Page 16-Saturday, May 17, 1980-The Michigan Daily
8P orts --"<WN
Blue batsmen shoot for Big Ten
crown; need two wins to clinch
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By MARK MIHANOVIC the Big Ten with
average, while Iow
The Wolverine baseballers, destinedfor Clinton is as su
oblivion in the Big Ten's second the way things ha'
division, according to preseason pected us to be ina
pollsters, are instead two victories the 6-1, 185-pound
away from the conference title and can native admitted a
wrap it up when they invade 9-5 Iowa session yesterday.
today for a twinbill with the third-place "The way it wa
Hawkeyes.
But even if they leave Iowa City
without the Big Ten trophy tucked
safely under first-year Coach Bud Mid-
daugh's arm, it's on to Evanston for
another doubleheader against lowly
Northwestern (4-10 in the Big Ten).
While any two wins will give
Michigan (13-1) an outright champion-
ship over second-place Minnesota,
which has finished its season at 14-4, the
Wolverines obviously don't want to
delay the verdict. And Middaugh
figures that the man who'll get his club
off to a big weekend is the veteran of the
pitching staff, junior righthander Mark
Clinton.
The Wolverines began the season
with a pitching staff that consisted of
Clinton, and a group of young, untested
freshmen. But rookies Scott Dawson (3-
0, 1.69 ERA in the conference) and
Steve Ontiveros (4-0, 1.80) have pitched cli
brilliantly, and along with Clinton (3-1,
2.28) have thrust the staff to the top of - - WOIv
SNAP FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK:
Orioles fy or
By JON MORELAND
Special to the Daily
DETROIT-The American League champion Baltimore
Orioles ended the Tigers' five-game winning streak with a 2-1
victory over the Bengals last night at Tiger Stadium.
Mike Flanagan, last year's Cy Young award winner, held
the Tigers to just five hits in going the distance and raising
his record to 4-2.
TIGER PITCHER DAN PETRY pitched seven strong
innings, allowing just one run over those frames but got into
trouble in the eighth. Ken Singleton opened the inning with an
opposite field double to left, and Eddie Murray followed with
a punched singled to left moving Singleton to third. Oriole
rookie Dan Graham then singled, scoring Singleton and ac-
counting for the eventual gane-winning run.
Baltimore opened the scoring with a run in the second in-
ning off Petry. Third baseman Doug DeCinces led off with a
walk, and after Lee May flied to left, back-to-back singles by
Kiko Garcia and Rich Dauer scored DeCinces.
The Tigers got their lone run off Flanagan in the bottom
of the fifth inning. With one out, Tom Brookens doubled to
right center and went to third when Singleton mishandled the
ball. With the infield drawn in, catcher Duffy Dyer drove a
single to center in trying the game at 1-1.
THE TIGERS GOT A MAN as far as second base on only
two other occasions. Their most serious scoring threat was in
the sixth inning, when Alan Trammell led off with a double.
Flanagan struck out Steve Kemp, however, and Trammell
was caught stealing third, putting an end to the threat.
The Orioles could muster few scoring threats themselves
against Tiger pitching. They got a man as far as second base
in only the first and seventh innings. Petry rose to the oc-
casion, in both innings, and put an end to the threat. .
The loss was Petry's first of the year against two wins.
The loss also dropped the Tigers' record to 13-17, leaving
them in a virtual tie for fifth place in the American League
East with the disappointing Orioles. The series continued
today and concludes tomorrow when the Tigers and Orioles
a -2.76 earned run
va is next at 4.07.
rprised as anyone at
we turned out. "I ex-
bout seventh place,"
Grosse Pointe Woods
t the team's tuneup
as run earlier, when
you were a freshman and sophomore,
you just tried to see what you could do;
and then in your junior and senior
years, you proved yourself. I figured
with all these freshmen, that we'd just
be rebuilding."
But the rebuilding process took place
in preseason practice, and by the time
the conference schedule rolled around,
the Michigan pitching staff appeared
loaded with experience. Middaugh_
praised Clinton for helping speed up the
newcomers' maturity.
"If they get down a little bit, he's able
to cheer 'em up and relate some of the
experiences he's had in the past," said
Middaugh. "Because of the performan-
ces that he's had, he's led from that
standpoint."'
"Dawson and 'Onto' and (Scot) Elam
all have good stuff," Clinton explained.
"The only thing I try to help 'em with is
the thinking part. As far as the
technique of throwing is concerned, the
coaches take care of that."
Clinton's better-than-average fast-
ball and wickedly active curve have ac-
counted for four shutouts this season,
the latest a 4-0 six-hitter against Ohio
State on Saturday. Clinton's 30
strikeouts lead the conference.
"I set 'em up for the curveball
usually," Clinton said. "That's the pit-
nton
verine ace
ch that's toughest to handle."
Like most successful college athletes,
Clinton has received "feelers" from pro
scouts, and he sometimes turns his
thoughts to pro baseball and being paid
to throw the white sphere in front- of
major league crowds. In fact, he hasn't
ruled out an early start to a pro career.
"If I get drafted, I'll have to see what
kind of money is offered," the
mathematics major responded when
asked about leaving Michigan after this
season. "First I'll look at baseball as a
career, and if that doesn't work out,
maybe I'll try graduate school in
business."
Clinton realizes the improvement he
would have to make to pitch at the
professional level, however, especially
with regard to control. "In college you
can throw a bad pitch and get away
with it if you have enough velocity and
movement, but in the pros, you've got
to make every pitch good, or they're
gonna club it somewhere."
But today, Clinton will most likely
concern himself only with the next Iowa
batter. Hawkeye first baseman John
Hoyman is tops among conference
sluggers with a very impressive .500
average. Shortstop Dave Hoeksema
(.354, 3 HR) also provides punch at the
plate.
Middaugh feels secure with Clinton
throwing against the Hawkeyes.
"Mark's kind of quiet off the field, but
when he gets the ball in his hand, he's a
heckuva competitor. He welcomes
pressure. I think he's looking forward
to starting against Iowa."
Clinton can go a long way towards
taking some of the pressure off of the
backs of his younger cohorts with a vic-
tory. "I'd like to take the first one," he
said. "That'd take the pressure off. We
don't want to lose two to Iowa and have
to go to Northwestern and win 'em
both."
Middaugh plans to use his starters
based on what happens in the first
game. "If we win the first game, we'll
probably throw Elam (1-0, 5.81 in the Big
-Ten) the second. They have trouble
with the fastball, and I'd like to see him
throw against 'em. If we lose, we'll
definitely go with Dawson. We wouldn't
want to hold him back."
So tomorrow at Northwestern,
Michigan will pitch Dawson or Elam
and Ontiveros. With talent like that
throwing for the Blue, it may soon be
time to ponder how well the freshmen
will be able to handle NCAA champion-
ship pressure.
er Tigers, 2-1
will meet in a pair of single games. This is the first meeting
between the two teams this year.
* * *
Yankees 6, Texas 2
NEW YORK (AP)-Ruppert Jones crashed two home
runs, knocking in three runs, and undefeated Tommy John
became the major league's first seven-game winner as the
New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers 6-2 last
night.
THE YANKEES hit consecutive home runs in the seventh
inning off reliever Dave Rajsich as Jones slammed his third
and Reggie Jackson his eighth.
When Rajsich hit Spencer on the right forearm im-
mediately following Jackson's homer, the Yankee first
baseman charged the mound. Both benches and bullpens
emptied, with plate umpire Larry McCoy, Texas catcher Jim
Sundberg and Jackson all stopping Spencer from getting at
Rajsich.
* * *
Red Sox 2, Cleveland 1
CLEVELAND (AP)-Fred Lynn doubled home one run
and scored another to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory
over the Cleveland Indians last night.
Chuck Rainey, 3-0, combined with Tom Burgmeier to hold
Cleveland to four hits, offsetting a seven-hit effort by Indians
starter John Denny, 2-4. Lynn's first-inning double scored
Rick Burleson, who had singled with one out.
RAINEY PITCHED PERFECT ball until Hassey walked
with two out in the fifth inning. Ron Pruitt followed with a
single, but Dell Alston lined out to end the inning.
Cleveland's Mike Hargorve failed to get a hit, ending a 23-
game hitting streak. He walked once and grounded out to
second three times in the game.
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SCORES
American League
Baltimore 2, Detroit 1
Boston 2, Cleveland1
Toronto 1, Oakland 0
New York 6, Texas 2
Minnesota4, Milwaukee3
National League
New York5, Atlanta 3
Philadelphia 3, Houston 0
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