threat."
The Wolverines look at the past two
matches as a wake-up call to rekindle
what they had before - an I1-game
winning streak and extreme confidence.
After they fell 6-1 to Notre Dame
Wednesday, the Wolverines fought and
defeated Minnesota 4-3.
The Wolverines were down 1-0
against the Gophers after being shut out
3-0 in doubles, giving up their third dou-
bles point in as many matches.
Illinois "is going to be a tough match,"
junior doubles player Brad McFarlane
said. "The doubles point is huge against
Illinois. It's going to be key in order to
beat them."
The doubles loss didn't frustrate
Michigan. The Wolverines rebounded to
win four of the six singles matches to
take the match and tying for first place
with Illinois in the Big Ten race with
eight wins.
No. 1 singles player Matt Wright con-
trolled his match, defeating Tyson Parry
6-3, 6-2, winning his 17th match of the
campaign and his 10th dual match of the
season.
Junior John Long obtained his 14th
dual-match victor, and improved his over-
all record to 21-8, second on the team.
Long beat Adam Selkirk 6-1, 6-3.
Freshman Danny McCain ended his
career-worst four-match losing streak. He
picked up his 10th dual match victory and
his 16th win of the season when he edged
Minnesota's Jan Svensson 7-6, 7-5.
Cox played what he called his "best
match of the year" and won his 17th
straight dual match 6-3, 6-4 over Jorge
Duenas. He remains undefeated in the
Big Ten at 8-0 and leads the team with a
record of 24-4 overall.
After the long-awaited match against
Illinois, the Wolverines will also host
Northwestern on Sunday at 1 p.m.
They will host the Big Ten
Championships the following weekend.
But, for now, being No. 1 is the only
concern.
MICHIGAN (13)
AS R H RBI IBSU80PO A
Scales, 2b 5 3 3 2 0 0 1 1
Sanborndh 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Dines, ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Buhcf 4 2 2 21 1 30
Alcaraz,rf 5 2 2 4 0 0 2 0
Cervenak,3b5 1 3 1 0 0 0 0
Besco b 5 2 2 0 0 0 4 1
Seestedt,c 4 0 2 0 0 0 7 0
BobedaIf 2 1 2 3 1 0 1 0
Tousa, ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 3 3
Ralston, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Cransonp 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Young, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alexander, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 38 13 18 12 3 2 21 8
E: 2 (Alcaraz, Bobeda) DP: 1 LOS: 8 28: 3 (Besco,
Bush, Scales) 3B: none HR: 2 (Alcaraz 2) SB: 2
(Bobeda 2) CS: 2 (Bobeda, Cervenak) SF: 1
(Bobeda)
MINNESOTA (12)
AS R H RB SSOPO A
Howard,lIf 3 1 2 0 1 1 6 0
Scanlon,2b-3b4 3 2 6 0 0 0 2
Quinlan,1b 5 1 3 1 0 0 3 2
Amundson, dh 5 1 3 3 0 1 0 0
Hannahan,3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
Nuss, ph-2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brosseau, ss 3 1 2 1 0 0 3 2
Arlt, cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 0
Negen, c 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Hothaus, ph-c2 2 1 0 1 1 3 0
Kennedy, rf 4 3 2 1 0 1 1 0
Pautz, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
DeWitt, p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 3512 1712 3 6 2110
E: 5 (Hannahan 2, Nuss. Brosseau, Pautz) DP: 1
LOB: 8 2B: 4 (Amundson, Holthaus, Kennedy,
Quinlan) 3: none HR: 1 (Scanlon) SB: 1(Kennedy)
CS: none SF: 2 (Brosseau, Scanlon)
Qat
April 20
April 30
May 1
May 1
May 2
May 4
May 6
May 8
May 9
May 10
May 10
May 12
May 14
May 15
May 15
May 16
May 20-23
May 28-30
June 4-6
June 11-19
Opponent
Notre Dame **
at Michigan State
Michigan State
Michigan State
at Michigan State
at Ball State
at Eastern Mich.
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana
Bowling Green
at Penn State
at Penn State
at Penn State
at Penn State
Big Ten Tourney
NCAA Regionals
NCAA Regionals
World Series
Michigan..........231 113 2-13
Minnesota..............200 312 4-12
Michigan IP H R ER BB SO AS
Ralston (W) 5.0 10 8 8 2 5 23
Cranson 1.2 5 4 4 1 1 9
Young 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Alexander 0.11 0 0 0 0 2
Minnesota IP H R ER 08 SO AS
Pautz(L) 5.1 13 10 7 2 1 29
DeWitt 1.2 5 3 2 1 1 9
BF
27
11
1
2
BF
32
10
FILE PHOTO
Jake Raiton and the Michigan men's tennis team takes an undefeated Big Ten
record into next weekend's Big Ten showdown with Illinois.
** at Grand Rapids
'M' needs best effort to challenge Illinois
i
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Writer
Few teams can repeatedly dig them-
selves big holes and come back to win.
The Michigan men's tennis team can.
The Wolverines (8-0 Big Ten, 15-2
overall) managed to lose the crucial
Roubles point again in this weekend's
atch with Minnesota, yet managed a
comeback. This marked the third con-
secutive match that the team has lost
the doubles point, and the second con-
secutive match that the team has been
swept in the doubles point.
This weekend though, behind strong
sinigles play, the team squeaked by the
Golden Gophers 4-3. This was the
Wolverines' third consecutive 4-3 Big
A en victory.
"We've played very poorly in dou-
bles lately, and I was very disappointed
with that," Michigan coach Brian
Eisner said. "We played very tentative-
. ..__..__
ly and didn't go after points like earlier
this week."
The three doubles teams will have to
find the form that led them to win 11
out of the 13 possible doubles points to
open the season soon, because No. 2
Illinois comes to the Varsity Tennis
Center this Saturday.
"Earlier this fall or in January we
would not have had a shot at beating
them because we would have been
intimidated by their ranking - not
now," Eisner said. "If we play outstand-
ing tennis, we feel we can beat them. If
we don't, we will lose because Illinois
doesn't play poor matches."
Eisner would stress the fact that the
team needs to play a great match
because of the quality of Illinois' team.
But the team feels that they can com-
pete with the Fighting Illini the same
way that the Gophers did earlier this
year. Minnesota lost to Illinois 4-3 and
actually had a chance to serve out the
match before Illinois prevailed.
The Wolverines will need to sneak up
on Illinois, like they have done to other
teams all year, if they are to win.
"We have snuck up on some teams
this year. A few teams saw us earlier in
the year and wrote us off as a certain
type of team but we've made drastic
improvements over the year," Eisner
said.
The Fighting Illini have not lost a
match in this part of the country in two
years now. But lack of motivation
should not be a problem - a win over
Illinois and the team clinches at least a
share of the Big Ten regular season title.
If they win, they won't be able to cel-
ebrate a title for too long because the
next day, Northwestern, tied for third in
the Big Ten, comes to Ann Arbor.
Usually, these matches would wear a
team down, but the Wolverines have
had such strong training all year that the
team has been able to pull out closer
matches when the other team is starting
to fatigue. The physical training has
also helped Michigan avoid injury.
If the Wolverines are to steer clear of
their first Big Ten loss of the year, they
will need their doubles to step up and
regain their play from earlier in the
year. Getting down 1-0 to open the
match against the Illini would be cata-
strophic.
"Our problems are all things that are
correctable," Eisner said. "When you
lose, you start to think, and with only an
eight-game pro-set, you have to come
out strong."
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