Weekly Release No. 3

Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday, March 19 -- vs. Bowling Green (Ray Fisher Stadium), 3 p.m.
Friday, March 22 -- at Kansas (Lawrence, Kan.), 2 p.m. CST
Saturday, March 23 -- vs. Oral Roberts (Lawrence, Kan.), 3 p.m. CST
Sunday, March 24 -- at Kansas (Lawrence, Kan.), 3 p.m. CST
Wednesday, March 27 -- vs. Western Michigan (Ray Fisher Stadium), 3 p.m.
Friday, March 29 -- vs. Iowa (Ray Fisher Stadium), 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 30 -- DH vs. Iowa (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 31 -- vs. Iowa (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1 p.m.

Michigan Hosts Bowling Green, Heads to Kansas
The University of Michigan baseball team (2-10, 0-0 Big Ten) opens its home schedule by facing Bowling Green on Tuesday (March 19, 3 p.m.) before returning to the road for three games this weekend (March 22-24) in Lawrence, Kan.

The Wolverines face the Falcons (6-9) in the earliest scheduled home game since the 1997 squad faced the University of Detroit on March 18. The 1998 Wolverines had six games "weathered out," including a tentative March 17 opener before hosting Ball State on March 25. Bowling Green took one of three games last weekend at Western Kentucky (March 16-17).

Michigan is scheduled to face Kansas (10-6) twice on the final non-conference weekend series, playing the Jayhawks on Friday (March 22, 2 p.m. CST) and Sunday (March 24, 3 p.m. CST). The Wolverines will play Oral Roberts (12-8) on Saturday (March 23, 3 p.m. CST) at Hoglund Ballpark at Kansas.

The Jayhawks have two non-conference games at Texas-Pan American (March 19-20) before hosting the Wolverines. Kansas dropped all three Big 12 Conference games at Baylor last weekend (March 15-17) to run its losing streak to six games. ORU plays a single non-conference game at Texas-Arlington (March 19) after placing third in the Pepsi/Johnny Quick Classic at last week (March 11-16) at Fresno State.

Coaching Matchups
Michigan interim head coach Chris Harrison enters the home opener vs. Bowling Green with a 2-10 record after taking one of three games at Texas-San Antonio (March 8-10). A head coach in the NAIA ranks at The Master's College (San Clarita, Calif.) for four seasons, Harrison collected his first Michigan win at UC-Irvine (2/26/02).

Bowling Green's Danny Schmitz, in his 12th season as head coach of the Falcons, enters Tuesday's (March 19) game with a career coaching mark of 305-282-4. He notched his 300th career win at Tennessee with the first victory of the season.

Kansas' Bobby Randall, a former Major League infielder, is in his seventh season as head coach of the Jayhawks. Randall, who spent 11 seasons as the head coach at Iowa State, enters the week with an overall career coaching mark of 463-501-1 in 17 seasons. Randall's mark in seven years at Kansas is 154-190, including the 10-6 start. He is one of just five active coaches in the Big 12 with 400 career victories.

Oral Roberts' Sonny Galloway, in his seventh season as head coach of the Golden Eagles of the Mid-Continent Conference, enters the week with a career record of 258-125.

Coaching Connections
Michigan interim head coach Chris Harrison will be meeting his alma mater, Oral Roberts, for the first time as a head coach. Harrison earned four letters at ORU (1978-79-81-82) and played in the 1978 College World Series. The Wolverines were 2-0 vs. ORU with Harrison as an assistant coach, winning 8-7 in a neutral-site game (at Oklahoma) in 1998 after a 14-6 win at ORU in 1997.

Wolverine assistant coach Brian Kalczynski has fond memories of the games vs. Oral Roberts. Kalczynski, U-M's team MVP in 1997, was 5-for-6 with five RBI in the 14-6 win over the Golden Eagles in the 1997 F&M Bank Classic in Tulsa, Okla. He was 9-for-15 (.600) with 10 RBI and was tournament MVP. Kalczynski, Michigan's captain in 1998, was 3-for-5 in the 8-7, 10-inning win over ORU in a game played at Oklahoma. "Kal" was 8-for-11 (.727) in the two wins over ORU.

Opponent Matchups
Michigan holds the series edge with each of the three opponents this week, with a 34-12-1 lead over Mid-American Conference foe Bowling Green, a 5-2 edge over Kansas of the Big 12, and a 2-1 edge over Oral Roberts of the Mid-Continent Conference. The last meetings between the teams included Michigan beating Bowling Green twice in 2001, splitting two games at Kansas in 2001 and beating Oral Roberts in 1998 in a game played in Norman, Okla.

Probable Wolverine Pitching Rotation
The probable starting pitchers for the Wolverines this week includes junior Tim Leveque (Northridge, Calif./Crespi HS) vs. Bowling Green, while the weekend starters in Lawrence, Kan., include senior Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS), junior Rich Hill (Milton, Mass./Milton HS) and sophomore Jim Brauer (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS). Michigan's probables for the week:

Game #1 vs. Bowling Green (Tuesday) -- Leveque (RHP, 1-0, 10.12 ERA) is slated to make his second start of the season and the 11th start of his career. He beat UC-Irvine 4-2 in his first start of the year, Michigan's first win of the season. Leveque worked the first six innings at UC-Irvine, allowing one run on three hits while recording six strikeouts. Out of the bullpen, he has worked one inning vs. Oregon State and one inning at San Diego in his other outings. Leveque is 5-6 in his Michigan career and will be making his 30th career appearance.
Game #2 at Kansas (Friday) -- Korecky (RHP, 1-1, 7.20 ERA) is slated to make his third start of the season and the 27th start of his career. He will be making his second career start at Kansas, having beaten the Jayhawks with a complete-game performance last season. Korecky (see below) shut out Texas-San Antonio 7-0 in his last start, striking out a career-high 13. He lost his first start of 2002 at UC-Riverside, working five innings, and then he pitched six innings in relief at San Diego in a game he started as the designated hitter. Korecky is hitting .304 in six starts (DH-4, 2B-2). A second team All-Big Ten performer, he earned the Geoff Zahn Award as Michigan's Most Valuable Pitcher in 2001 after completing eight of his 12 starts and leading the Big Ten with his 3.36 overall ERA. Five of Korecky's six wins in 2001 were on the road vs. Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa in the Big Ten and Kansas and McNeese State in non-conference action. He is second among Michigan's active pitchers with 131 career strikeouts.
Game #3 vs. Oral Roberts (Saturday) -- Hill (LHP, 0-1, 3.86 ERA) is scheduled to make his 20th career start and 33rd career pitching appearance in the game vs. Oral Roberts. He leads the team in strikeouts (23) and is third in innings pitched (14). Hill fanned a career-high 15 batters in a nine-inning no-decision at Texas-San Antonio (March 9) in a game the Wolverines lost in extra innings. Hill took the loss in the season opener vs. Oregon State, leaving after four innings trailing 3-1. He fanned six in the opener and all three runs were unearned. He faced four batters in his second start before leaving with a bruised finger after trying to bare-hand a single up the middle vs. San Diego. Hill reached 100 strikeouts in just 22 career appearances and he is Michigan's active career strikeout leader with 148 Ks in 115 innings after leading the team in 1999 (53) and in 2000 (72). Hill was drafted out of high school by Cincinnati and by Anaheim in 2001.
Game #4 at Kansas (Sunday) -- Brauer (RHP, 0-2, 7.11 ERA) is scheduled to make his 11th career start in the third game of the weekend. He pitched seven innings in the 4-2 loss at Texas-San Antonio (March 10), allowing all four runs, three earned. He went six innings in each of his spring trip starts vs. San Francisco (no-decision) and at San Diego (loss). He enters the week second on the team in innings pitched (19) and third in strikeouts (14). 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. Brauer was drafted out of high school by Montreal.

Korecky Earns Big Ten Pitching Award
Senior RHP Bobby Korecky was named Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance in the series opener at Texas-San Antonio as he struck out a career-best total of 13 batters and walked none in a six-hit, nine-inning shutout over the Roadrunners on Friday (March 8). The shutout was the third of his career and the complete game was the 14th in his 26 career starts.

Korecky struck out at least one batter in every inning and struck out the side in the seventh inning. He picked off two runners, and in the fourth inning with a 2-0 lead he got out of a first-and-third situation with one out with a strikeout and a 1-3 play on a topper down the third-base line.

The shutout was the first complete-game road shutout for the Wolverines since Korecky blanked Duquesne (March 5, 2000) in Jacksonville, Fla. The shutout was his 13th career win and he ranks 12th on Michigan's career innings pitched list with 222. Korecky needs just 6.1 innings to move into the top 10. Former Wolverine LHP Jim Burton (1969-71) is in 10th place with 228.1 innings pitched.

Wolverine Pitchers Rack Up Ks
Michigan's pitching staff collected 36 strikeouts in 27 innings in the three games at Texas-San Antonio (March 8-10), with the active career strikeout leaders Rich Hill (148) and Bobby Korecky (133) accounting for 28 of the Ks. It is ironic that both Hill and Korecky combined for two strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work in the opener at San Diego (March 1) and then fanned 28 in 18 innings in their next outings. Thus far the Wolverines have recorded 90 Ks in 101.2 innings with 59 walks.

Michigan's San Antonio Strikeout Artists

Rank, Player	Ks
1. Rich Hill	15
2. Bobby Korecky	13
3. Jim Brauer	5
4. Matt Collins	2
5. Jeff Trzos	1

Hill Nears 150th Strikeout
Junior LHP Rich Hill enters his start vs. Oral Roberts on Saturday (March 23) with 148 career strikeouts. Hill needed just 22 outings to reach 100. He has led the Wolverines in strikeouts his first two seasons and leads U-M with 23 Ks in his three starts this year. The Michigan record is 288 by LHP Jim Burton (1969-71). Russell Brock (1989-91) and Jim Abbott (1986-88) are tied for ninth on the all-time U-M strikeout list at 186.

Current U-M Career Strikeouts Leaders (Pitching)

Pitcher	Games	Career Ks	2002    Ks
Rich Hill	32	148	12
Bobby Korecky	54	131	13
Tim Leveque	29	66	9
Jeff Trzos	43	61	6
Jim Brauer	15	46	14

Koman Makes Shortstop Debut
Junior Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS), 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), made his Wolverine debut at shortstop in the recent series at Texas-San Antonio.

Koman, who handled 11 of 12 chances in his first three starts at shortstop, has hits in 10 of the 12 games this season and in 52 of the 65 games he has played in the past two years. Koman is the only Wolverine to reach base in all 12 games this season, and he has reached base in 21 straight games over two seasons. Koman is nearing some milestones as he enters the Kansas trip week with 144 career hits, 81 runs scored and 96 RBI in 116 games. He hit his 16th career homer in the series at Texas-San Antonio.

"B-Rob" Slams Away
Sophomore outfielder Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) added another "slam" in the Texas homecoming series at Texas-San Antonio. Roberts was 3-for-3 in the 7-0 win in the series opener vs. the Roadrunners (March 8) and he collected a pair of doubles, a grand slam homer and drove in five runs, including the game-winner.

Roberts, son of former Major League Wolverine Leon Roberts, is hitting .316 with 11 starts in the 12 games. He leads the team in doubles (6) and extra-base hits (8), and he shares the team RBI lead (9) with Brock Koman and senior/junior 1B/DH Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS). Roberts shares the team lead with his two home runs, and two of his three career homers have been grand slams. In fact, he has Michigan's last two slams, at home (vs. Michigan State in 2001) and on the road (at UTSA last weekend).

Michigan's Last Five Grand Slams

Player	Opponent	Date
Brandon Roberts	at Texas-San Antonio	3/8/02
Brandon Roberts	vs. Michigan State	5/5/01
Brock Koman	vs. Illinois	4/28/01
Mike Sokol	vs. Siena Heights	4/22/01
Mike Seestedt	at San Diego	2/27/99

Wright Adds Offense
Senior/junior 1B Nate Wright (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew HS) has added some offense to the Wolverine attack heading into the Kansas weekend. Wright, a co-captain, had a pair of two-hit games in the series at Texas-San Antonio, while his three starts pushes his career start total to 50 games. Wright has 15 career multiple-hit games as a Wolverine. Wright, who missed the entire 2000 season due to surgery, has played in 56 games the past two seasons, collecting 60 hits.

Wuerfel "Doubles Doubles"
Junior catcher Jason Wuerfel (Cedar, Mich./Glen Lake HS) made his first start of the season at Texas-San Antonio an impressive one as he collected two doubles in the game, pushing his career total to four two-baggers. Wuerfel doubled in the fifth and scored to tie the game at 1-1 and he put the Wolverines ahead 2-1 with a run-scoring double in the sixth inning. Wuerfel, who had 16 putouts in the 10-inning, 3-2 loss, is hitting .417 (5-for-12) and three of his five hits are doubles. He is fielding 1.000, having handled 29 chances (27 putouts, two assists).

Wolverine Lineup Shows Versatility
After 12 games in 2002 the most versatile Wolverines continue to be senior Bobby Korecky (pitcher, DH and 2B) and sophomore Brandon Roberts (DH, LF and RF) with starts at three different positions and junior OF Gino Lollio (first, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth) and junior IF/OF Jordan Cantalamessa (first, second, seventh, eighth and ninth) starting in five different positions in the batting order.

Heading into the Kansas week, junior Brock Koman (3B-9, SS-3) and senior/junior Mike Sokol (1B-6, DH-6) have been the two players to start all 12 games. Koman has batted third in all 12 games. Lollio has the most starts in CF (6) and RF (5) and Sokol has the most starts at 1B (6) and DH (6). The Wolverines have had four different starters in LF, CF, RF and DH, while seven different players have started in the eighth batting slot.

The players with the most starts at each position thus far in 2002 include (2002 starts at position/total career starts at any position): 1B -- Mike Sokol (6/65) and Nate Wright (6/50); 2B -- Jordan Cantalamessa (8/102); SS -- Brandon Jominy (5/22) and Nick Rudden (4/4); 3B -- Brock Koman (9/116); LF -- Brandon Roberts (7/35); CF -- Gino Lollio (6/71); RF: Gino Lollio (5/71); C -- Jake Fox (6/51) and Alex Coleman (5/30); and DH Mike Sokol (6/65). Rudden is the lone true freshman listed.