20 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 1, 2000
Blue splits six games
By Arun Gopal
Daily Spor s Ftitor
A tcr a forgettable performance on the
mad last weekend against Iowa and
Notishwestern, the No. 13 Michigan soft-
bal team rebounded nicely at home on
Thsursday. The Wolverines swept a dou-
bIleleader from Indiana State, winning
the first gae 7-0 and the nightcap 6-2.
'W tried to preach to them that you
cant control the past," Michigan assis-
ant coach Bonnie Tholl said. "We just
tmed to start a clean slate."
But. those victories could not retsove
the sting from the Wolverines' four-game
road trip last weekend.
Michigan journeyed to Iowa and
Notilhtestern with hopes of tightening
its grip on the Big Ten Conference lead.
Instead, the Wolverines came away with
three straight shutout losses, the last of
which was a 12-0, five-inning mercy-
rle defeat at the hands of Northwestern.
"We're a team that typically goes out
to win, but we came out on the defensive
i nstead of trying to win,"Tholl said. "We
controlled the first game against Iowa,
and we really played well until the sixth
inning of the second game, but then we
just fell apart. We have to regain our
aggressive ntality'
Initially, it looked like Michigan would
achieve all of its oas for th. weekend.
In a battIe ofth- two best teams in he
conference, the Wolherines shut out
lowa, 5-0, on tie Hawkeyes' home field
in the first gatse of a Friday twinbill
Although Iowa was able to rebound
and win the second game by an identical
5-0 score, Michigan was stil able to sal-
rage a split heading into a pair of games
at Northwestern.
It was in Evanston where the wheels
really fell off. The Wildcats won the
Saturday game, 1-0, on a solo homer by
Erin Jancie. Northwestern followed that
up with the aforementioned 12-0 thrash-
ing on Sunday.
"There was a sense of shock" Tholl
said. "There was also a lot of disappoint-
ment. It made us understand that, some-
times, the process is more important than
the result"
The University of Michigan WHAT'S
REC Department of Recreational Sports
POKt" INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM HAPPENING
Intramural Softball
Oiicials Needed.
* No Experience* Get a Free
Necessay T-Shirt
- Oticials aree * FexIb
PetidfitrAli Hovrs
Games Worked
Training Clinics Begin
7:00 p.m. Wednesday May 3
Intramural Sports Building
BRIAN QUP
Stefanie Volpe was just one of many Wolverines who got untracked at the pla
against Indiana State last Thursday. Michigan swept a pair from the Sycamor
(" .) -I y
'M' Nine drops four
By Dan Williams ing eight earned runs in 1.1 inning
Daily Sports Editor Michigan's nine runs Sunday
passed the five combined runs
In a tale of two teams headed in oppo- scored against the Nittany Lions
site directions, the descending Michigan previous three games. On F
baseball team dropped four straight Michigan fell 3-1, and in the two E
games to an ascendant Penn State teatm of Saturday's doubleheader,
that suddenly finds itself alone in first Wolverines lost 4-1 and 6-3, respe
place in the Big Ten. ly.
Michigan put together a quality hit- "The first three games we were
ting effort in the finale after three good Michigan coach Geoff Zahn said.'
pitching efforts in their weekend series just got the key hits when they n
at Penn State. But the Nittany Lions had it."
a better hitting effort after three better With the four losses, Michigan
pitching efforts, which led to the four- Big Ten, 15-25-1 overall) finds its
game sweep. the brink of elimination from Bi
The latest loss for Michigan was an contention once again. The Wolv
18-9 drubbing yesterday. Freshman were in seventh place before dro
Jordan Cantalamessa belted his third the four games to Penn State. The
homerun of the season in the second to finish in the top six in the confe
inning, but it wasn't enough to overcome to make the tournament.
the efforts of Penn State stars Shawn The best thing the Michigan nit
Fagan and Michael Campo. going for it is that six of the Wolve
Sophomsore starting pitcher Bobby final eight games are against Mic
Wood took it on the chin for Michigan, State and Iowa, two of the weaker1
giving up seven earned runs on ten hits in the conference.
in less than four innings. Sophomore Jeff "I think we can still make the
Trzos was also smoked in relief, allow- offs," Zahn said.
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Jillson key
to future 0o
CM' icers
Jeff Jllson is a big tan. And soon
he'll make a big, big decision - one
that could determine a hockey natiot
championship for Michigan.
The San Jose Sharks and the NHL
are beckoning, but will Jillson, whojust
finished his sophomore season, test the
NHL two years early?
The burly 220pound defenseman
already has several itetms on his resume
NN/Gainy - stalking opponents as the
tte Wolverines'
us. most talented
defenseman,
countless
awards, even a
feature in the
swimsuit issue
of Sports
s. Illustrated ( he
sur- was Old Spice
they Athlete of the FRANCESCUTI
in the Month). The Cutting
riday, But one Edge
games thing he does-
the n't have? A national championship
ctive- This past season, Michigan suffered
on the blue line after three defensemen
in it," bolted in the offseason. The stifling
"They pressure and lack of depth on the
eeded defense reared its ugly head when the
Wolverines fell in exhaustion to Maine
(6-14 in the NCAA quarterfinals.
elf on With the loss of captain Sean Peach,
g Ten Michigan is left with two solid defense-
erines men in Jay Vanik and Dave Huntzicker,
pping a surprise midseason replacement in
y have Mike Roemensky, bruiser Bob Gasso'
rence and three incoming freshmen.
It's by no means a death sentence for
ne has the defense, but with Jillson, the possi-
tines' bilities are endless - well, actually they
higan do end somewhere and one need only
teams ask the past six classes about the extent
of potential.
play- Michigan returns almost everyone in
its lineup, including every forward on a
powerhouse offense. With Jillson, th
Wolverines will be a strong candidate
for preseason No. I. Without him, the
defense will be solid, but extremely
young and inexperienced.
It's simple. If Jillson returns,
Michigan will be back in Albany at the
Frozen Four, and then who knows?
So Jeff, I know you t ay still be
wrestling with a choice right now or
maybe leaning towards one way.
Well, let te make it easy for you.
If you could care less about an
NCAA Hockey Championship, as mW
ofthe NHL andAmerica currently
does, go for the NHL. You're the 14th
overall pick in the NHL draft. It's every
hockey players' dream.
But if you would you like to continue
your education (make the parents
jhappy), enjoy the wild house parties
A (I've heard things), and add a national
AT championship trophy to that resume of
yours then stay in Ann Arbor. What
08 more can you ask for then to enter your
first professional season as a champion?
- Mark' Frncescutti can be rached at
""jstct'es@tic'.ed
For More Information,
Please Contact:
Larry Martin @ 763-3562
'p
For Additional Information Consaet: Intramural Spots Program, IMSB, 606 E. Hoover,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3717, (734)763-3562 ftp/w ~as o nfui.ed