SportsMonday - April 3, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 5B
Michigan 2 games
Player of the Indiana seies
David Parrish
Catcher
The junior dominated at the plate yesterday, going 3:for-5 with
two homeruns. He went 6-for-16 on the series with three RBI.
Wolverines 4
Indiana
2 games
Hoosiers
3
'M' 3-4-5 hits home
Bi Tnstning
By Dan Williams
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - Michigan
coach Geoff Zahn knew from the begin-
ning of the season that the majority of his
power numbers were going to come from
the heart of his lineup
The three-through-five hitters certain-
ly haven't disappointed their coach,
accounting for 13 of
Michigan's 19 BATTING
homeruns this sea- Analysis
son. __
The power pro-
duction from the middle of the lineup
certainly dictated the course of
Michigan's series split this weekend with
Indiana.
In wins Friday and Sunday, the
Wolverines relied on power baseball
from their three, four and five hitters in
the lineup to gain one-run victories.
But in Indiana's sweep of Saturday's
doubleheader, the heart of the Indiana
lineup lit up the Wolverines' pitching
staff for nine hits and seven RBI.'
After experimenting earlier in the sea-
son, Zahn seems to have found a trio he
feels comfortable with in the middle of
the order. Freshman Brock Koman,
Junior David Parrish and senior Rob
Bobeda batted third, fourth and fifth
respectively in all four games of the
series against the Hoosiers.
Koman and Bobeda provided the
offensive spark in Michigan's 7-6 victory
Friday. Bobeda, the veteran leader of the
lineup, hit his sixth homerun of the sea-
son and knocked in three runs.
Koman, the team's leading hitter at
.345, added a decisive sacrifice fly.
"They have to step up, that's what they
are there for" Zahn said.
On Sunday, it was Parrish's turn to
deliver in the clutch from the clean-up
spot. His two solo homeruns were
enough to ruin a solid pitching perfor-
mance from Indiana's Fred Graf.
Despite seeing a steady diet of sliders,
Parrish was still easily able to clear the
fence twice at Indiana's Sembower Field.
"If we were winning by ten runs and I
hit a homerun, it would be nice but it
wouldn't mean as much," Parrish said.
"In a close game like this every run
counts, and it's great to know that I was
a deciding factor in the whole thing."
Michigan's biggest bats were quieted
on Saturday as Indiana's power hitters
emerged. While Koman, Parrish, and
Bobeda combined 6-for-20 with just two
RBI, Indiana's junior Blake St. Clair,
freshmen Vasilli Spanos and Joe Sadler
combined for two doubles, a triple and a
homerun. Indiana cruised to 6-1 and 10-
3 victories behind their efforts.
With this season's youthful lineup,
Michigan has struggled at the plate and
now owns one of the worst team batting
averages in the Big Ten. Power numbers
from the middle of the order will likely
continue to be the best form of compen-
sation for Michigan. Against Indiana, the
overall power numbers for Koman,
Parrish and Bobeda were exceptional,
but consistency was lacking.
"We're the guys that are supposed to
do all the run production. We didn't give
much support (Saturday)," Parrish said.
"I think it's big that we came through
(yesterday) because that's our job."
Team
1. Minnesota
2. Illinois
3. Penn State
4. Purdue
5. Ohio State
6. Indiana
7. Iowa
8. Michigan
9. Michigan Sr.
10. Northwestern+
4
7
5-
5
2
3
3
2
1
0
0
1
3
3
2
5
5
4
3
WL Pct.
.1000
.875
.625
.625
.500
.375
.375
.333
.250
.000
Overall
16-11-0
19-7-0
20-8-0
16-9-0
18-9-0
20-12-0
8.18-0
9-15-1
7-17-0
13-11-0
Yesterday's Big Ten results
kfiIcttiGA\ 4, INDIAN ,1 3
PULRDUF c6. PL:NN STTV3
01110 Sims 11I'M l\Vx
ILLINOIS S. NWIS,,Tl IN2
(Through yesterday's game)
Player
Lenick
Koman
Bobeda
Parrish
Quinn
Trzos
Tou sa
Dines
Dombos
Cantalamessa
Lolhoa
Rutkowski
Sokol
Coleman
LaRosa
French
Ghannam
Avg.
.333
.330
.315
.306
.278
.267
.258
.254
.240
.222
.210
.195
.192
.176
.156
.138
.100
AB
3
91
92
85
54
15
89
67
25
81
62
41
26
17
45
29
10
R
0
14
22
16
5
0
17
5
3
15
5
5
2
0
5
1
1
H
1
30
29
26
15
4
23
17
6
18
15
8
5
3
7
4
1
HR
0
0
6
7
1
0
2
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
RB
0
18
16
21
7
2
9
3
3
6
8
1,
1e
1
5
0
0
101
149
BB
0
8
10
9
5
1
12
3
4
6
2
2
2
0
7
3
2
75
119
Junior Infielder Scott Tousa shows the umpire that he still has possession of the ball after a collision with Indiana's Gibran
Hamdan at second base to make the out.
Wolveri'tnes tke'must-win' game,
*keepigTentou y hopes alive
Totals .252 832 116 210 19
Opponents .296 820 168 243 18
(Through yesterday'sgame)
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - With its sea-
son on the line, the Michigan baseball
team (2-6 Big Ten, 9-15-1 overall)
played its best game of the young Big
Wen season, beating Indiana (3-5, 20-
12), 4-3.
The win kept alive the Wolverines'
hopes of landing a Big Ten Tournament
bid - something only the top six teams
receive - because with mighty Illinois
looming, a seventh loss to open the sea-
son would have buried the Wolverines,
"This was definitely a must-win situ-
ation,' Michigan co-captain and out-
fielder Rob Bobeda. "We knew we
needed a win to stay in it. Seven losses
arly on in the Big Ten would have real-
ly hurt us"
So instead of really hurting, the cup
is still half full for Michigan.
In yesterday's victory, the Wolverines
got timely hitting from the heart of their
lineup. Starting pitcher Vince Pistilli,
-n Indiana native, pitched Michigan
.into the eighth inning only yielding two
uns, and relief pitcher Phil Lobert got
je Wolverines out of an eighth-inning
am and pitched a scoreless ninth for
the save.
In the ominous eighth, the
Wolverines looked like thev would fall
flat on their faces yet again.
With Hoosiers on second and third,
and Lobert on the mound for Michigan,
Vasilli Spanos sent a fly ball to the
warning track. As rightfielder Jay
Dines circled the ball, he started to slip
in a puddle caused by pre-game rain.
But just as Dines - and the season
- looked like they would slip and fall,
Dines regained his balance and caught
the ball just before brushing his back
against the outfield wall.
Indiana's Benji Clause tagged-up
from third and scored, but Lobert
pitched his way out of the rest of the
inning to preserve the lead.
"I think the fact that we split, gives
us a boost," junior catcher David
Parrish said. "To come back and win
this game after dropping the double
header yesterday is big"
But it was Parrish's two solo home
runs that were the mammoth reasons
why Michigan came back to win the
big game. His first long ball came in
the fifth inning, after Indiana tied the
game in the fourth. The second came
under similar circumstances in the sev-
enth inning, when the slugger sat on an
off-speed pitch and hammered it over
the 370-foot marker in right-center
field.
"Dave's being Dave," Bobeda said.
"He put a couple good swings on some
balls. They seemed kind of scared to
throw him fastballs, and he made the
adjustment and hit a couple sliders
out."
Though he only saw off-speed pitch-
es, Parrish's power made the difference
for Michigan.
"His danger is in his power and it
beat us today," Indiana coach Bob
Morgan said.
Unfortunately for Michigan,
Parrish's power could not beat Indiana
in Saturday's doubleheader.
Michigan won the first game of the
series on Friday, 7-6, but the Hoosiers
rebounded from the loss to sweep the
doubleheader 6-1 and 10-3.
Though the teams split the weekend
series, Friday's loss left Morgan bitter.
In the seventh inning, Hoosier pitcher
Brad Edwards was ejected for arguing
with the umpire. The Wolverines scored
three runs after Edwards was ejected.
"Ithought (Friday's) game was ours,"
Morgan said. "But things kind of got
away from us when the umpire went
haywire in the sixth inning."
Even though yesterday did not pro-
vide any more ejections, it did allow the
young Wolverines' roller-coaster week-
end to end on a peak. The win moved
Michigan up to eighth place in the Big
Ten, only two games behind sixth-place
Indiana.
"I feel pretty good about our
chances," Pistilli, yesterday's winning
pitcher said. "We're still a young team.
A split today was big for us. We're still
right in it to be one of the top teams in
the Big Ten."
But had Dines not regained his bal-
ance yesterday, right in it would have
been right out of it.
Player
Bellows
Taylor
Trzos
Lobert
Alexander
Pistilli
Leveque
Korec ky
Cranson
McCloskey
Wood
Hill
ERA
0.00
3.38
3.78
4.09
4.26
4.73
4.95
5.26
6.32
7.15
7.88
8.66
W-L IP
0-0 2.2
0-0 5.1
0-0 16.2
0-1 11.0
1-0 19.0
2-3 32.1
1-3 20.0
2-1 25.2
2-3 31.1
0-1 11.1
0-2 16.0
1-1 17.2
H ER
2 0
5 2
16 7
12 5
18 9
35 17
23 11-
36 15
39 22-
13 9
24 14
20 17'
20
3 2
7 14
6 9
3 18
20 20
7 19
7 7
24 14
7~ 8
15 9
18 24
119 144
75 187
Totals 5.51 915209 243128
Opponents 3.52 15-9 212 210 83
MICHIGAN 4, INDIANA 3
MICHIGAN
Player
Quinn 3b
Tousa ss
Koman dh
Parrish c
Bobeda cf
Dines rf
Trzos lb
Cantala 2b
Sokol If
Lollio If
AU R H RI
4 0 0 o0
5 0 1 0
4 0 2 1
4 0 0 o0
43 000
5011 0
41002
52320
INDIANA
Player AS R H BI
Clause 2b 1 1 0 0
Haegele3b 4110
St. Clair rf 4 1 2-0
Spanoslb 30 2 2
Sadler dh 4 00 0
Blakeley If 3 0 0 0
McNabcf 40 1.0
O'Brien c 2 0 00
Woodsi c-ph 1 0 0 0
Bestler ss 2 0 0 0
Stastny ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 374 9 4 Totals 293 6 2
E - Bestler (3). OP - Michigan 2. LOB.- Michigan 9,
Indiana 6.2B- Bobeda (7), Sokol (1), St. Clair (6).
Spanos (7), McNab (5) 36- Haegele (2). HR -
Parrish 2(7) SH - Beatler (1) SF - Spanos (3).
Michigan
Pistilli W (2-3)
Lobert
Indiana
Graf L (4.5)
Otte
IP H R ER BB sO
7.3 5 3 3 3 4
1.2 1 0 0 0 2
7.29 4 4 3 5
1.10 0 0 0 2
Sophomore Infielder Dan Dombos slides into home plate and dodges Indiana's
catcher Tom McNab's tag to help give the Wolverines the win on Friday.
Umpires - Joe Yonte (Home), Mike Duffy (1st base,
Bruce Doane (3rd base)
At: Sembower Field
Attendance: 325
Time: 2:29
Brock Koman
/ 4
Pistilhi Parrish shine in Indiana
At the three...
Avg: .330
Hits: 30
2b: i1
3b-
HR: 0
Runs: 14
RBI: 18
SlugV: .473
OB'%o: .40
The heart of
the order..
David Parrish
By Raphael Goodstein
and Dan Williams
Daily Sports Writers
Michigan turned seven double plays
over the course of four games - far.
exceeding Indiana's total of one in the
series. The rally-killers were crucial to
both of Michigan's one-run victories
on Friday (7-6) and Sunday.
Total series double plays: 7
Total season double plays: 35
Series' percentage on the season: 20%
At the four...
BLOOMINGTON -Yesterday's 4-3
win over Indiana was extra special for
junior starting pitcher Vince Pistilli.
The Hoosier State native was recruit-
ed by Indiana, and many of his friends
ayed in-state to play for Indiana.
Luckily for Michigan, Pistilli didn't.
The native of
Highland - an BASEBALL
approximate three- Notebook
hour drive from
Bloomington -
pitched seven innings, only allowing
three runs.
"I wasn't nervous," Pistilli said. "I just
wanted to make sire I kept the ball down
Ind worked the corners. I haven't been
@.ing that consistently this year. I knew
if I did that, I'd be fine."
The outing was Pistilli's best since
Michigan's 6-1 win over Xavier on
March 2nd, when he allowed only one
run in six innings.
"It felt pretty good to come home and
get a win," Pistilli said. "I felt pretty con-
fident sitting around and watching the
hitters all weekend. I had a pretty good'
Sea what I wanted to do, and I just went
'rut there and got it done"
SATURDAY STRUGGLES: The Michigan
batting lineup continues to have prob-
lems getting a consistent offensive effort
against Big Ten pitching.
. Indiana featured two complete games
hv both their starters in Saturday's dou-
Avg:
Hits:
2b:
3b:
HR:
Runs:
RBI:
Slugl:
26
0
1
16
21
.375
Rob Bobeda
At the five...
Avg:
J Hits:
R:
. " .f H ns:
, sI :
s lo :f
.317
29
7
6
22
16
.609
.382
A look at how Michigan's 3-4-5 compares
with the rest of the Wolverines.
Tomorrow
TOLEDO, 3 p.m.
Friday, April 7
at Illinois, 6:35 p.m.
Saturday, April 8
at Illinois (DH), 4:05 p.m.
Sunday, April 9
at Illinois, 1:05 p.m.
(Home games in CAPS)
Hits:
Runs:
RBI:
3-4-5
.317
85
52
55
The others
.222
125
64
46
T
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
g
(Through Sunday's games) (Twenty or more innings) (Forty or more at bats) (Through Sunday's games)
Player Avg.
Feam~t ERA EHR 68 SO Player 1 Heitpas. N'western .470 Team Avg. R
Indana 3.5 25 17 1028 1Feris Inian 52 Wili'mson, N'western.464 1 Northwestern .358 133
SInoana r 37 2 107 120258 2 YFers, Pndiana - 3 Kurelta, N'Western 422 2 Penn State .335 247
806o163estemYis Pennstaer 4 4 Wright, Penn State .412 3 Illinois .330 175
3 Purdue 4.07 178 8 816 3Rba Nwsen 45'Spanos, Indiana .406 4 Indiana .289 206
4 Minnesota 4.49 236 114 102157 4 Graf, Indiana 4 6 Campo, Penn State .400 Pur 289
5 Ohio State 4.61 224 109 83 161 5 Edwards, Indiana 4 7 Ehrnsb'gr, Ohio State.400 5 OhiuSte .287 112
6 Penn State 4.79 214 121 111196 6 Laratta, Ohio State 48 TuOrne, Oo St ate Mo.28615
Illinois 4.80 202 102 97 146 7 Anderson. Illinois 4 9 TrneO Minnesota.394 8 Mich. st .270 187
8 Iowa 5.08 243 116 91 110 8 Steen. Ohio State 4 10 Fa, Ohio State .393 9 iwa . .258 108
9 Michigan 5.51 243 128 119144 9 Fourteen tied with 3gO9 Iowa.258 10
H
G 235
i7 316
5 253
36295
L 235
S263
0 208
5 209
.210
HR RBt
13 126
30223
14 161
~15 165
17 101
19 1.35
15 169
14 101
22 96
19 101
10 Michigan St. 5.80
242 123
81 127
10 Mlieigan .252
116
Honrn
Player
1 Cox, Ohio State
2 Yodis, Penn State
3 Axelson, Mich. St.
4 Quick, Purdue
5 Willerer, Indiana
6 Ferris, Indiana
7 Ribas, N'western
8 schara, N'western
ERA
2,18
2.21
2.33
2.35
2.42
2.43
2.43
2.52
Player.
1. Edwards, Indiana
2 Graf, Indiana
3 Schara, N'western
4 McClelland, Indiana
5 Ferris. Indiana
6 Steen, Ohio State
7 Goodrum, Ohio State
8 Ribas, N'western
so
50
44
43
42
38
38
37
35
CONFERENCE
Player
1 Kure a; N'western
2 Blomberg. Purdue
3 Frei, Purdue
4 Brosseau, Minnesota'
5 Kennedy, Minnesota'
6 Clause, Indiana
7 St. Clair, Indiana
8 McNab, lndiana
SB
17
13
11
10
10
8'
8
8
.7
Player
2 Fagan. Penn State
2 Spadt, Penn State
3 Turner, Ohio State
4 Ehrnsb'gr, Ohio State,
6 Parrish, Michigan
6 Geswein. Mich State
7 Bobeda, Michigan
8 Eight tied with
HR
8
8
8
7
7
7
6
I -, . .1
r