Men's Tennis
vs. Indiana
Tomorrow, 1 p.m.
Liberty Tennis Complex
The Michigan Daily
Blue hosts Iowa in
key softball contests-
SPORTS
Friday, April 12, 1991
Men's Track
vs. Michigan State
Tomorrow, 1 p.m.
Ferry Field
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'M' breaks Broncos
with nine-run rally
by David Kraft
Daily Sports Writer
When the Michigan softball
team faces No. 6 Iowa (2-2 in the
Big Ten, 29-6 overall) today and
tomorrow at Varsity Diamond, its
toughest obstacle may not be defeat-
ing the perenially powerful Hawk-
eyes.
First, the No. 14 Wolverines (2-
2, 18-10) will have to overcome the
forces of nature that have already
wreaked havoc on Michigan's sched-
ule. Rain forced postponements of
games earlier this week against
Eastern Michigan and Western
Michigan.
When head coach Carol Hutchins
set thel991 calendar, she hoped that
scheduling two games within four
days of the important Iowa matchup
would keep her squad in sharp form.
"We didn't want to sit around
waiting to play Iowa," Hutchins
said. "On the other hand, playing in
the rotten weather this week could
only have hurt us."
Not only are the Hawkeyes fa-
vored to repeat as Big Ten champi-
ons, they have already defeated the
Wolverines at the Bud Lite
National Invitational in Sunnyvale,
Calif., by a 1-0 count.
"We played right with Iowa the
whole game," Hutchins said. "If
you want to stay competitive with
them, you have to play great de-
fense."
Offensively, the Hawkeyes are
powered by All-American junior
catcher Diane Pohl, who has a team-
leading batting average of .352, good
for second place among the Big Ten
leaders.
Much of Iowa's success can also
be attributed to head coach Gayle
Blevins, under whom Hutchins
served as a graduate assistant at
Indiana between 1980 and 1981.
"Gayle is a very intense and ag-
gressive competitor, which is re-
flected in the way her team plays,"
Hutchins said.
To combat the Hawkeyes,
Hutchins will rely on strong pitch-
ing performances.
by Rod Loewenthal
Daily Baseball Writer
Seven was lucky for the
Michigan baseball team, as it used a
nine-run seventh inning to crush
Western Michigan yesterday. The
Wolverines (17-13-1) used sixteen
hits and 4-for-5 hitting from both
co-captain Dan Ruff and first base-
man Andy Fairman to pound the
Broncos (12-10) in an all-out
slugfest, 14-8.
Mike Matheny got the game-
winning RBI in the seventh when he
smacked a three-run homer to put
the Wolverines ahead, 9-8. He also
caught the game for the Wolverines,
helping hurler Terry Woods (1-0)
get his first win of the season.
Western Michigan fell short,
managing eight runs on fourteen
hits, thanks to ineffective pitching
and five Bronco errors.
First-year DH Bubba Wyngar-
den, who went 1 for 5, was enthused
by the way the team played.
"Their ace pitched the first three
innings," Wyngarden said. "Then
they threw in all the pitchers who
normally don't pitch. We just had a
great game, we hit the crud out of
the ball today."
The two teams used a total of 11
pitchers on the day. Western se
six to the mound, while Michigan
coach Bill Freehan used five out of
the six pitchers he brought along'on
the trip to Kalamazoo.
Freehan started Dennis Kon-
uszewski and intended for his
sophomore to go three innings. But
the righthander went past his5 40
pitch limit in the first two inninigs,
so the skipper brought in Eri
Heintschel. ~
Freehan later sent in Bryan San-
to, Woods, and Todd Marion to face
Bronco batters. Marion pitched-the
last one and two-thirds innings;nd
managed to throw only 12 pit'hes
while facing five batters.
"I was pretty happy," Santo said.
"I was throwing more strikes and
getting the ball over. I was trying
to get ahead of the batters. W
threw the ball a lot better than
fore, we had a lot of control."
KENNTH SOLLErVU~Iy
First-year slugger Nate Holdren swings away earlier this season against
] Bowling Green. Michigan defeated Western Michigan yesterday, 14-8.
I
Track teams take separate paths
Women hobble to Tennessee Men home for only time this
vear
y a
by Jeff Williams
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's track
team's outdoor season is beginning
just as the outdoor season ended -
with many of the Wolverines ham-
pered by injuries. Five of Michigan's
top point scorers have gone down
with injuries in the last week.
"I'm very concerned," Michigan
coach James Henry said. "But we're
going to continue until the last one
goes down."
The Wolverines will send some
of their healthier athletes to the
Dogwood Relays in Tennessee this
weekend. The Wolverines compet-
ing have qualified for the event
based on individual performances
during the outdoor season.
"There is not going to be a team
score, so we'll have to get some
strong individual performances,"
Henry said.
One of the Wolverines who will
not make the trip is top point-scorer
Amy Bannister. The senior distance
runner sustained a hip injury during
the Crimson Classic last weekend.
Michigan's 4x100 relay team has
been a consistent point scorer thus
far, but it is also threatened by in-
juries. Sophomore Julie Brown, who
was replaced last weekend by rookie
Collette Savage, will not run in
Tennessee. Junior Suzi Thweatt has
been bothered by back spasms this
week. She remains questionable for
this weekend.
"If (Thweatt) goes down, there
goes our relay," Henry said. "We
don't have anyone to take her place."
by Chris Carr
Daily Sports Writer
Tomorrow, the men's track team
will host its first and last outdoor
meet of the season against Michigan
State. Adding to the novelty is the
fact that the meet is the only dual
meet on Michigan's schedule.
"Dual meets are interesting,"
Michigan coach Jack Harvey said.
"It gives everyone an opportunity
to run individual events. It is a nice
change for us, because the next cou-
ple of weeks we will mostly be
running relays."
Harvey expects the Spartans to
be competitive in the sprints, hur-
dles, and middle distance races, and
looks for the Wolverines to score
well in the long distance races and
field events.
Michigan, however, can counter
the Spartans' strength with a strong
corps of runners. Jerry Douglas (110
meter high hurdles), Micha@
Eccleston (200 meters) and leat
Newman (800 meters) have all per-
formed well'in the outdoor season.
Jeff Barnett (3,000 meter
steeplechase), Brad Barquist (1,500
and 5,000 meters) and Shawn
Mackay (5,000 meters) will anchor
the distance corps.
In the field events, the Wolver-
ines have shown tremendous depth
thus far. Brad Darr and Toby'V*
Pelt placed first and second, respect-
ively, in the pole vault last week-
end. Brad Holwerda and Dan Reddan
did the same in the high jump.
Lukeland Gentles (long jump
and triple jump), Al Sarafian
(javelin) and Mike Hennessey
(discus and shot put) round out. the
depth for the Wolverines.
THE MICHIGAN UNION BOOKSTORE
IS PROUD TO WELCOME
ERNIE HARWELL
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11 a.m. -9 p.m.
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SIGNING COPIES OF HIS NEW BOOK
ERNIE HARWELL'S
DIAMOND GEMS
I
Friday April 12, 1991
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