SPORTS
Thursday, June 2, 1983
4
Page 20
The Michigan Daily
CR USH MOREHEAD IN FINALS
Baseballers take Mideast
I
By PAUL HELGREN
"We don't ever expect to lose,"
Michigan coach Bud Middaugh
responded when asked if he was sur-
prised that his Wolverines swept two
straight tournaments, the Big Ten two
weeks ago and the Mideast Regional
last weekend.
It is no surprise that Middaugh never
anticipates losing. With the three tour-
ney wins over the weekend, Michigan
ran its record to 48-7 including wins in
21 of its last 22 games. Michigan, quite
frankly, is on a roll, a roll that Mid-
daugh hopes will continue into the
College World Series which starts this
weekend.
THE WOLVERINES enter the World
Series by virtue of a regional sweep
that saw record Ray Fisher Stadium
crowds, stellar-pitching performances
by Rich Stoll, and a good dose of
booming blue bats, too.
Friday's opener against Morehead
State saw an inauspicious beginning for
Michigan and starting pitcher Gary
Wayne. Wayne was rocked for three
runs in 1 % innings and was relieved by
freshman Casey Close in the second. At
the same time Wolverine bats were
silenced by lefthander Drew Hall, who
pitched a no-hitter through five innings.
While Close kept Michigan close, the.
hitters rallied with a gift run in the fifth.
With Fred Erdmann on first with a
walk, center fielder Dale Sklar hit a
lazy, two-out fly to right-center. But
when both center fielder Alan Steele
and right fielder Norm Brock con-
verged on the ball, Steele dropped it for
a two-base error, and Erdmann scam-
pered home with Michigan's first run.
MICHIGAN'S FIRST hit came in the
next inning and it was a monster. Third
baseman Chris Sabo hit one of his
patented opposite-field blasts at least
400 feet to the base of the Track and
Tennis Building. Sabo's four-bagger,
his 15th, scored Mike Watters to tie the
contest.
Freshman shortstop Barry Larkin
then put the game away in the seventh
with an RBI single. Rich Stoll, who had
Onto
Omaha:
Michigan
advances
to Series
entered in the sixth, went the rest of the
way for the 4-3 win.
Saturday's game versus Miami of
Ohio was just the opposite from
Friday's - Michigan scored its runs
early and its opponents rallied. But the
result was the same, another Blue
triumph, this time 6-4.
ONCE AGAIN the pitcher was Stoll
and for eight innings he was un-
touchable. Going into the ninth Stoll
held a6-1lead and appeared to be on his
way to a complete-game victory. But
the junior righthander tired and Tim
Karazim had to be called on to put out a
Redskin uprising. Karazim got three of
the last four batters to preserve the
Michigan win and pick up his seventh
save.
Despite the last-inning collapse that
saw Stoll let the first four Miami run-
ners reach base, the Attica, Ind. native
was named the tournament's Most
Valuable Player for his iron-man, 12-
inning performance.
"I thought Rich was outstanding...to
go out there for four innings (on
Friday) and come back to pitch the key
ball game on Saturday," Middaugh
said. "I think the (MVP) decision was
very good."
COMPARED TO the first two games,
Sunday's final against Morehead was a
breeze, even though Michigan trailed 1-
0 going into the fifth inning. Freshman
Scott Kamieniecki conquered early
wildness and held the Eagles in check
until his teamates broke out with a five-
run fifth inning. Once again Sabo got
the big hit, a two-run single to left.
Michigan piled it on in the later in-
nings with two-run homers by catcher
Rich Bair and first baseman Ken
Hayward. Hayward's homer followed a
triple by Sabo.
Perhaps a bigger contribution
Hayward made to the victory was a
play the 6-4, 225 pound sophomore made
in Morehead's top of the fifth. With the
Eagles up 1-0, Steve Heatherly ripped a
ball up the alley that appeared to be a
sure triple. Heatherly held up at seond,
however, and wandered off the bag
(Continued from Page 1)
really good shot at the national title."
That kind of confidence can only aid
Michigan with what surely will be a
monumental task. To win the double-
elimination tournament a team must
win five games (seven if they lose one)
against the best teams in the country.
Among the seven other teams the
Wolverines must overcome are top-
ranked and perennial Series par-
ticipant Texas and Midwest champion
Oklahoma State, whose batters warm
up with a sledgehammer to psych out
their opponents.
MICHIGAN has been pretty in-
timidating itself this year. As a team
the Wolverines are hitting .334 and
score an average of 7.3 runs per game.
Their pitching has been equally im-
pressive with a team earned run
average of 3.04. But how does this team
compare to the two Michigan teams
(1980 and '81) that won a grand total of
one game in Series play?
Daily Photo by BRIAN M/
Michigan centerfielder Dale Sklar makes the grab in a game earlier this
year. Sklar is one of the main reasons Michigan's outfield defense has im-
proved so much this year.
because Michigan second baseman Jeff
Jacobson was in shallow left field get-
ting the relay throw. While Heatherly
listened to manager and third base
coach Steve Hamilton give instructions,
Hayward snuck up behind him, got the
relay from Jacobson and put the tag on
the bewildered Eagle.
MIDDAUGH SAID Hayward's play
may have been the momentum change
in the game.
"I'd hesitate to call this a better team
than the others," said senior co-captain
Jeff Jacobson, who played on both the
'180 and '81 squads. "But this is a closer
team. We don't rely on one or two
people, like before. Everybody con-
tributes. We're a team."
"I think this team has greater sen-
timental value to me," Bair said, "sim-
ply because we're very close."
WHAT'S MORE, Middaugh thinks
Michigan's brief performances in the
past give extra incentive to his
veterans.
"It's more meaningful to (the
veterans)," Middaugh explained.
"They feel they've got something to
prove."
But would Michigan's season still be
a success if it does not do well in
Omaha?
"Our goals are set higher than we've
attained yet," said Middaugh "But we
could still go out and lose two and still
have a successful year."
"You've got to make plays like that
just to get that momentum coming back
to you."
The win and tournament victory
give Michigan the opportunity to
redeem itself in the College World
Series. In two previous appearances
there, Middaugh's Wolverines have
won just one game while losing four.
Their first game is Saturday against
Maine.
..,,, "
Middaugh
...third trip to Series