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ge Sidfigau &DaIQ
OR S
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 28, 2001
11
'.Kosick proves clutch
once again in NCAAs
Wright extends homer
streak in win for Blue
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor
replied with
But if on
is no guar
The instant the red light flashed on would corn
Sunday, senior Mark Kosick raised his the CCHA
arms gallantly in the air. He then started tans, instea
pumping his fists and legs simultane- Kosick was
ously like a piston - with an ear-to-ear instead of
gin spanning across his face. labeled a "
His second goal in as many nights ond time th
had given Michigan the ever-important With Kos
first goal in its 4-3 victory over St. class being
Cloud, propelling the Wolverines back day one, th
into the Frozen Four. winger hasn
JKosick's performance the night before "When h,
could've been represented by the Four that's my j
Tops big hit, "It's the Same Old Song." ter," Beren
With Michigan down 3-2 to Mercyhurst, moving hin
and his own career hanging in the bal- to try to g
ance, Kosick came through in the clutch him the vid
once again. He sent a rocket wrist shot "But l'vec
past previously stellar Peter Aubry - And w[
who set aside 47 of Michigan's 51 shots the current
to tie the game and shift the momen- points with
tum in one fell swoop. his freshma
This shouldn't come as a surprise to al title ga
anyone, for when the playoffs come scored two
around it always seems to be "Mark named to th
Kosick time." "Everyb
* "He's had 3 history of playing well in Kosick sai
the playoffs," Michigan coach Red phere. "It's
Berenson said. "And he's doing it again." the playoffs
So it's wasn't shocking when fellow of the year
senior Josh Langfeld was asked before best in thep
the weekend who would come up big nate enough
with some goals for Michigan, he Kosick f
Softball hopes
two words: Mark Kosick.
e asked the senior himself, it
antee that the same answer
.e up. Just a week earlier in
title game against the Spar-
ad of competing on the ice,
s told he'd be wearing a suit
f his usual blue sweater,
healthy scratch" for the see-
is season.
sick and the rest of the senior
expected to produce from
he confidence of the senior
n't always been sky high.
e is not playing hard or well,
ob to help the kid play bet-
ison said. "Sometimes it's
m around, or sitting him out
et his attention or showing
eotapes.
never given up on the kid."
iy should he? Kosick leads
Wolverines in career playoff
29, and is remembered for
in year heroics in the nation-
me in 1998, in which he
goals on his way to being
he All-Tournament Team.
ody wants to win so much,"
d about the playoff atmos-
just a team atmosphere in
s. It's the most exciting time
and you want to play your
playoffs, and I've been fortu-
h to do that in my career."
ollowed his fairy-tale fresh-
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By Steve Jackson
Daily Sports Writer
BOWLING GREEN -- There's an
old saying in baseball, "Hit 'em where
they ain't."
For Michigan's Nate Wright that
means over the fence,
"I have been hitting a lot of balls
hard," Wright said after extending his
homer streak to three consecutive
games. "It just seems like they've been
right at someone, unless I hit it out of
the park"
Four separate homeruns helped pro-
pel the Wolverines (9-8) to a 7-4 win
last night against Bowling Green (11-5).
After falling behind 2-0, M ichigan
got on the board in the third inning
when the Falcons' Keith Laughlin
walked Jordan French to force in Scott
Tousa, who had reached base on one of
his patented bunt singles.
But the Wolverines' offense really
found its stride in the sixth.
It started when designated hitter C..
Ghannam sent Laughlin to the showers
with a solo shot.
His replacement fared no better.
Brandon Henry was on the receiving
end of two more Michigan long balls
during his three innings on the mound.
But Bowling Green fought back in
the eighth to tie the score at four. A
bubbled ball at short trickled into cen-
ter, allowing the Falcons' Lee Morrison
to advance to second on the error T1a:
enabled Scott Dukate to knot the sorc
with a two-out blast over lhe Ic eldk
wall.
Michigan was quick to respond,
Brock Koman led off the ninth with a
huge bomb to left. Once again Bowling
Green coach Danny Schmitz called to
the bullpen but even closer Clayton
Booth was not immune to the homerur
bug.
Wright's team-leading fourth round
tripper of the season gate Michigan al'
the scoring it would need.
The Wolverines may have done even
more damage if howling Green's Lci:
Elias hadn't made a terrific catcl at the
wall to end the rally
"1 was really pleased with the way
we responded in the ninth," Michigan
coach Geoff Zahn said. "We got somtc
clutch hitting there when we needed it:
Jeff Trzos pitched the ninth to earn
the save. He took advantage of ar
expanded strike zone created by tV
increasing levels of cold and dark by
striking out the side - all looking.
"Jeff has a high ERA (10.80 enterin
last night) but he is throwing the ball
great," Michigan pitching coach Steve
Foster said.
-lini Brauer (1-0) secured his firs.
win in relief of No. 2 starter Nich
Alexander.
"All of our guys ditched we .
tonight." Zahn said.
Senior Mark Kosick has turned his season
man performance with an equally stun-
ning sequel in his sophomore cam-
paign. In the CCHA Tournament,
Kosick earned MVP honors by racking
up three goals and four assists to lead
Michigan to the conference crown.
And in an attempt to save his best for
last, Kosick has tallied three points in
two NCAA games so far, and Michi-
gan's opponent in the Frozen Four
leaves a promising omen for things to
come. The Wolverines face Boston
TOM FELDKAMP/0a0)
around in the playoffs.
College, the same team Kosick lit up
for two goals in 1998.
"Mark's playing so well," Berenson
said. "He's playing the best hockey he's
played all year. The momentum and
confidence he has now compared to
what he had two weeks ago is like night
and day.
"And I'll be the first one to hug him
when he scores the winning goal in the
next game."
to raise intensity for opener
By Jeff Phillips - I've been here a long time."
Daily Sports Writer In preparing for the upcoming games, Hutchins has
tried to raise the team's level of intensity. She has used
As No. 24 Michigan (11-9 overall) prepares for its various practice devices to try and simulate a game
home opener against Western Michigan
(6-11), coach Carol Hutchins is focused
on the game at hand - even when she is
on the verge of a milestone.
The first game against the Broncos
will mark Hutchins' 1,000th game of her
coaching career - 965 of which have
come in her 16-and-a-half seasons as
coach of the Wolverines. The milestone
was supposed to come this past week-
end, but Michigan's game against Loyola
was cancelled due to inclement weather.
ALUMNI FIELD
Who: Michigan (11-9) vs.
Western Michigan (611)
When: 3:30 p.m.
Latest: Michigan hopes
keep up its two-game win
streak with a sweep in its
home opener. Melissa Tay-
lort comes into the games
hitting .456.
environment.
"We are trying to create a more pres-
sured atmosphere," Hutchins said. "It is
hard to create game (pressure) in a prac-
tice setting."
In order to create consequences for
losing. Hutchins has given punishments
to the losing team, such as forcing it to
run or buy milkshakes for the winners.
Hutchins believes that this type of pres-
sure has produced the results that she
wants to see.
week we (gave consequences) and we saw a
games, Taylor is hitting .456 with an on-base percent-
age of .479. Taylor's averages are well above those for
her career -.317 and .360, respectively.
"She has gone back to her short game," Hutchins
said. "Her on-base percentage is right where it needs
to be (when hitting second)"
This past weekend, Taylor hit six-for-nine with
three RBI, in two games.
"She has been a sparkplug and we need other to fol-
low," Hutchins said.
Western Michigan is also hoping find some consis-
tency under first-year coach Kathy Leitke. After win-
ning three consecutive games, the Broncos have
dropped three of their last four.
Despite the struggles, Hutchins knows it is early in
the season and has a lot of respect for Leitke.
Leitke "is an excellent coach." Hutchins said. West-
ern Michigan is a "program on the ups."
Michigan last played the Broncos in a doubleheader
in 1998. The Wolverines won both games, 10-0 and 9-1.
Hutchins didn't even know that the game was her
"Last
I,000th until she someone told her. greater consistenc'
"I just think about the game at hand;" Hutchins said. A very consiste
"I don't think of much of (coaching the 1,000th game) play of senior co-(
.Steeple hurdles no
y level," HIutchins said.
nt aspect for Michigan has been the
captain Melissa Taylor. Through 20
rro
RAQLh 0i
Senior co-captain Melissa Taylor is leading Michigan in hitting and on base per-
centage this season at .456 and .479 respectively. '
. _ .. __
[,J t lt 1~dttLt.1~y.~At~ L
barrier for freshman
By Shawn Kemp
Daily Sports Writer
In his first outdoor track meet this
weekend for Michigan, freshman Dave
Sage will not only encounter a new,
* heightened field of collegiate competi-
tion, but a new event.
Well, not completely. The 3,000-
meter steeplechase is only run in out-
door track, and is not an event in high
school track.
Which makes it surprising that Sage
-- a cross country and distance runner
- has already run the event once.
"I ran it once at a camp at Princeton
* between my sophomore and junior years
in high school," Sage said. "I practiced
hurdles for a day before, and I did pretty
well."
Sage's prior camp experience, cou-
pled with his two weeks of hurdle prac-
tice, gives the freshman a small base of
experience leading up to this weekend's
Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N. C.
But it's under the same circumstances
that Michigan coach Ron Warhurst used
to convince 1984 Olympic steeplechase
bronze medallist and former Wolverine
Brian Diemer to try out the event.
"When he was a freshman, I said to
him, 'Hey, do you want to do the
steeplechase?' He said, 'What's that?'
and I told him, 'Come here, let me show
you,"' Warhurst said.
Diemer went on to win the national
outdoor championship in 1983, and fin-
ished third in the Los Angeles Games in
8:14.06, just three seconds behind
Kenyan winner Julius Korir's 8:11.8.
While Sage does not anticipate quali-
fying for national or international com-
petition any time soon, he did express
some concern about the different event.
"Two miles are hard enough - put
hurdles in the way, and it makes it a lit-
tle harder," Sage said.
Along with Sage, 27 other Wolver-
ines will travel south.
"We're just looking to see who's fit
and who isn't," Warhurst said. "We're
using this meet to see where we're at, so
hopefully we'll have some good perfor-
mances."
..- '
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