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sportsdesk@umich.edu
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 20,2002
10
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Lollio hits homer
to win
M'
opener
Hot corner gives Fox trouble early
By Jim Weber
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan baseball team finally got a
break.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth
inning, Gino Lollio hit a two-out, two-run
home run off the top of the outfield wall,
which lifted Michigan
to a 4-3 opening day
victory over Bowling , BOWLING GREEN 3
Green at The Fish. MICHIGAN 4
"I saw it bounce up
(off the fence), and I
couldn't see the depth. So I honestly thought it
was going to bounce back into the field," Lol-
io said. "But when it disappeared behind the
wall, I was just ecstatic."
The win came after a 12-game road trip to
start the season, in which the Wolverines won
just twice.
"I think any win for us right now is going to
help us improve and get our confidence
going," second baseman Jordan Cantalamessa
said.
The Falcons were able to get a man on base
in the final inning after Jake Fox's second
error of the game at third base. But Fox
redeemed himself by starting the game-ending
double play.
Tim Leveque started the game for the
Wolverines but lasted just four innings, allow-
ing seven hits and two earned runs. Rich Hill,
Jim Brauer and Bobby Korecky - each of
whom will be in the starting rotation this sea-
son - pitched in relief for the Wolverines. The
three allowed just two hits and one run, which
was unearned. Hill had three strikeouts in two
innings of work, and Brauer (1-2) picked up
his first win of the season.
Korecky, Michigan's ace, pitched the ninth
inning. He recorded his seventh career save,
and his first in almost two seasons.
The relief performances by these starters
made a good impression on Michigan interim
coach Chris Harrison.
"We made good pitches when we needed
to," Harrison said. "I thought our kids threw
the ball pretty well. It's tough for them to
throw knowing they are only going two or
three innings (because) they are all starters.
But I thought they did well today."
The scoring started early, as Michigan (3-
10) and Bowling Green (6-10) each tallied a
run in the second inning. After the Falcons
scored on a sacrifice fly, Michigan's Brandon
Roberts led off the bottom of the second
inning with a home run to right-center field
that caromed off Oosterbaan Field House.
Roberts now has a team-high three homers this
season.
In the fourth inning, one of Leveque's pitches
got past catcher Jason Wuerfel with a man on
third base. Wuerfel had a chance to catch the
runner at home plate, but the throw was off line.
A Mike Sokol double with two outs in the
fifth inning drove in catcher Alex Coleman,
who replaced Wuerfel in the fifth inning, to tie
the score at two. Sokol now leads the team,
along with Roberts, with 10 RBIs.
Fox committed his first error of the day
after he was unable to get a handle on a hard
shot to third base. The miscue allowed Bowl-
ing Green's Nick Elrod to score from third,
giving the Falcons the lead until Lollio's
homer in the bottom of the frame.
Fox, who played catcher last season, has
played at third base for the last three weeks.
Harrison wants to keep both Fox and last
year's third baseman Brock Koman in the line-
up every day because they are arguably the
team's two best hitters. Koman is currently
playing shortstop.
"We are seeing how it works before we get
into the Big Ten and trying to settle on a lineup
we are going to use," Harrison said. "We are
giving (Fox) a lot of repetitions everyday.
Every ball hit to him is probably something
new for him."
YESTERDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4, Bowling Green 3
Bowling Green (6.10) Michigan (3-10)
Player AB R H Bl Player AB R H BI
Barkholz cf 5 1 3 0 Korecky dh/p 4 0 0 0
Newell c 5 0 0 0 Sokoli1b 4 0 1 1
Elias rf 3 0 1 0 Rudden 2b 0 0 0 0
Hunt 1b 3 0 1 0 Koman ss 4 0 1 0
Elrodss 3 1 1 0 RobertsIf 3 2 2 1
Loomis 2b 4 1 20 Fox 3b 4 01 0
Henschen dh 3 0 0 0 Lollio rf 2 1 2 2
Lipari 3b 3 0 0 1 Cantalamessa2b3 0 0 0
Warnock If 4 0 1 0 Wright ph/lb 1 0 0 0
Badenhop p 0 0 0 0 Wuerfei c 1 0 0 0
Lindquist p 0 0 0 0 Coleman c 1 1 0 0
Rutkowski cf 3 0 1 0
Leveque p 0 0 0 0
Hilp 0 0 00
Brauer p 0 0 0 0
Total 33 3 91 Total 30 4 84
E- Bowling Green 1: Loomis (4); Michigan 2: Fox 2(3). DP-
Bowling Green 1; Michigan 2. LOB - Bowling Green 8; Michigan
6. 2B - Bowling Green 4: Barkholz (2), Hunt (6), Elrod (3),
Loomis (4); Michigan 1: Sokol (4). HR Michigan 2: Roberts
(3), Lollio (1). BB- Bowling Green 4: Elias, Hunt, Elrod, Hen-
schen; Michigan 3: Roberts, Lolilo, Coleman HBP - Michigan 1:
Lollo. SB - Bowling Green 2: Barkholz 2 (7); Michigan 1:
Rutkowski (2). CS - Bowling Green 2: Henschen (1), Lipari (1);
Michigan 1: Koman (3).
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Michigan outfielder Gino Lollo (center) Is greeted by his teammates after hitting the game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning
yesterday. Brandon Roberts (left) also scored on the play. The Wolverines defeated Bowling Green 4-3 in their first game of the season at The Fish.
Bunting blunders didn't h
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Writer
In a close game, every baserunner becomes
more important. Had Gino Lollio's clutch,
eighth-inning home run
not bailed out Michigan in
yesterday's home opener BASEBALL
against Bowling Green, Notebook
the Wolverines might have
learned that lesson the hard way. On two
occasions, in the second and the fifth innings,
Michigan had a chance to move up a runner
but failed to put down a good bunt.
In the bottom of the second, with the game
tied 1-1 and one out, Lollio was hit by a pitch
from Bowling Green starter Burke Badenhop.
Michigan's next hitter, second baseman Jor-
dan Cantalamessa, saw a good opportunity to
try to move the runner along by pushing a
bunt down the first-base line. But he fouled
the two-one pitch off of his leg.
"It was just a low pitch," Cantalamessa
said. "I shouldn't have hit it."
And after right fielder Len Elias hauled in
Cantalamessa's fly ball, Lollio was stuck at
first with two outs. The Wolverines failed to
take the lead after catcher Jason Wuerfel
grounded out to third in the next at-bat.
A similar chance presented itself in the
fifth inning. Michigan catcher Alex Coleman,
a mid-game replacement for Wuerfel, walked
on four pitches to lead off the inning.
But Blake Rutkowski missed two bunt
attempts before popping out to second. Fortu-
nately for Michigan, a two-out double by
Mike Sokol scored Coleman to tie the game
at two.
"We just need to execute (those bunts),"
Michigan interim coach Chris Harrison said.
"We put a lot of time into it, and it's just a
matter of executing."
LEVEQUE BATTLES THROUGH: Sometimes a
pitcher needs to face a few batters before he
finds his rhythm. Michigan starter Tim Lev-
eque proved that point perfectly in the
Wolverines' home opener by fighting back
from a slow first inning. He served up at least
irt Michigan
three balls to the first three hitters he faced
but gave up just two runs in four innings.
"We just let him work through it," Harri-
son said of Leveque's tough start. "He's
pitched a lot for us and he knows what he
needs to do."
Wuerfel also had confidence in his pitch-
er's experience. That's why he hung back and
let Leveque work through his, early trouble.
"He did what I expected him to (do) in set-
tling in and throwing good pitches," Wuerfel
said.
Despite his first-inning control poblem,
Leveque walked just two of the 20 batters he
faced in four solid innings. Harrison was
pleased with the way the junior battled
through some tough spots and threw good
pitches when he needed them.
THE WHIFF: Junior left-hander Rich Hill
surpassed the 150 career strikeout mark in his
two innings of work yesterday. He fanned
three of the seven batters he faced on the
afternoon to reach 151 as a collegian. Hill is
Michigan's active leader in that category.
Bowling reen
Michigan
Bowling Green
Badenhop
Lindquist L, (1-2)
Michigan
Leveque
Hill
Brauer W (1-2)
Korecky S (1)
RH E
010 100 010 -3 9 1
010 010 02X -4 8 2
IP H R ER BB SO
6 5 2 2 3 2
2 3 2 2 0 0
"
4
2
2
1
7
0
2
0
2
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
3
3
2
0
Umpires - HP: Jim Muhleck, 1B: Rich Randle, 3B: Stuart Hall.
At - Ray Fisher Stadium Attendance -193 Time - 2:26
Falcons shot down at Varsity Tennis Center
4N
Apple iPod.
1,000 songs J.
By Bian Steer.
Daily Sports Writer
It wasn't pretty, but the win still counts.
The Michigan men's tennis team (1-3 Big Ten, 8-4
overall) overcame a lethargic start in doubles last night
to defeat Bowling Green 6-1 at the Varsity Tennis Cen-
ter.
"We weren't very good in the doubles," coach Mark
Mees said. "Greg (Novak) and Anthony (Jackson)
played real well at No. 3, but we just did not play well
at No. 1 and 2. We were lucky to get the point."
After Jackson and Novak's 8-2 victory, Henry Beam
and Matt Lockin needed an 11-9 tiebreaker win at the
No. 2 spot just to secure the point.
In the No. 1 match, Chris Rolf and Chris Shaya suf-
fered an early service break due to three double faults
by Rolf, and they never bounced back, as Vitek Wild
and Milos Jirout emerged with an 8-6 victory.
Michigan rebounded in its singles play though,
posting five straight-set victories.
With Ben Cox out of the lineup at No. 2 with
mononucleosis, Mees had to move everyone up a spot,
allowing freshman Josef Fischer to see action for just
the second time this year.
Fischer overcame an early break at the No. 6 posi-
tion to earn his first collegiate victory 6-4, 6-2.
"It was good to get my first win," Fischer said. "I
felt a little more comfortable this time around. I
thought that as long as I played solid all the way
through I would win in straight sets."
Competing in his first match since upending 16th-
ranked Danny Westerman of Wisconsin two weeks
ago, Beam overpowered Wild 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 1
spot to improve his record to 9-3 on the season.
Lockin and David Anving ended Bowling Green's
hope of victory with convincing wins at the No. 3 and
5 positions, respectively.
The Falcons' lone triumph came at the No. 4
spot, in which Joel Carey rallied to beat Novak 1-6,
6-4, 6-4.
Despite Michigan's rocky performance against
Bowling Green, a team that it drilled last year without
dropping a set, Shaya revealed it's not always easy
playing the role of Goliath.
"It's a no-win situation," he said. "You're expected
to beat them 7-0, and when you don't, it's like -
'What happened?"'
I
,:"+.
Vietnam and Vietnam War Studies
You are invited to attend a discussion with
Yung Krall
Author of A Thousand Tears Falling
Married to an American Vietnam combat pilot
CIA spy
FBI spy
Daughter of North Vietnam's war-time ambassador to Moscow
Yung will address student and Vietnam Veterans, who have also
been invited. She will then take questions from the floor.
No questions are off limits.
Friday, March 22 2:15 - 3:15 PM
Kellogg Auditorium in the Dental Building
1011 North University
on the corner of North University and Fletcher Street
A reception and book signing will follow immediately after the lecture in
the Gordon H. Sindecuse Atrium next to the auditorium.
Big games have readied
team for NCAA action
By J. Brady McCoflough
Daily Sports Writer
With No. 8 St. Cloud looming in the
first round of the NCAA West Regional
Friday night at Yost Ice Arena, Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson isn't spending
his time looking over the Huskies' sta-
tistics and scouting reports.
"If you gave me all the information in
the world about St.
Cloud, all that does HOC<EY
is tell me thatN
they're one of the Notebook
top three or four
teams in the country," Berenson said.
"(They've got) the best offensive team,
best offensive player, best powerplay and
so on. Now you've told me that. Thanks
- I can find that out on the Internet."
ger game than the "Cold War," in which
his team tied Michigan State 3-3 in
front of 74,554 fans in Spartan Stadium
on Oct. 6. Michigan has proven all sea-
son that it responds in crunch time, as it
rolled off nine CCHA victories to finish
the regular season on top, and the
Wolverines did the unthinkable - beat-
ing Michigan State - to take the
CCHA tournament title last weekend.
"Now it's a matter of seeing that this
game will be even bigger," Berenson
said
WELCOME BACK: Michigan freshman
Jason Ryznar sat out of Sunday's victo-
ry over Michigan State after playing
Saturday against Ohio State. The for-
ward, who injured his hand and sat out
of the Wolverines' first-round CCHA
series against Lake Superior, practiced
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