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