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SPORTSdeiaM 5 4
Q: Who was the last
Michigan baseball player to
earn Rookie of the Year
honors in the majors?
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Women's
back wins
rourth
straight
3y Elisa Sneed
SILY SPORTS WRITER
Going into last weekend, theMichi-
ran women's track and field team had
von four of the previous five Big Ten
:hampionships it had competed in -
he 1993 season's Cross Country and
Zutdoor Championships and the 1994
eason's Cross Country and Indoor
hampionships. In winning the Big
'en Outdoor title last weekend, the
m made it four in a row and claimed
year's'Triple Crown' of women's
;ollegiate track and field.
The Wolverines, led by the win-j
ing performances ofjuniors Courtney
3abcock, Carrie Stewart and Richelle
ebb and seniors Molly McClimon
nd Chris Szabo, tallied a meet record
f 179 points, putting them 39 points
sheadofsecond-placeIllinoisand 110.5
head of third-place Wisconsin.
Even after the first day of competi-
n, Michigan led with 51 points and
had already claimed two individual
itles - Szabo's win in the 10,000-
neter run (34:56.80) and Stewr't win
n thejavelin (153' 8")- not to men-
ion seven other scoring (top eight)
inishes.
"This is my senior year," Szabo
said. "I couldn't ask for a better ending
n to win a Big Ten championship,
ich I never have done."
Whileshedidnotwinanotherevent,
Szabo did bring up the tail end of a
Michigan one-two-three finish behind
McClimon (16:48.40) and Babcock
16:49.99) with a time of 16:56.77.
"It was definitely a good feeling to
finishone-two-three,"McClimon said.
'But it didn't matter how we finished,
we just wanted the team points."
Webb also added a stellar perfor-
Ince, setting Big Ten, Michigan and
McClimon Memorial Track records in
the 100- (11.42)and200-meter(22.90)
dashes. Goingintothemeet,Webbwas
looking forward to running well.
"It's my senior year, and I wasn't
going to go out with anything less than
first place," she said.
Michigan coach James Henry was
very happy with his team's perfor-
ne.
"ThisisthebestteamIhavecoached
in my twelve years here by far," Henry
said. "And officially the best team in
the Big Ten."
By Darren Everson
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
BATTLECREEK-TheMichigan
baseball team came to the cereal city
knowing that if they wanted to chal-
lenge Ohio State and Minnesota for the
conference crown, they had better eat
their Wheaties.
The Wolverines played well be-
yond expectations, but in the end,
merely eating the Breakfast of Cham-
pions wasn't quite enough to make
them champions.
Ohio State held off Michigan, 9-7,
on the tournament's final day to cap-
ture the Big Ten championship. Min-
nesota and Michigan State, both elimi-
nated by the Wolverines, finished third
and fourth, respectively.
The Buckeyes (28-3 Big Ten, 48-6
overall), who ended the regular season
atop the conference standings, were
expected to roll to the title, with only
the Golden Gophers as a threat. Michi-
ganhoweverrebounded from asloppy
8-1 loss to Minnesota and made the
finals by beating the Spartans and Go-
phers on successive days.
The tournament's double-elimina-
tion format meant that the Wolverines
had to beat an undefeated Ohio State
team twice to win the championship.
In Sunday's championship game,
Ohio State led 9-2before Michigan got
going. By the ninth inning, the Wolver-
ines had closed the gap to 9-7 and had
two on and two out. However, Ryan
Van Oeveren flied harmlessly to left
and both the threat and the season
were over.
The nearly impossible comeback
against the nearly unbeatable Buck-
eyes didn't surprise Michigan third
baseman Kevin Crociata all too much.
"This team's got alotheart and alot
of character," Crociata said. "We built
it all year, going back to the Minnesota
weekend when we knew we had to split
with those guys to get in the playoffs
and we did it.
"I thought something special was
going to happen here after we came
back from being down 9-2, but I'm
proud of these guys - they never give
up and that's all you can ask for."
Michigan forced the Sunday show-
down by beating the Buckeyes, 4-3
Saturday night. Michigan seemed in
command after padding their 1-0 lead
with a pair of runs in the bottom of the
eighth. A double by Crociata, followed
by two wild pitches, a hit batsman and
a double by catcher Scott Niemiec
upped the ante to 3-0.
But, with two outs in the top of the
ninth inning, Gary Jones doubled off
reliever John Arvai with the bases
loaded, scoring all three runners and
tying the contest.
Arvai, however, got out of the in-
ning andremainedinthegame. Heshut
the Buckeyes out from then on, and
Niemiec's bases-loaded hit in the bot-
tom of the 12th gave the Wolverines
their first win against Ohio State in five
tries this season.
DOUG5LAS KANTERI~a~iy
Wolverine shortstop Ryan Van Oeveren tosses his helmet in disgust after
striking out against Ohio State on Sunday. Michigan ended Ohio State's 20 game
winning streak Saturday night when it beat the Buckeyes, 4-3, in 12 innings.
Ohio State got revenge, however, beating the Wolverines 9-7 in the
championship game of the Big Ten tournament Sunday.
i
Daily Sports.
Need we say more?
CE I .$
Department of Recreational
Sports
INTRAMURAL
SPORTS PROGRAM
TENNIS TOURNAMENT
(Singles & Doubles)
Entry Deadline: Thursday 6/2
2:30 p.m.
IMSB Main Office
Tourney Dates: Sat & Sun 6/4 & 5
Starting Time: 10:00 a.m.
For Additional Information Contact IMSB 763-3562