$ t the best..thisyear Kevin Sullivan's victory in the 1,500- meters Friday with a Ferry Field record time of 3:36.62 qualified him for the NCAA's and is a 1998 American best. SNOkTS Monday 1 Ill 1111 1111 ollgollioll 111111010 11 - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11111 10 0 glo 1111111 :1111111111111 IN I 111 Okla-homer! Purdue eliminates men's tennis By Stephanie Offen Raily Sports Writer Purdue has been the Michigan men's tennis team's nemesis for the last part of its season. Now, after losing two matches in a row to the feared Boilermakers, the Wolverines' season has ended. The venue was different, but the match played out pretty much the same. At the NCAA Regionals in Notre Dame last weekend, the Wolverines fell just short once again. T Boilermakers, the No. 4 seed, were able to send the fifth-see - ed Wolverines home after the first round, defeating them 4-2. This was a familiar outcome for Michigan. The Wolverines had lost to Purdue, 4-3, in both the third place match ofthe Big Ten Tournament and in the last game of the season. Purdue had some injuries in the Big Ten Tournament, but was able to play with its full line-up at the regionals. For the third straight time Purdue took the doubles point easily, defeating Matt Wright and Jake Raiton at No. 2 doubles, 8-4. Miki Pusztai and Brad McFarlane also lost at No. 3 doubles, 8-5. This suspended the doubles point and gave Purdue the 1-0 advan- See BOILERMAKERS. Page 15 Sara Griffin (15), Cathy Davie (with bat), and Kellyn Tate (behind Griffin) cheer one of Davie's homers in a vie l' yesterday's game. tory over DePaul on Saturday.Griffin homered later in the game, and Tate did yesterday as Michigan won,3-0. S DNLNNANE/tely Michigan tennis player Dave Paradzik, like the rest of his Softball advances to W orld Series team, lost this past weekend at the NCAA Regionals. By Rick Freeman outs, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins had waited, swinging the bat in the on-deck cir- B a g r d o v* Daily Sports Editor Lisa Kelley fake a slap-hit attempt, which cle. In her third at-bat, Davie was grazed by a It was one of those smiles that can't be allowed Melissa Taylor to steal second. Then, Brown pitch. The umpire had to ask Davie if stopped. Michigan's Kellyn Tate wasn't about needing more than a bunt to advance Taylor, the pitch hit her. to stop hers, as she stepped on home plate she sent in Mika to pinch hit. "I wanted to say 'no,' but I had to tell the f yesterday after hitting her first home run of the mear. The timing couldn't have been better for her. The Kellyn tater turned out to be the tournament winner as Michigan advanced to the Women's College World Series by beating DePaul for the second time this weekend, 3- 0. Tate's first-pitch home run put Michigan up 1-0 early in the first inning. Tate also added a single to deep right field in the third to move first baseman Traci Conrad to third base. Conrad would later score on an error by DePaul second baseman Yvette Healy. Michigan pitcher Sara Griffin held the Blue Demons at bay, limiting them to two hitsrthrough the first five innings until Tammy Mika essentially put the Demons out of reach. In the top of the sixth inning, with two "I told her if they put it close to go for it," Hutchins said. Mika sent the first pitch she saw down the first-base line to score Taylor, and the Alumni Field-record crowd of 1,452 broke into an a capella version of 'The Victors'. Apparently, the fans felt that three runs would be enough, as it had been the day before. In Saturday's game, Griffin allowed six hits and a run as Michigan beat DePaul, 3-1. She made up for the run before she gave up the run, launching her third of the year in the sixth inning. Griffin's blast came on the heels of Cathy Davie's two first-pitch round-trippers - nei- ther of which came on a particularly hittable pitch. "She hita really good pitch," DePaul pitch- er Liza Brown said. Davie said she "felt a lot of energy," as she truth," Davie said. Davie clearly was having fun. But all the Wolverines had fun in their first game Friday. A nine-run second inning, Michigan's most incendiary this season, torched Ball State and brought most of the Michigan bench into the game to close out the 12-1 vic- tory. Yesterday, a Pam Kosanke closed her glove on Dana Jakusz's pop foul to end the game, her teammates came sprinting out of the dugout. They had advanced, just as they had in each of the past four years. And there was no stopping those smiles, either. "I can't explain the feeling.... It was just a dream to hit my first this year," Tate said of her right-time, right-place, right-field shot. "I can't control my emotions really well." Not that anyone asked her to. Timely homers will have to do. By Drew Beaver Daily Sports Writer After a season of ups and downs, the Michigan women's tennis team headed into the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Champaign this past weekend on an appar- ent upswing. Although the Wolverines had lost to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament finals, it was quite an accomplishment for the Wolverines to even get that far. To get there, they had to go through top-seed and host Wisconsin, a team which beat Michigan 7-0 during the regular season. The up-and-down cycle endured by Michigan was to come full circle again, however, and the Wolverines, in their third match against the Badgers this season, fell, 5-2. "We knew it would be a challenging match," Michigan senior Sora Moon said. "But we were psyched to play them." The loss ended the Wolverines' 1998 campaign and th@ hopes at a second straight NCAA championship appearance. "Wisconsin was really up for the match," Michigan sopho- See BADGERS, Page 15