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