4 Sports Page 16 Saturday, May 30, 1981 The Michigan Daily FACE MISSISSIPPI STA TE Blue opens world series By JOHN KERR special to the Daily OMAHA, Neb. - The Michigan Wolverines will participate in their second straight College Baseball World Series today here against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and the question for Wolverine fans is, "Can Michigan's young pitching staff stop Mississippi State's potent offense?" Michigan will likely send sophomore Scot Elam (11-2) to the mound for the opener. However, Elam will have to control the Bulldog's Mark Gillaspie, who sports a team-leading .408 average, and power hitter Bruce Castoria, who has hit 28 home runs, one shy of the NCAA record. STEVE ONTIVEROS, who has per- formed superbly for the Wolverines thus far in post-season blay, will be ready to shut the door in case the Michigan starters falter. Ontiveros (7- 4) sports a 2.01 ERA and has struck out 58 batters in 71 and two-thirds innings pitched. Other pitchers who should contribute to the Michigan effort include freshman Bill Shuta (6-1), senior Mark Clinton (2- 3), Harry Wayne (6-2), and Rich Stoll (6-2). As usual, the Michigan offense will depend on rightfielder Jim Paciorek, an All-Tournament player in the 1980 College World Series, catcher Gerry Hool, centerfielder Greg Schulte, and freshman third baseman Chris Sabo. Paciorek is the Wolverines' top hitter at .364, while Hool and Shulte are right behind at .357. Sabo is swinging at a .350 pace and has tied the Michigan single- season home run mark with 10. FIRST BASEMAN Tim Miller should also contribute. Miller is second on the team with 12 doubles and sports a .310 mark at the plate. The- Wolverines, who earned the. College World Series bid by coming through the losers bracket and winning four straight games'and winning last week's Mideast Regional are on an up- swing, having won seven of their last eight contests.'he Michigan bats have provided some clutch hitting that has kept the Wolverines alive in post-season play. Last season Michigan finished in fifth place in the Series. The Wolverines won their opener against California but then dropped consecutive contests to Miami of Florida and Arizona. Michigan last won the National Championship in 1962. In other tournament games Arizona State will face Texas on Saturday night, South Carolina will play Oklahoma State Sunday and Miami (Fla.) will meet Maine also on Sunday. Michigan will ,open the double- elimination series today at 6:10 at Rosenblatt Stadium. 4 I I MICHIGAN RIGHTFIELDER JIM Paciorek, Most Valuable Player in last week's NCAA Mideast Regional, will spearhead the Wolverine attack when they open the College World Series in Omaha today against Mississippi State. Middaugh ...2nd trip to Omaha 0 CENTRAL COLLEGIATE MEET: Tracksters attempt to retain title 6 By JOHN FITZPATRICK Michigan's Johnny Nielsen won the shot put (59-8) and David Hall, a freshman quarterback prospect on the football team, led the decathlon with 3516 points at the conclusion of the first day of action at the Central Collegiate Conference track meet at East Lansing yesterday. Nielsen's teammate, Phil Wells, was third in the shot. The Wolverines, coming off of a stunning victory at the Big Ten meet (also held at East Lansing) last weekend, are defending the title they won last year. A number of Michigan tracksters will be participating in today's finals, including double Big Ten champion Andrew Bruce. BRUCE, WHO RAN a blazing 10.25100-meter dash at the Big Ten's, will be competing with teammate Butch Woolfolk, who, like Bruce, is pointing toward the NCAA meet to be held at Baton Rouge, La. June 4-6. Also aiming to sharpen their skills for that meet will be Nielsen, distance runners Gerard Donakowski and Dave Lewis, high jumper Dave Lugin, long jumper James Ross, and hurdler Shelby Johnson. Ron Warhurst, men's assistant coach and head cross- country coach, noted that for several tracksters this will be a last opportunity to qualify for the NCAA's. Dan Beck, third in the 1500 meters last weekend, is only .31 seconds away from qualifying in his event, and fellow middle-distance runner Mike Shea will also be trying to qualify in the 800-meters. In the longer distances, Bill Weidenbach and Bill O'Reilly will be running the 5,000 meters with an eye toward bettering the NCAA standard of 14:00.0. Though they are defending Central Collegiate champs, the Wolverines are more preoccupied with the upcoming NCAA's than with this meet. For example, Brian Diemer, who won the Big Ten steeplechase, was scratched from this meet with a case of tendinitis. To have risked competing with NCAA's so close would be risky. Considering the large-num- ber of Michigan tracksters who will be competing in the national championships, this is understandable. Despite being more concerned with individual perfor- mances than with the team race, Michigan stands an ex- cellent chance of "backing into" another title. Bruce and Woolfolk (who has a 10.40 in the 100 to his credit) will be tough to beat in the sprints, Ross (who has jumped over 25-6 twice this year) will be the dominant competitor in the long jump, and Beck, Lugin, Hall, Shea, Donakowski, Lewis, Weiden- bach and O'Reilly are almost certain to finish well up in their events. Additional points could come from Scott Erikson, Big Ten champ in the discus with a toss of 173'32", and long jumpers Derek Harper and Vince Bean. The 1600 meter relay team should also do well, as Bruce, Shea, Ken Gardner and Johnson will forma fast foursome. 40 Neilson .. wins the shot put