SPORTS
Thursday, May 26, 1983
4
Page 20
The Michigan Daily
Michigan hosts regional
Morehead State first a
opponent for batsmen
By PAUL HELGREN
The road to Omaha and the College
World Series is long and perilous
enough, but Michigan's first opponent
in this weekend's Mideast regional at
Fisher Stadium found a way to make
that road even longer.
In probably the longest conference
tournament ever, Morehead St. (26-
15-1) won the Ohio Valley champion-
ship and the right to advance to the
Mideast regional in Ann Arbor. It took
them exactly 15 days to cop the tour-
ney crown.
WHY SO LONG? Well, it started out
easily enough for the Eagles, as they
downed Murray St. 13-7 and Eastern
Kentucky 6-4 in the first two days of
the tournament. And they had an 8-7
lead in the championship game on
Sunday, a rematch with Murray St.,,
when the rains came and suspended
play until Monday. But the rains con-
tinued on Monday, further postponing
play.
Both schools had final exams the
following weekend so the champion-
ship was delayed one more week. And
when the teams resumed action,
Murray St. rallied to win the suspen-
ded game, 11-10 and forced the tour-
nament to go one game more.
Morehead coach Steve Hamilton
must have been relieved when his
team built an 11-3 lead late in the final
game. But alas, nothing comes easy
for the Eagles as Murray St. fought.
back only to come up short, 11-10.
HAMILTON is hoping this
weekend's tournament doesn't go as
long as the last one for his club,
though he certainly would like to see
the same results. Hamilton, an ex-
major league pitcher who spent 11
years with the Mets and other clubs,
starts Drew Hall, a hard-throwing lef-
thander against Michigan on Friday.
"Hall is an excellent lefthander,"
said assistant coach Marc Leyerle.
"He throws about 93 mph. He's had
some control problems in the past, but
this year he's been pretty good. He
gave up eight walks in the tournament
final to Murray St., though." Hall, a
sophomore, has a perfect 6-0 record
with a 4.47 ERA.
The leading hitter for Morehead St.
is Steve Heatherly. The junior second
baseman is hitting at a .414 clip with
11 homers and 30 RBIs. He also was
named the Ohio Valley player of the
year.
"HEATHERLY'S a little guy (5-8,
130 lbs) but he has a real quick bat,"
Leyerle said. "The California Angels
have talked to him. They say they're
going to draft him in the third round."
Other top hitters include junior first
baseman Joe Mitchell (.366, 8 HR's, 37
RBI's), freshman catcher Daniel
Smith (.359, 5 HR's) and senior
designated hitter Scott Haynes (.347,
24 RBI's).
"The guys are real excited about
going to Michigan," said Leyerle.
"We played well against Purdue and
Western Michigan (teams that played
Michigan) so we feel we have a real
good chance to win."
THE EAGLES have shown a fair
amount of power this season, belting
65 HR's in 42 games. Leyerle said that
although Michigan's pitching depth
clearly makes them the tournament
favorites, his team has a strategy to
shut down the Wolverine hitters.
"I think we'll pitch them hard and
in tight," he said. "They're not
really a power team. We feel we have
more power."
Michigan coach Bud Middaugh will
try to neutralize Morehead's power
with junior righthander Dave Kopf.
Kopf is 9-0 with a 3.34 ERA this year,
including a win against Iowa last Sun-
day to clinch the Big Ten champion-
ship. Kopf got the nod over lefthander
Gary Wayne because Wayne has stif-
fness in his arm. Middaugh said
Wayne should be ready to go on
Saturday or Sunday.
Righthander Rich Stoll, who pitched
twice in relief last weekend after
having the cast on his hand removed,
may or may not start a game this
weekend.
"Rich is on a day-to-day basis,"
Middaugh said. "We'll just have to
wait and see."
I
Doily Photo by BRIAN MA5'IK
Michigan shortstop Barry Larkin raises his arms in triumph after a 10-9
Wolverine win over Minnesota in Big Ten playoff action last Saturday.
Larkin was named the tournament's most valuable player.
SECOND GAME IN MIDEAST:
Iiana Stfaces Miami
By PAUL HELGREN
High-flying Indiana State, 18th-
ranked and coming off two wins over
previously top-ranked Wichita State,
plays Mid-American conference cham-
pion Miami of Ohio in first-round
Mideast Regional baseball action
tomorrow at Fisher Stadium. The game
is at 4:00 p.m., following the Michigan-
MoreheadState contest.
Indiana State (37-12-1) cruised
through the Missouri Valley conference
playoffs to earn a trip to Ann Arbor. Af-
ter downing Creighton 13-6 in the
opening round, the Sycamores shocked
Wichita State, 11-4 and 5-2, to take the
crown. The losses dropped Wichita
from first to 19th in Collegiate Baseball
magazine's rankings.
INDIANA STATE was led in the
tournament by third baseman Tony
Colucci, who was named the Most
Valuable Player. Colucci went 9-12 bat-
ting in the eighth spot in the Sycamore
lineup.
During the season, junior right
fielder Rob Baker was the biggest gun
in Indiana State's lineup. He hit .418
with 36 RBI's. Other top hitters for the
club include center fielder Scott Mann
(.386, 34 RBI's) and catcher/designated
hitter Brian Dorsett (.365, 12 HR's, 51
RBI's).
The biggest story for Miami this year
has to be the impact of first-year coach
Jon Pavlisko. An assistant at Central
Michigan for the previous 12 years,
Pavlisko took essentially the same
team that finished 16-25 last year and
led it to a 35-13 record and the MAC
title. Pavlisko downplayed his role in
the team's resurgence.
More baseball,
Page 19
"THERE WAS nothing magical
about it," he explained: "We came to a
good understanding right away in the
fall. The seniors listened to what we had
to say and did it. We learned every
game."
The biggest area of improvement for
the Redskins was, without a doubt,
their defense. Last year the team
fielded a dreadful .844. This year Miami
is fielding at a .967 mark, one of the best
in the country.
"Fielding was the number one
priority when I came here," Pavlisko
said. He worked with the team on
"mechanics and mental attitude." He
also switched shortstop Al Litz to third
base, where he has made dramatic im-
provements with the glove.
For offense, Pavlisko counts on
leadoff hitter Brian Koury to make
things happen. The speedy center
fielder stole 32 bases in 36 attempts
while scoring 50 runs this season. He
has 71 career thefts, including a string
of 43 ina row spanning three seasons.
Mark Mannering, the designated hit-
ter, has been swinging the hot bat for
the Redskins, according to Pavlisko. He
stands at .374 with nine HR's and 38
RBI's.
"Miami is an outstanding club in
terms of execution," said Indiana State
coach Warn. "They have a pressure
type of offense. You must stay ahead of
them to take away their strength."
Miami will face either senior Tim
Barrett (8-2, 4.00 ERA) or freshman
Andy Ghelfi (3-0, 2.81) on Friday. The
Redskins will counter with lefthander
Kevin Davis (9-3, 2.38).
A