2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 18, 2005 CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY0 Baseball: not just a varsity sport hle tCheig eneg Athlete o" the Week Name: Lloyd Carr Hometown: Hawkins County, Tenn. Team: Football Class: 11th year By Colt Rosensweig Daily Sports Writer Chris Joseph, an outfielder and first-year grad student, was tired of only getting to play in summer baseball leagues in college. This year, he took matters into his own hands and started Michigan's first baseball club. "I've always been kind of mad that there wasn't a club team here," Joseph said. "It's a little hard to believe that, at a school as big as Michigan, they've never had a club baseball team." Connected to the National Club Baseball Association through a friend at Michi- gan State, where a baseball club was started last year, Joseph got in touch with the NCBA and prepared for the application for club status. "We needed to have a field for the spring, which was the biggest roadblock to becoming a club team," Joseph said. "We got a commitment from the city of Ann Arbor to use their field, and that's what really got the ball rolling for us." Even though it is not a varsity team, club baseball is a serious time commitment. During the winter, the team had one practice per week at the Coliseum and one at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. That has now been increased to three days of practice per week, in addition to three games each weekend. Despite its first year of existence, the club is optimistic. Two weekends ago, the team got its first win at Ferris State. Michigan then got two more wins to complete the sweep. "Our pitching has been really sharp, our hitting has been pretty good, and I think of anything we could improve, we just need to tighten up on defense," Joseph said. "We made a couple of stupid errors that allowed (Ferris State) to score a couple of runs and make (the third game) closer than it should have been." In the series at Ferris State, Michigan got a big boost from a trio of talented starting pitchers - Dan Williams, Jon Thomas and Jeff Gurr. Williams got the win in the club baseball team's very first victory. According to Joseph, third base- man Joe Ypma seemed to be on base all game, constantly scoring runs. "Our goals are to get a club going that is self-sustaining from now on and basically start building a team that can start being tops in our conference," Joseph said. "From the way we started out this year, I feel like we already have one of the best teams in our conference." The 19 active members of the team have extra motivation to make this year a good one. The 20th member was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this year. "He's at home undergoing chemo, but he'll be back next season," Joseph said. The team will have him in their thoughts as they set their sights on a regional title. Michigan is part of the Great Lakes Conference, in the North division. There are three divisions in the conference. The three division winners, as well as an at-large team, will compete for the regional title in Toledo, Ohio in the second week of May. For Michigan, a dream season would culminate with the World Series, which will be held in Bradenton, Fla., beginning on May 25. "I think we have a good enough team that we could win our region and possibly have a shot at going (to the World Series)," Joseph said. "I'm always optimistic - you have to be when you're a Tigers fan." Expectations for the team should be even higher next season. For one thing, the players hope to have more sophisticated tryouts. This year, Joseph and two friends posted flyers all over North and Central Campus to attract players. But, they had just one day for tryouts after a couple practices. "I think, next year, we'll probably have multi-day tryouts," Joseph said. "It's really hard to do a complete tryout on just one day for a couple of hours." Why: Despite being 59 years old, Carr hauled in a 2-point conver- sion pass to end Michigan's annual Spring Game. With a tough man- to-man coverage to beat, Carr snuck to the back of the endzone and made a diving grab to complete the pass. "Great catch wasn't it?" Carr said. "The only thing I could think about was if I dropped it, I would be listening to it for a long time." 'M' SCHEDULE Date Event Location 4/19 4/20 Softball vs. Eastern Michigan Baseball vs. Toledo 4/21-23 W Gymnastics at NCAA National Championships 4/22 M Track & Field at EMU Invitational 4/22 W Tennis at Indiana 4/22-23 Water Polo at Western Division Championships 4/22-23 Softball vs. Penn State 4/22-24 W Golf at Big Ten Championships 4/22-24 Baseball vs. Ohio State DaCosta shines in last home match By Daniel Levy Daily Sports Writer Already down one set, Michigan senior co-captain Michelle DaCosta found her- self behind, 2-0, in the second and was battling herself as much as her opponent in Saturday's No. 1 singles match. Finally settling down, DaCosta fought back to win the second set and take a 5-2 third-set lead. Apparently deciding that her fare- well to the Varsity Tennis Center needed some more drama, DaCosta dropped the next two games, leaving the match up for grabs. But with match point on her racket, DaCosta stroked a forehand winner down the line to win the match, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. "Michelle got off to a slow start and it snowballed," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "She did a great job to turn things around and do the things she needed to do to win." By the time DaCosta's match was com- ing to its exciting conclusion, the overall team match had already been decided and Michigan had beat the Buckeyes , 6- 1. But the outcome of this match was by no means meaningless. The win allowed DaCosta and fellow senior co-captain Leanne Rutherford - who had easily won her match at No. 4 singles - to walk off the courts in the final home match of their careers as winners. "Of course you want to win on Senior Day," Ritt said. "It can be a bit emotional, but you always want to be able to send the seniors off with a win." Saturday was a special day for the Michigan women's tennis team (5-3 Big Ten, 10-9 overall). Not only was it Senior Day, but beautiful weather allowed the Wolverines to host the match outdoors for the first time all season. Before play start- ed, Michigan held a ceremony to honor its seniors. The Wolverines carried the cel- ebration onto the courts as they rolled past the Buckeyes with a 6-1 win. "We got off to some slow starts," Ritt said. "But we were able to fight back and turn the momentum around." In singles action, the Buckeyes (1-6, 6-16) won the first set in three of the six matches but failed to put Michi- gan away. In the other three matches, the Wolverines had no trouble taking advantage of their early leads. Junior Debra Streifler started the trend by winning the first set of the No. 5 singles match, 6-0, and then leading the second set, 3-0, before her oppo- nent had to stop due to injury. At No. 4 singles, Rutherford capped her home career in dominating fashion with a 6- 2, 6-2 victory. Sophomore Elizabeth Exon was in total control of the No. 2 singles match, winning, 6-2, 6-1, to seal the victory for the Wolverines. At No. 6 singles, junior Nina Yaftali battled back from a disappointing first set to easily take the second and third sets and win the match, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0, setting the stage for DaCosta's dramatic home finale. Earlier in the day DaCosta and Deli- cata teamed up to win the No. 1 doubles match, while Streifler and Exon won the No. 3 doubles contest to give Michigan the 4/23 4/23 4/24 4/24 4/24 4/24 W Track & Field at EMU Twilight M Tennis vs. Indiana Softball vs. Ohio State W Tennis at Penn State M Tennis vs. Penn State Baseball vs. Ohio State Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Auburn, Ala. Ypsilanti Bloomington Grove City, Penn. Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Ann Arbor t Ypsilanti Ann Arbor Ann Arbor State College Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Philadelphia East Lansing Champaign Des Moines, Iowa Bloomington Lansing Bloomington Ann Arbor East Lansing Time TBA 3 p.m. 1 p.m. TBA 3 p.m. TBA 6 p.m. TBA 7:05 p.m. TBA 3 p.m. TBA 10 a.m. 12 p.m. 10 p.m. TBA TBA TBA 3 p.m. TBA 7 p.m. TBA TBA TBA 4/28-30 M Track & Field at Penn Relays 4/28-30 W Tennis at Big Ten Championships 4/28-30 M Tennis at Big Ten Championships 4/28-30 W Track & Field at Drake Relays 4/29-30 Water Polo at Eastern Championship 4/29 Baseball at Michigan State 4/30 W Rowing at Big Ten Championships 4/30 Baseball vs. Michigan State 4/30 M Golf at Bruce Fossum/Taylor- Made Intercollegiate Senior Michelle DaCosta won her final home match of her career yesterday. YOU MAY GO HOME FOR THE SUMMER, BUT THE DAILY KEEPS GOING. CHECK OUT DAILY SPORTS ONLINE ALL SUMMER AT WWW.MICHIGANDAILKeCOM. team point. The win gave the Wolverines a final home record of 8-2, but both losses came to teams that are currently ranked in the top five in the nation - No. 2 Kentucky and No. 5 Vanderbilt. Michigan will head to Bloomington on Friday and State College on Sunday to fin- ish out the Big Ten regular season. Each team's individual results from the Big Ten season will be used to determine the brackets for the Big Ten Championship, which will be held in East Lansing begin- ning on April 28: MEN'S TENNIS 0 Netters whiff in Columbus By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's tennis team (5-3 Big Ten, 12-9 overall) left Columbus with the sour taste of a 6-1 defeat at the hands of one of its biggest rivals. With Saturday's loss to No. 30 Ohio State, the Wolver- ines suffered their second consecu- tive Big Ten defeat. But don't judge a book by its cover. "I think the score was misleading," Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. "All of the matches were extreme- ly close. We came up just short in almost every match. It was really just a couple points here and there that would separate (a win from a loss). We're certainly not far off." Down to just six players because of senior Michael Rubin's season- ending fractured wrist and because senior David Anving was unavail- able due to personal reasons, Michi- gan struggled to stay with Ohio State. Even though most of the Wol- verines managed to stay close, they still came up short. In its final road match of the sea- son, Michigan's lone point came from Matko Maravic's impres- sive performance at No. 2 singles. One of Michigan's most consistent singles players in recent matches, Maravic improved his individual record to 13-8. After losing to Ohio State's Joey Atas in the fall, Mara- vic sought his revenge when playing Atas for the second time. The rising freshman phenom came through in dominating fashion, defeating the Buckeye sophomore in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. "I think Matko has improved a lot," Berque said. "He was very aggressive today. He had a game plan and stuck with it." Unfortunately for Michigan, Maravic's victory proved to be the only tally in the Wolverines' win column on the day. At No. 4 singles, senior Josef Fischer refused to go down without a fight. Fischer got off to a great start, taking the first set in a tie- breaker. But he was unable to hold off Ohio State's Scott Green, who bounced back to secure the second set and eventually defeated Fischer after a third-set tiebreaker, 6-7(5), 6-4, 1-0(4). Sophomores Steve Peretz and Vinny Gossain also gave impres- sive performances at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively. But both Wolverines were unable to come up with victories. Ohio State (6-1, 14-6) sported a talented roster against Michigan, including Atas, who claimed the Big Ten singles championship in the fall. But Berque believed that his team has the talent and competitiveness to compete with such a strong opponent. "I am very disappointed to lose because I thought it was a team we were capable of beating," Berque said. "But I'm still proud of the way we played." Playing on the road, in Columbus, the Wolverines were not welcomed with a friendly Buckeyes atmosphere. "Certainly, things didn't go our way in terms of the crowd and some of the officiating," Berque said. "But it's part of playing on the road, and it's a good experience." With the final two Big Ten match- es coming up next weekend, Berque is confident that Michigan is in line to secure a strong seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts on April 28. But Berque explained that the team still needs to work on its doubles play. All three Michigan duos suffered defeats against Ohio State, allowing the Buckeyes to earn the doubles point. "In doubles, we have to do a bet- ter job putting away volleys and finishing points at the net," Berque said. "There are no secrets. We just need to continue to improve our skills. Mentally and competitively, we're good. I think we're on the right track." The Wolverines will return to the Varsity Tennis Center next weekend to close out the dual-match season against Indiana on Saturday and Penn State on Sunday. "We're excited to play next week- end because we have an opportunity to finish a lot higher in the Big Ten standings than we have in the past," Berque said. 0 WATER POLO Blue wins three games out west By David Spielman For the Daily In its final tournament before the playoffs, the No. 12 Michigan water polo team went 3-1 in the Long Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Calif. Yesterday, the Wol- was the fact that Welch set the record despite playing just 12 minutes of the 28-minute contest. "I wouldn't have taken Shana out of the game if I knew she had set the record," Michigan coach Matt Anderson said. "If I had left her in the pool, she would have set aO record that never would have been broken." . .<"- =. .-