Weekly Release No. 7

Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, April 17 -- vs. Oakland (Ray Fisher Stadium), 3 p.m.
Friday, April 19 -- vs. Michigan State (Ray Fisher Stadium), 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 20 -- DH at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 21 -- vs. Michigan State (Ray Fisher Stadium), 1 p.m.
Friday, April 26 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 27 -- DH at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 28 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 1 p.m.
Tuesday, April 30 -- vs. Notre Dame (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 1 p.m.
Wednesday, May 1 -- vs. Eastern Michigan (Ray Fisher Stadium), 3 p.m.

Michigan Faces Oakland, Archrival Spartans
The University of Michigan baseball team (11-16, 6-6 Big Ten) faces another crucial April Big Ten test with a four-game weekend series with Michigan State (April 19-21). The Wolverines host Oakland in a non-conference single game scheduled for Ray Fisher Stadium on Wednesday (April 17, 3 p.m.) before returning to conference action. While the Wolverines play 14 of 16 April Big Ten games on the road, this is the weekend that Michigan has a pair of home games.

Michigan hosts Michigan State (22-8, 6-5 Big Ten) in single nine-inning Big Ten games on Friday (April 19, 3 p.m.) and Sunday (April 21, 1 p.m.) with the doubleheader (two seven-inning games) slated for Saturday (April 20, 1 p.m.) at Kobs Field on the MSU campus in East Lansing. The series takes on added importance as the Wolverines (6-6) enter the fourth Big Ten weekend series in sixth place, the final playoff position in the standings, after splitting four games at Illinois (April 12-14). Michigan State (6-5) is in fifth place after splitting a home series with Indiana.

MSU is scheduled to host Wayne State on Tuesday (April 16) before the weekend series vs. Wolverines. Oakland enters the week with a 7-20 record and plays at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday (April 16) before heading to Ann Arbor.

Coaching Matchups
The coaching matchup this weekend features a pair of former Michigan assistant coaches going head-to-head for the first time as Michigan's interim head coach Chris Harrison, who served as assistant coach the past six years, faces Michigan State's Ted Mahan, who was an assistant coach at Michigan from 1988 to 1991.

Harrison enters the week with an overall record of 11-18 (6-6 Big Ten) after splitting four games at Illinois last weekend (April 12-14). A head coach in the NAIA ranks at The Master's College (San Clarita, Calif.) for four seasons, Harrison collected his first win as a Wolverine at UC-Irvine (2/26/02) and his first Big Ten win vs. Iowa (March 30). Michigan is 6-1 in Ray Fisher Stadium.

Mark Avery, in his fourth season as head coach at Oakland, enters the week with a career coaching record of 63-120 with the Golden Grizzlies of the Mid-Continent Conference. Oakland's highlight this season was a 10-5 win at No. 25 Ohio State (April 10).

Ted Mahan, in his seventh season as head coach at Michigan State, enters the week with a career coaching mark of 164-192. Mahan earned four letters as a Wolverine catcher (1974-77), played on a pair of Big Ten championship teams (1975 and 1976) and played in three NCAA Regional Tournaments for the Wolverines (1975-76-77). Mahan shared the Ray Fisher Award as Michigan MVP with Rick Leach in 1977. Mahan was an assistant coach at Michigan (1988-91) and at Michigan State (1992-95) before taking over as MSU's head coach in 1996. Mahan is the answer to the trivia question: Who was the last Wolverine to hit for a cycle on the road Mahan went 5-for-5 (2B, 1B, 3B, 1B, HR) in a 14-3 win at Iowa (April 17, 1976).

Opponent Matchups
Michigan holds the series edge against both opponents this week, with a 6-2 edge over the Golden Grizzlies from Oakland University and a 161-84-2 lead over MSU. Michigan and Oakland split a doubleheader last season with the Grizzlies winning the opener 3-2 before Rich Hill (Milton, Mass./Milton HS) tossed a one-hit shutout in the second game to win 3-0. Michigan State took three of the four games with the Wolverines a year ago, winning the single games 9-7 and 8-5 at home and splitting the doubleheader in Michigan's Ray Fisher Stadium. In a strange note Michigan actually outscored MSU in the series last year by a 35-29 margin as the one Wolverine win was 21-2.

Big Ten Weekend Schedule
The Michigan "home-and-home" series with Michigan State is one of the five Big Ten series this weekend. In other conference action Illinois plays at Minnesota, Iowa is at Purdue, Ohio State travels to Indiana, and Penn State is at Northwestern.

Big Ten Standings (through 4/14/02)

 1. Ohio State 9-3 .750 2. Indiana 8-4 .667 Purdue 8-4 .667 4. Minnesota 7-4 .636 5. Michigan State 6-5 .545 6. MICHIGAN 6-6 .500 7. Illinois 5-7 .417 8. Northwestern 3-8 .273 Penn State 3-8 .273 10. Iowa 3-9 .250

Fox Named Big Ten Player of the Week
Sophomore catcher Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS) was named Big Ten Player of the Week as he went 6-for-12 (.500) with three doubles and three homers last weekend at Illinois (April 12-14). Fox made three starts in the four-game series and drove in the first Wolverine run in each of those games, and his solo homer in the fifth inning of the second game of the series was the "game-winner." Fox jumped his batting average to .292 on the season and he moved his slugging percentage to a team-leading .708 with six doubles, three triples and five home runs. In Sunday's (April 14) loss at Illinois Fox was 3-for-5 with a double, two homers and five RBI. Fox is hitting .304 in conference play with a slugging percentage of .826.

Hill Named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week
Junior LHP Rich Hill was named Big Ten co-Pitcher of the Week as he fired a five-hit shutout in Saturday's (April 13) doubleheader opener a Illinois for his third consecutive Big Ten complete game and his second shutout. Hill lowered his Big Ten ERA to 0.90 and had eight strikeouts and no walks in his third career shutout. He shared the award with Illinois LHP Andy Dickinson, who beat the Wolverines 1-0 in the series opener (April 12).

Hill's eight strikeouts push his team-leading total to 56 in 42 innings. Hill is the 'active' career strikeout leader for the Wolverines and he now has 181 strikeouts in 143 innings. Hill is just five strikeouts behind Jim Abbott (186 strikeouts, 1986-88) and Russell Brock (186, 1989-91). They are tied for ninth on Michigan's all-time strikeout list.

U-M Career Leaders in Strikeout (Pitching)

 Pitcher (Years) L/R Games Ks Jim Burton (1969-71) L 45 288 Mike Ignasiak (1985-88) R 76 286 Fritz Fisher (1961-63) L 41 259 Pete Helt (1970-73) L 45 215 Gary Wayne (1982-84) L 56 205 Ross Powell (1987-89) L 57 201 Steve Howe (1977-79) L 41 196 Mike Grimes (1987-89) R 48 189 Russell Brock (1989-91) R 49 186 Jim Abbott (1986-88) L 46 186 J.J. Putz (1996-99) R 50 185 RICH HILL (2000-present) L 37 181

Probable Wolverine Pitching Rotation
The probable starting pitchers for the Wolverines this week includes a staff day vs. Oakland, while the probable weekend starters vs. Michigan State include senior Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS), junior Rich Hill, sophomore Jim Brauer (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) and senior Jeff Trzos (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS). Michigan's probables for the week:

Wednesday vs. Oakland -- This game will be a staff day and no starter had been named prior to this release being issued.
Game #1 vs. MSU (Friday) -- Bobby Korecky (RHP, 2-4, 4.35 ERA, one save) is slated to make his seventh start of the season and the 31st start of his U-M career. Last weekend he took a 1-0 loss at Illinois, his second straight start in which Michigan was shut out. He leads Big Ten with a 0.42 ERA, having allowed just one earned run in three games (22 innings). He tossed a two-hit shutout in the Big Ten opener vs. Iowa, his third career complete game win over the Hawkeyes. He has completed 17 of his 30 career starts after serving as closer as a freshman. He has completed four of his six starts in 2002 and finished the game in six of his eight appearances including a save vs. Bowling Green (seventh career save). Both wins this season have been shutouts, vs. Iowa and Texas-San Antonio. He earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for the shutout win at UTSA in which he fanned a career-high 13. Korecky's losses have been at UC-Riverside, Kansas, Minnesota and Illinois. Korecky is hitting .257 in eight starts (DH-6, 2B-2), including a 2-for-5 game at Illinois. A second team All-Big Ten performer, he earned the Geoff Zahn Award as Michigan's Most Valuable Pitcher in 2001. Korecky is second among Michigan's active pitchers with 146 career strikeouts.
Game #2 at MSU (Saturday) -- Rich Hill (LHP, 2-3, 3.21 ERA) is scheduled to make his 24th career start and 38th career pitching appearance in the game vs. MSU. He fanned eight and walked none in throwing five-hit shutout at Illinois, earning Big Ten co-Pitcher of the Week honors. He has 23 Big Ten strikeouts in 20 innings with pair of shutouts. He ranks third in Big Ten only stats with 0.90 ERA and he leads Big Ten with four pickoffs. He struck out eight in a 3-1 complete game loss at Minnesota (April 6) and fanned seven in tossing a four-hit shutout over Iowa (March 30). He leads the team in strikeouts (56) and is second in innings pitched (42). He fanned a career-high 15 batters in a nine-inning no-decision at Texas-San Antonio (March 9). Hill took the loss in the season opener vs. Oregon State and lost to Oral Roberts. Hill reached 100 strikeouts in just 22 career appearances and he is Michigan's active career strikeout leader with 181 Ks in 143 innings after leading the team in 2000 (53 strikeouts) and in 2001 (72). Hill was drafted by Cincinnati out of high school (1999) and by Anaheim in 2001.
Game #3 at MSU (Saturday) -- Jim Brauer (RHP, 1-3, 6.52 ERA) would make his 13th career start in the third game of the weekend. He allowed a run on three hits in three innings in start at Illinois #3 last weekend. He had given up two hits in 2.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen at Minnesota (April 6). He earned his first win of the season in relief against Bowling Green (March 19). His losses have been vs. Iowa, Texas-San Antonio and San Diego. He pitched seven innings at Texas-San Antonio (March 10) after pitching six innings in each of his spring trip starts vs. San Francisco (no decision) and at San Diego (loss). He enters the MSU week fourth on the team in innings pitched (29) and third in strikeouts (20). His three wins as a freshman came 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.
Game #4 vs. MSU (Sunday) -- Jeff Trzos (LHP, 1-3, 5.18 ERA) will make his fifth career start in the Illinois series. Trzos worked seven innings in a no-decision at Minnesota last weekend (April 7), allowing six hits and three runs in a game won by the Wolverines 4-3. He pitched his first career complete game in beating Iowa 4-1 in the series finale (March 31). He was 0-2 on the spring trip with losses to Oregon State and San Diego in the first starts of his career after 40 relief outings in first three seasons. He took the third loss in relief in extra innings at Texas-San Antonio (March 9). Trzos allowed earned runs in just one of 18 appearances as the closer in 2001 and did not allow an earned run in the last 16 appearances. Trzos has 69 strikeouts in 89 innings pitched in Wolverine career and he owns a .260 career batting average with three homers. He was drafted out of high school by Kansas City.

Roberts Collects Another Wolverine Slam
Sophomore LF Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) did it again as he slugged a grand slam home run in Michigan's 10-0 win at Illinois (April 13). Roberts blasted a pair of homers to help the Wolverines gain a doubleheader sweep over the Fighting Illini.

Grand slam homers have been rare with the Wolverines in recent years with the lack of slams at Fisher Stadium going from 1993 until three were hit in a three-week span last season. However, enter Roberts, who in 60 games in the last two seasons has gone 5-for-7 (.714) with the bases loaded, including three of his six career home runs. Roberts is hitting .287 and is second on the team with his .574 slugging percentage. He has a team-leading total of 15 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers) and he leads the team with 23 RBI.

The Wolverines had gone grand slam-less in Fisher Stadium since May 9, 1993, when Matt Copp "slammed" vs. Northwestern and in all games since 1999 until current senior/junior DH Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS) collected his grand slam vs. Siena Heights on April 22, 2000. Junior SS Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) hit the second slam in a less than a week later vs. Illinois on April 28. Since Koman's blast the Wolverines have had three slams, all by Roberts.

Michigan's Recent Grand Slam Homers

Player (Opponent)	Date	Site	Result
Brandon Roberts at Illinois	4/13/02	Road	W, 10-0
Brandon Roberts at Texas-San Antonio	3/8/02	Road	W, 7-0
Brandon Roberts vs. Michigan State	5/5/01	Home	W, 21-2
Brock Koman vs. Illinois	4/28/01	Home	W, 7-5
Mike Sokol vs. Siena Heights	4/22/01	Home	W, 12-2
Mike Seestedt at San Diego	2/27/99	Road	W, 8-5
Derek Besco vs. Maine	3/9/97	Neut	W, 21-11
Matt Copp* vs. Northwestern	5/9/93	Home	W, 8-7
* Last home slam prior to Sokol

Koman Climbs Doubles Chart, Nears 100th Run
Junior shortstop Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) enters the Michigan State week having started his climb up Michigan's career doubles top 10 and he is nearing 100 career runs. Koman collected five doubles in five games last week, including four in the weekend series at Illinois, as he jumped from 11th to eighth on the Wolverine career doubles chart. He tied and then moved ahead of Rodney Goble (39, 1992-95), Bobby Scales (41, 1996-99) and Derek Besco (42, 1995-98). Next on the list is Jim Paciorek (47, 1979-82). The amazing stat is Koman has played in just 133 games and Paciorek, with 197 games, is the only player left on the list with fewer than 200 career games played.

Koman, who in conference-only action leads the Big Ten in doubles (6), walks (11) and on-base percentage (.562), reached base eight consecutive at-bats in the series at Illinois and 11 times in his last 14 plate appearances in the series. Koman scored six times in the "streak of eight" vs. Illinois with four walks, three doubles and a HBP. He did find time to snap a 2-2 tie with a run-scoring double, his 13th career game-winning RBI, in the 5-3 win to sweep the doubleheader (April 13).

Koman scored eight runs in five games last week to close in on the 100-run scored plateau as he needs just five more runs to hit the century mark. He has reached several career milestones so far this season, including 150 hits and 100 RBI. Koman, who leads the team in hitting (.373), has 46 career multiple-hit games and has hits in 24 of the 29 games this year. He has hits in 66 of the last 81 games in the last two seasons. He tops U-M in starts (29), hits (38), walks (25), HBP (8) and runs (25).

U-M Career Leaders in Doubles

 Player (Years) Games Doubles Mike Cervenak (1996-99) 214 67 Bryan Besco (1995-99) 207 55 Jason Alcaraz (1996-99) 213 54 Phil Price (1987-90) 222 53 Casey Close (1983-86) 229 49 Ken Hayward (1982-85) 234 49 Jim Paciorek (1979-82) 197 47 BROCK KOMAN (2000-present) 133 44 Derek Besco (1995-98) 154 42 Bobby Scales (1996-99) 190 41

Collins Captures Third Win
Freshman RHP Matt Collins (Bloomfield Village, Mich./Country Day) collected his third win as a Wolverine in less than two weeks when he work a career-best 3.1 innings in a 5-3 win at Illinois. Collins, who notched his first two wins in relief over Detroit Mercy (April 3) and at Minnesota (April 7), came up with No. 3 against Illinois (April 13). Collins leads the Wolverine staff in bullpen appearances (8) and that leaves him tied for second among the team leaders in overall outings with starters Rich Hill (9) and Bobby Korecky (8). Collins is second among the regulars with his 3.45 ERA and has recorded 14 strikeouts in 15.1 innings. In the win at Illinois Collins struck out the side in the sixth and held on for the win, collecting his fifth strikeout to end the game with the bases loaded.

Korecky Tops Big Ten, Brings Shutouts
"No" news has been good and bad news for senior RHP Bobby Korecky as his last three starts have included "no runs" for one team (as in shutouts). The good news is that Korecky leads the Big Ten in conference-only ERA at 0.41 and opponents are hitting just .167 for the second lowest average in the league. The bad news is Korecky is 1-2 in conference play. Korecky's two wins this season have been shutouts over Texas-San Antonio and Iowa, but he has lost back-to-back Big Ten road starts vs. Minnesota and Illinois. He has allowed one earned run in 22 Big Ten innings.

Korecky Improves Career Innings/Games Rankings
Senior RHP Bobby Korecky added another complete game at Illinois and added eight more innings to his lofty career total. Korecky has made eight pitching appearances this season heading into the Michigan State weekend, giving him 59 for his career and tying him with former teammate Bryan Cranson (59, 1997-2000) for eighth on Michigan's career list. Korecky's team-leading total of 51.2 innings pushes his Wolverine career total to 253.2 innings, good for fifth place.

U-M Career Leaders in Innings Pitched

 Pitcher (Years) Games Innings Wins Mike Ignasiak (1985-88) 76 328.2 33 Steve Howe (1977-79) 41 265.2 27 Fritz Fisher (1961-63) 41 263.2 21 Gary Wayne (1981-84) 56 261.0 24 BOBBY KORECKY (1999-present) 59 253.2 14

U-M Career Leaders in Pitching Appearances

 Pitcher (Years) L/R Games Wins Saves Todd Marion (1990-93) R 106 9 32 John Arvai (1993-96) R 86 15 16 Mike Ignasiak (1985-88) R 76 33 10 Greg Everson (1985-87) R 73 12 15 Tyler Steketee (1995-98) R 66 6 15 Nick Alexander (1998-2001) L 61 9 3 Mark Temple (1993-96) R 60 12 1 BOBBY KORECKY (1999-present) R 59 14 7 Bryan Cranson (1997-2000) L 59 15 1

Cantalamessa Completes Odd Cycle
Junior 2B Jordan Cantalamessa (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) completed an "oddball" career cycle when he hit a pair of homers in his first two at-bats in Sunday's series finale at Illinois. In his three seasons as a Wolverine Cantalamessa has hit two doubles in a game twice (at Stetson, 3/2/01, and vs. Indiana, 4/7/01), two triples in a game (vs. Central Michigan, 5/9/01) and now two homers in a game (vs. Illinois, 4/14/02).

Other "odd" happenings with the two-homer game included the fact that Cantalamessa led off the top of the second with a homer and Luke Simmons led off the bottom of the second with a homer for Illinois. The two are both from Englewood, Colo., and were teammates at Cherry Creek High School.

It was also odd that U-M teammate Jake Fox hit two homers in the same game and that the last time a Wolverine had hit two homers in a game it was done by Sunday's starting pitcher, Jeff Trzos, in a game at Eastern Michigan (5/3/2000). Therefore, the last three Wolverines to hit two homers in a game were in the lineup at the same time.

Same Old Lineup Note
After 29 games in 2002 the most versatile Wolverines continue to be senior Bobby Korecky (pitcher, DH and 2B), sophomore Brandon Roberts (DH, LF and RF), sophomore Jake Fox (catcher, 3B and DH) and freshman OF Chris Burhans (LF, CF and RF) with starts at three different positions.

Junior OF Gino Lollio (first, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth), junior IF/OF Jordan Cantalamessa (first, second, seventh, eighth and ninth) and junior catcher Alex Coleman (second, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth) have started in five different positions in the batting order.

Heading into the MSU week junior Brock Koman (SS-20, 3B-9) is the only player to start in all 29 games and Lollio (28 starts) is the other Wolverine to have seen action in all 29. Koman has batted third in all 29 games. The Wolverines have had six different starters at DH, five in LF, and four starters in CF, RF and at 2B, while nine different players have started in the eighth batting slot.

Following the games at Illinois (April 12-14) the players with the most starts at each position thus far include (2002 starts at position/total career starts at any position): 1B -- Nate Wright (21/64); 2B -- Jordan Cantalamessa (21/115); SS -- Brock Koman (20/134); 3B -- Brandon Jominy (15/37) and Koman (9/134); LF -- Brandon Roberts (23/51); CF -- Matt Butler (15/15) and Blake Rutkowski (7/76); RF -- Gino Lollio (22/88); C -- Alex Coleman (16/41) and Jake Fox (10/60); and DH -- Mike Sokol (17/81).