Women's Rugby vs. Dayton Saturday, noon Mitchell Field The Michigan Daily SPORTS Baseball vs. Eastern Michigan (DH) Saturday, 1 p.m. Fisher Stadium Friday, March 22, 1991 Page 9 *M' looks for right pitch y David Schechter waily Baseball Writer Michigan baseball coach Bill Freehan stared intently at the score- board in Fisher Stadium after Wed- nesday's victory over Bowling Green. He realized that a few things had to be better in tomorrow's one o'clock home doubleheader against Eastern Michigan. Like pitching. * Freehan is not worried about Jason Pfaff, the staff's No. 1 pitch- er, who will be starting against Eastern. With closer Todd Marion throwing effectively, he isn't con- cerned about finishing the game either. He is worried about who will throw in between the two players in the middle innings of the game. Middle-relief pitching is the Sarkest spot on the Wolverines orizon of early season baseball games. "We've been working on pitch- ing since the first week of the sea- son. Am I bringing anybody up from Toledo (Detroit Tigers AAA affiliate)? Not that I know of," Freehan said. The coach says he won't have to search the minors for assistance *cause he.is not finished looking through his own ranks for the help he needs. Saturday against Eastern, who trails the Wolverines in the all-time series 84-35-2, Freehan will take another opportunity to discover a mid-inning reliever from his own bullpen. Pfaff's health had been in ques- tion recently due to a sore pitching 4&m. However, Freehan thinks the junior will perform just fine. HOCKEY Continued from page 1 "It's important for us to take their crowd out of the game." Another factor is that since the Terriers received a first-round bye, they have not played for two weeks. "There's different ways to look at that," Berenson said. "We could be fresh, and they could be rusty; or we could be tired, and they could be fresh. The only thing we can control is how we play." Also a mystery is who will start between the pipes for the Maize and Blue. Rookie Steve Shields seemed to have a firm grasp on the starting .job, until fellow rookie Chris Gor- don starred in the decisive 9-3 vic- tory over Cornell. "That reassures us that we have some depth at that position," Beren- son said. "I felt Steve was fighting the puck. He's played a lot of games for us this season. Chris came in and gave us the kind of game we needed." Spring football kicks off Moeller whips squad into shape as practice time is cut by Jeff Sheran Daily Football Writer If the best way to get to Carnegie Hall is practice, then Gary Moeller must think Carnegie is located in Pasadena. His football team opens its spring practice tomorrow in its quest to return to the Rose Bowl next January. After commencing 1991 with a 35-3 rout of Ole Miss in the Gator Bowl, Michigan established itself as a national contender for the up- coming season. But the only way to fulfill such expectations, as Moel- ler insists, is to begin working early. "We're trying to fill holes and improve the techniques of the guys who return," Moeller said. "Our biggest question marks are in the secondary, at the fullback position, and in the offensive line." The Wolverines return a strong corps at the skill positions, but Moeller said he wants to develop a great tackling team on defense. Because of recent NCAA legisla- tion limiting practice time, his plans must be altered slightly. Last season, teams could practice 20 days in the spring. However, in an effort to reduce an athlete's time away from academics, the NCAA cut the period to 15 days, 10 with full contact. Michigan will practice without pads tomorrow. "With no contact, the best skills to work on are passing, but I don't want our guys to get the wrong idea that this is a non-contact game," Moeller joked. The decreased practice time forces players to make an adjust- ment as well as coaches. "The key is practicing well without pads," Moeller said. "We're trying to figure out ways to make it as realistic as possible with- out hurting anybody." The Wolverines will play their annual intrasquad Blue/White game April 13 at Ann Arbor-Pioneer High School. Ricky Powers and his teammates will begin spring practice on Saturday. Men tumblers roll into Big Tens by Charlie Wolfe Daily Sports Writer It all has come down to this. A year full of pushing their bodies to the brink of exhaustion. Of repeating routines over and over again for the sake of perfection. A year of romping across the country, traveling to distant cities that are only a faded memory now. Indeed, the Big Ten Championships are finally upon the Michigan men's gymnastics team. East Lansing's Jenison Fieldhouse will be the site, six other Big Ten teams will be the competition. Now it is up to the Wolverines to realize the destiny that they've been clutching for all year long. "The Big Ten meet will be the closest it's been in many, many, many years," assistant coach Mike Mili- donis said. Only one year ago, Michigan finished last in the Big Ten, but then came back with a vengeance in regional competition to beat both Michigan State and Wiscon- sin. The Wolverines also ended up ranked 17th in the nation. That turn of events attests to the highly com- petitive nature of Big Ten gymnastics, where many of the nation's powerhouse squads reside, and to how one exceptional day can change a whole team's fortunes. Though Michigan definitely doesn't plan on finish- ing in the basement this time around, it is doubtful the Wolverines will be able to knock off Big Ten favorites Minnesota and Ohio State for the conference crown. But no matter where Michigan finishes in the final team standings, it will be looking toward the individ- ual finals held Saturday evening with special fervor. The Wolverines have yellow jerseys they reserve solely for finals. Michigan's Jorge Camacho and Ben Verrall should have a great shot at finals in the floor exercise, along with Jim Round and Royce Toni on the still rings. A big question mark will be if injuries to seasoned veter- ans Glenn Hill and Ruben Ceballos will hamper them this weekend. Of extreme concern is the wrist injury to Hill - Michigan's ace on the pommel horse. The ju- nior has been receiving extensive treatment to give him every chance to compete at Big Tens, and even with the injury, his coaches like his chances. Adding to the quandary is the fact that in the teams' previous matchup, it was Gordon who shut down the Terriers after Shields gave up the first five goals. Nonetheless, should the series last three games, both goaltenders will likely see ac- tion. On the other side of the ledger, the Wolverines' offense appears to be peaking after scoring 19 goals in the three games with Cornell. Ju- nior Mike Helber has been on a scor- ing rampage, with 17 points in his last eight games. He currently leads all CCHA playoff scorers with 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists). Hobey Baker candidate Denny Felsner has his eye on the Michigan single-season goal record. Felsner scored his 39th and 40th goals last Saturday against Cornell. That leaves him a hat trick away from the record 43, held by none other than Gordon "Red" Berenson. One thing that can be counted on this weekend is that Berenson will not weep if his record is broken. Brand CLII EnIR Aal, AS 1 WHEN YOU CLIP THIS COUPON AND PRESENT IT AT Q YOUR NEAREST SEARS Through Mar. 30 P NOTES TUDY IN SERIOUS -I -I - eAnsw. yte . 4 a -w T-SHIRT PRINTERY " QUALITY GARMENT PRINTING AT REASONABLE PRICES ONE WEEK DELIVERY ON MOST ORDERS " OUR ARTISTS WORK WITH YOU TO PRODUCE SHIRTS YOU CAN BE PROUD OF . 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