Weekly Release No. 1
2/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Fri-Sun., Feb. 22-24 -- at UC-Riverside RBI Tournament (Riverside, Calif.)
Feb. 22 -- vs. Oregon State (11 a.m. PST)
Feb. 23 -- vs. San Francisco (Noon PST)
Feb. 24 -- at UC-Riverside (4 p.m. PST)
Monday, Feb. 25 -- vs. Oregon State (Riverside, Calif.), 1 p.m. PST
Tuesday, Feb. 26 -- at UC-Irvine (Irvine, Calif.), 6:05 p.m. PST
Wednesday, Feb. 27 -- at UC-Riverside (Riverside, Calif.), 4 p.m. PST
Friday, March 1 -- at San Diego (San Diego, Calif.), 2 p.m. PST
Saturday, March 2 -- at San Diego (San Diego, Calif.), 11 a.m. PST
Sunday, March 3 -- at San Diego (San Diego, Calif.), Noon PST
Michigan Returns to California
University of Michigan interim baseball coach Chris Harrison will make his debut by leading the Wolverines to the West Coast to open the 2002 baseball season during spring break (Feb. 22-March 3). It marks only the second time in Michigan baseball history that the Wolverines have opened the season in California. The last Michigan opened in California was 1999. Since 1958 Michigan has opened the season in Florida 20 times, in Arizona 14 times, Texas seven times and once each in Alabama and Nevada.
The Wolverines will open the season in the three-game RBI Tournament hosted by UC-Riverside. Michigan will open vs. Oregon State on Friday (Feb. 22, 11 a.m. PST), play San Francisco on Saturday (Feb. 23, noon PST), and face host UC-Riverside on Sunday (Feb. 24, 4 p.m. PST) at the Riverside Sports Complex.
Michigan will play Oregon State again Monday (Feb. 25, 1 p.m. PST), then play at UC-Irvine on Tuesday (Feb. 26, 6:05 p.m. PST) and at UC-Riverside on Wednesday (Feb. 27, 4 p.m.). Following a day off the Wolverines close the spring trip with a weekend series at the University of San Diego (March 1-3). The Toreros were ranked 22nd by Collegiate Baseball last week (Feb. 11) after a torrid 9-0 start.
Opponent Records
All five of Michigan's spring trip opponents will have played at least eight games prior to playing the Wolverines. Opponent records (as of 2/18/02): Oregon State (3-4) with a game at Portland (Feb. 19); San Francisco (2-7) with two games California (Feb. 19) and UC-Riverside (Feb. 22); UC-Riverside (7-5) with two games USF (Feb. 22) and Oregon State (Feb. 23); UC-Irvine (8-5) with three games at Arizona (Feb. 22-24); and San Diego (10-3) with three games at Louisiana Collegiate Classic vs. Delaware (Feb. 22), vs. Oklahoma State (Feb. 23) and Cal State-Northridge (Feb. 24).
Wolverines in Big Ten Preseason Polls
Michigan is projected to be a Big Ten playoff team in 2002 as the Wolverines were fourth in Baseball America's preseason Big Ten Conference polls and fifth as selected by Collegiate Baseball. The Wolverines could move up even higher if both papers are correct in other areas as Baseball America projected junior LHP Rich Hill (Milton, Mass./Milton HS) as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, while Collegiate Baseball had junior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) pegged as the Big Ten Player of the Year. Baseball America ranks Hill 30th among college players eligible for the draft.
Wolverines Open 2002 Ranked Fourth in All-Time Wins
The U-M baseball team, the oldest of the Wolverine varsity sports having started in 1866, opens the 2002 season with an all-time record of 2,325-1,273-37 (.645). The Wolverines rank fourth on the all-time win list behind Fordham (3,132), Texas (2,653) and Southern California (2,627), according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The next Big Ten team on the list is Illinois (2,106 wins) in 11th.
NCAA Division I Win Leaders (Start of 2002)
1. Fordham 3,132 2. Texas 2,653 3. Southern Cal 2,627 4. MICHIGAN 2,325 5. Stanford 2,279 6. Washington State 2,261 7. Arizona State 2,228 8. Arizona 2,207 9. Harvard 2,193 10. Clemson 2,134
Wolverines vs. 2002 Spring Trip Opponents
Michigan will be facing five different opponents during the nine-game spring break trip to California with four being first-time foes. In fact, when Michigan opens the 2002 season in the RBI Tournament hosted by UC-Riverside, the Wolverines will face first-time opponents in each game of the three-day event -- Oregon State, San Francisco and host UC-Riverside.
Michigan's fourth opponent on the trip is UC-Irvine and it will be the first matchup between the Wolverines and the Anteaters. Michigan owns a 2-1 advantage over the University of San Diego, the fifth spring trip opponent, as the Wolverines opened the 1999 season vs. the Toreros and won the first two games of the series 8-1 and 8-5 before losing the finale 20-7.
Wolverine Coaching Debuts
Michigan's coaching staff has a new look in 2002 with Chris Harrison making his debut as the interim head coach while Steve Merriman and Brian Kalczynski serve as assistants.
Harrison (Oral Roberts, '82), who has been the top assistant at Michigan for the past six seasons, will remain on the third base coaching lines. As the hitting coach, he has coached Michigan's top two career hitters -- Mike Cervenak (293 hits, 1996-99) and Jason Alcaraz (272 hits, 1996-99) -- and the top two single-season hit makers -- Brian Bush (94 hits, 1999) and Bobby Scales (92 hits, 1999).
Merriman (Central Michigan '92), a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., was an assistant under Bill Freehan at Michigan in 1995. He returns to Michigan after leading Macomb Community College to the playoffs in his two years as head coach. Merriman, who also worked as Buddy Bell's bullpen coach with the Detroit Tigers (1996-99), is working with the pitchers and catchers.
Kalczynski (Michigan '99), a native of Farmington, Mich., was Michigan's MVP in 1997 and captain in 1998. He returns to the Wolverines after spending two seasons as a volunteer coach at Illinois under legendary head coach Richard "Itch" Jones. Kalczynski will coach first base, work with the outfielders and assist Harrison with the infielders and hitting.
Coaching Matchups
Chris Harrison, a native of San Diego, makes his debut at the Division I level as Michigan's interim head coach. He was a head coach in the NAIA ranks at The Master's College (San Clarita, Calif.) for four seasons and was NAIA District 3 Coach of the Year in 1991.
Pat Casey coaches Oregon State of the Pacific-10 Conference. Casey's overall career mark heading into the season was 379-265-5 in 14 seasons. In seven seasons at OSU Casey's preseason mark was 208-152-4.
Nino Giarratano coaches the University of San Francisco of the West Coast Conference. In his second season at USF, Giarratano entered 2002 with a career Division I coaching mark of 21-34-1.
Jack Smitheran coaches UC-Riverside of the Big West. Smitheran opened 2002 with a career record of 993-701-3 in 28 seasons, with all but four of the seasons with the Highlanders. He earned his 1,000th career win during UC-Riverside's weekend sweep of San Diego (Feb. 15-17).
John Savage coaches UC-Irvine of the Big West. He is in his first year as a head coach after serving nine seasons as an assistant coach at Nevada (1992-96) and Southern California (1997-2000).
Rich Hill coaches the University of San Diego of the West Coast Conference. Hill's coaching record in three seasons at USD was 97-75-2 at the start of the season and his overall mark in 14 seasons entering 2002 was 430-25-2 including stints at Cal Lutheran (1988-93) and San Francisco (1994-98).
California Homecoming
Three members of the U-M baseball team, all pitchers, will be making homecoming trips when the Wolverines open the 2002 season in California. The three Wolverines from California include junior starter Tim Leveque (Northridge, Calif./Crespi HS) and from the bullpen sophomore lefty Chad Garson (Calabasas, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) and freshman right-hander Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS).
Wolverine Captains Lead the Way
Michigan will feature four co-captains in 2002 season for the first time. Three of the co-captains are in the tentative opening day lineup vs. Oregon State, including P/2B Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS), set for his career debut at second base, while senior/junior Nate Wright (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew HS) is slated to start at first base and senior/junior Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS) should be the designated hitter. The fourth captain, fifth-year senior Joe Young (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Gallagher HS), returns to the bullpen after missing the past two seasons due to injury.
Probable Wolverine Pitching Rotation
The probable starting pitchers for the Wolverines in the first five games of the season-opening spring trip to California include junior Rich Hill, sophomore Jim Brauer (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS), junior Bobby Korecky, senior Jeff Trzos (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS) and junior Tim Leveque.
- Game #1 vs. Oregon State -- Rich Hill (LHP, 3-5, 3.84 ERA in 2001) is scheduled to make his 16th career start and 29th pitching appearance in the season opener. He tossed a seven-inning one-hitter vs. Oakland in 2001 for first complete game of career. Set personal game best in strikeouts three times in 2001 vs. Oakland (8), Eastern Michigan (9) and Indiana (11). Collected sophomore wins vs. Oakland, EMU and Penn State. Allowed three hits in 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts in Big Ten Tournament win over PSU. Reached 100 strikeouts in just 22 career appearances and led Michigan in strikeouts in 1999 (53) and 2000 (72). He is active career strikeout leader with 125 Ks in 101 innings. Drafted out of high school by Cincinnati and by Anaheim in 2001.
- Game #2 vs. San Francisco -- Jim Brauer (RHP, 3-3, 5.65 ERA) is scheduled to make his seventh career start in the second game of the season. He collected all three wins as a freshman out of the bullpen vs. Bowling Green, Siena Heights and Illinois and had save at South Florida. Suffered hard-luck loss in Big Ten championship game vs. Minnesota allowing one earned run in a 3-2 loss. Was Cape Cod All-Star pitching for Yarmouth-Dennis. Drafted out of high school by Montreal.
- Game #3 vs. UC-Riverside -- Bobby Korecky (RHP, 6-4, 3.36 ERA) earned the Geoff Zahn Award as Michigan's Most Valuable Pitcher and was a second team All-Big Ten performer in 2001, completing eight of his 12 starts and leading the Big Ten with his 3.36 overall ERA. Five of his six wins were on the road in 2001 vs. Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa in the Big Ten and Kansas and McNeese State in non-conference action. Korecky led the staff in starts (12), wins (6), innings (101.2) and complete games (8). Korecky, who is second among Michigan's active pitchers with 115 career strikeouts, has allowed runs in just 29 of his last 96 innings and will be making his 25th career start and 52nd career pitching appearance. He earned first career save in career debut at San Diego in 1999.
- Game #4 vs. Oregon State -- Jeff Trzos (LHP, 1-1, 1.64 ERA, 4 saves) allowed earned runs in just one of 18 appearances as the closer as a junior and did not allow an earned run in the last 16 appearances. He will be making first career start while making 41st pitching appearance. Has 55 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched in Wolverine career and owns .260 career batting average with three homers while at 1B/DH. Named to New England Collegiate Baseball League All-Star team vs. Cape Cod All-Stars. Drafted out of high school by Kansas City.
- Game #5 at UC-Irvine -- Tim Leveque (RHP, 3-3, 3.27 ERA) is slated to make 10th career start. Collected 2001 wins vs. McNeese State, Siena Heights and Indiana. Led nation with 0.00 ERA after five outings as a sophomore before allowing four runs, one earned, to Bowling Green, the top hitting team (.360 team average) in the nation in 2002. Fanned 34 batters in 44 innings and owns career 3.77 ERA. Drafted out of high school by Detroit.
Korecky Becomes Two-Way Player
Senior Bobby Korecky, who became just the third Wolverine to pitch more than 100 innings (101.2) in a season when he completed eight of his 12 starts in 2001, will add a new dimension to his Michigan career when makes his first career start at second base in the season opener vs. Oregon State.
In his senior season at Saline HS, Korecky hit .521 with four homers while collecting 11 wins and 120 strikeouts in a season that ended with a 2-1 loss in the state finals. Korecky has big shoes to fill at second base with the graduation of four-year starter Scott Tousa. Tousa, two-time winner of Michigan's Ted Sizemore Award as the top fielder on the team, made just four errors in 2001 and was perfect in 132 chances in conference play. Tousa participated in 47 double plays that helped Michigan lead the nation in double plays per game (74 in 56 games, 1.32 per game) in 2001.
Korecky, who led the Big Ten with his 3.36 overall ERA in 2001, played a major role in getting the Wolverines into the conference playoffs in 2001. The Wolverines were 5-2 in games Korecky pitched as the series-opening starter in Big Ten play, including road wins over regular-season champ Ohio State and playoff champ Minnesota. Korecky, winner of the Geoff Zahn Award as Michigan's Most Valuable Pitcher in 2001, will make his first start on the mound vs. UC-Riverside (Feb. 24) in the third game of the season. He has completed more than half of his career starts as a Wolverine (13 of 24).
Koman Gains Preseason Honors
Junior 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS), the Ray Fisher Award winner as Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 2001, gained some early recognition for 2002 when he was selected as the preseason third team third baseman by Collegiate Baseball (the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American team) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
Michigan's "March" to Ray Fisher Stadium
Following an early season schedule that puts the Wolverines on the road for the first 12 games and 15 of 16 -- nine in California, three in San Antonio, Texas, and three in Lawrence, Kan., vs. Kansas (2) and Oral Roberts -- Michigan is scheduled to play six home games in March. Michigan's 2002 debut in Ray Fisher Stadium is slated for March 19 vs. Bowling Green followed by a single game with Western Michigan (March 27) and four Big Ten games vs. Iowa (March 29-31). In a quirk in the schedule the Wolverines are scheduled to play just five home games in April.
Big Ten Schedule Features 32 Games, Most on Road
With the elimination of the "off weekend" for final exams in 2002, the Big Ten features an all-time high 32 conference games with eight four-game weekend series. The Wolverines will play Northwestern and Purdue in conference play for the first time since 1997, while Indiana is the one team Big Ten team not on the schedule. Michigan has played IU each year since 1979. The Big Ten schedule finds the Wolverines scheduled to play 18 road games and 14 at home. In April Michigan plays 14 of its 16 conference games away from Fisher Stadium. The last time Michigan had 18 Big Ten road games was in 1996 and the Wolverines went 11-7 on the road and made the playoffs. Michigan's April Big Ten schedule includes a pair of conference games at home vs. Michigan State (April 19-21) while playing four game Big Ten series at Minnesota (April 5-7), Illinois (April 12-14) and Penn State (April 26-28) and a doubleheader at MSU (April 20).
Wright Streaks Into 2002
Senior/junior first baseman Nate Wright enters 2002 with an eight-game hitting streak. Wright, who had a team-best 14-game hitting streak in 2001, finished second on the team with a .327 batting average in 47 games played after missing the entire 2000 season following surgery. Five other Wolverines enter the new season with "mini streaks," including junior catcher Alex Coleman (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) with a six-game streak, junior 3B Brock Koman at four games, junior outfielder Gino Lollio (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner HS) and junior/sophomore outfielder Eric Esper (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge HS) with two games, and junior catcher Jason Wuerfel (Cedar, Mich.,/Glen Lake HS) has a one-gamer.
Colorado "Vets" Add Another "Kid"
Juniors 3B Brock Koman and LF Jordan Cantalamessa (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) made their debuts as the "Colorado Kids" during the 2000 season and they enter 2002 ranked at the top of the active career games played list.
Freshman Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) is the new "Colorado Kid" on the block, providing back up strength at 2B/SS.
The Wolverines have eight players with more than 50 career games played heading into the 2002 season after having just 10 players on the squad with 30 or more games a season ago.
Michigan's Active Top 10 in Games Played
Rank, Player, Pos. Games 1. Brock Koman, 3B 104 2. Jordan Cantalamessa, IF/OF 96 3. Blake Rutkowski, OF 84 4. Mike Sokol, 1B/DH 79 5. Jeff Trzos, 1B/P 78 6. Gino Lollio, OF 73 7. Bobby Korecky, P/2B 52 8. Nate Wright, 1B 51 9. Jake Fox, C 49 10. Brandon Jominy, SS 32 Brandon Roberts, OF 32
Michigan Lineup Offers Improved Starting Experience
The 2002 Wolverines feature six players with more than 40 career starts, led by preseason All-America candidate junior 3B Brock Koman with 104. This compares with the 2001 squad that had just five players with more than 30 career starts at the beginning of the season.
The 2002 potential opening day lineup, with potential starters in bold and backups included (number of career starts/starts at that position): 1B -- Nate Wright (44/36), Mike Sokol (56/19); 2B -- Bobby Korecky (24/0), Dan Augustine (0/0), Jordan Cantalamessa (92/34); SS -- Brandon Jominy (17/15), Nick Rudden (0/0); 3B -- Brock Koman (104/71), Brandon Jominy (17/2); LF -- Jordan Cantalamessa (92/53), Gino Lollio (60/14); CF -- Blake Rutkowski (67/67) or Gino Lollio (60/13); RF -- Gino Lollio (60/33) or Brandon Roberts (24/24), Chris Burhans (0/0); C -- Jake Fox (42/34), Alex Coleman (24/23), Jason Wuerfel (7/7); DH -- Mike Sokol (56/31), Brock Koman (104/24), Jeff Trzos (37/9), Jake Fox (42/8), Nate Wright (44/7). Augustine is a transfer, Burhans and Rudden are true freshmen. Trzos is also a pitcher.
Family Connections
The Michigan baseball team has four players with "family connections" heading into the 2002 season, with sophomores OF Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) and RHP Bobby Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS) having Wolverine connections, while junior 3B Brock Koman and freshman IF Nick Rudden have opposition connections.
- Roberts is the son of former Wolverine Leon Roberts (1970-72). Leon Roberts led the Wolverines in hitting (.367) as an All-Big Ten first-team selection in 1972 and he played in the Major Leagues from 1974-84.
- The Garza connection features a streak of seven years in which a Garza has been on Michigan's baseball or softball teams (1996-2002), and 2002 marks the third time there has been a different Garza tandem. Brother Mario Garza Jr. lettered as a Wolverine relief pitcher in 1996-97-98 and was joined at Michigan by sister Chrissy Garza in 1998. Chrissy lettered in softball (1998-99-00-01). The new twist in 2002 for the Garza clan includes freshman Tommy Garza (165 pounds) on the Wolverine wrestling team.
- Koman will meet up with his cousin Luke Gradishar during the spring trip to California. Gradishar is the starting second baseman at the University of San Francisco, Michigan's opponent Saturday (Feb. 23) at the RBI Tournament at UC-Riverside.
- Rudden's brother Kevin earned four baseball letters at Illinois (1996-99).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
