Besco brothers work double duty

By James Goldstein
Daily Sports Writer

He's so good that you'd think that two of him are on the field.

There are two of them on the field.

Michigan's Derek and Brian Besco are identical twins.

Derek bats and throws right-handed -- Brian is a left-hander.

Derek is the Wolverines' right-fielder -- Brian shifts between first base and designated hitter. But Brian can also pitch.

The sophomore brothers from Westland have been a successful duo. Both have contributed greatly in Michigan's hot conference start.

And both were a large reason why the Wolverines took three of four from Minnesota over the weekend, 7-3, 6-2, 4-2 and 0-4.

Derek came into the four-game set against the Gophers leading Michigan with his sizzling .385 batting average, having stroked 10 hits in 26 at-bats.

And against Minnesota, Derek went 6-for-12 with one home run and had two RBI.

Derek's dinger was just one-of-three in Saturday's 6-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader.

Michigan third-baseman Mike Cervenak belted two two-run homers in the victory.

Cervenak opened the sixth inning, crushing Minnesota pitcher Mike Diebolt's first pitch to the grassy knoll past the leftfield fence.

And then stepped up Derek.

"I followed Cervenak's home run, so it was a fastball right down the middle," Derek said. "I was going to take advantage of it. I got all of it. It just happened at a good time. We needed a couple of more runs."

But Derek contributed in the field, too.

He made two solid defensive plays that thwarted any chance of long innings for the Gophers.

The second game of Saturday's twinbill is when Derek helped out in the field.

Minnesota third-baseman Rob Smith led off the fourth inning with a long fly ball to right-centerfield. Derek was playing close to the rightfield foul line, but made a nice one-handed backhand catch on the dead run -- saving a certain double.

And then three batters later with a runner at second and two outs, Gopher leftfielder Troy Stein blooped a hit over Michigan first baseman Mike Muir's head.

Derek charged toward the bouncing ball, picked it up in stride, and fired a one-bounce throw to catcher Mike Haskell. Haskell tagged Minnesota runner Craig Selander, who was attempting to score from second base, for the final out of the inning.

No run, no harm, nice throw.

"My arm has been feeling good," Derek said. "(Opponents) have been running on me and I'm just going to throw them out every time I have a chance."

Brian has not been hitting as torridly as Derek has. But it looks like he is breaking out of his slump.

Before the Minnesota series began, Brian was hitting an ice-cold .173 on nine hits in 52 at-bats. The left-hander had two home runs and eight RBI.

But Brian gave the Wolverines a lift in the first and final games of the series.

Saturday, Brian went 2-for-2, a double and a triple, and knocked in a run.

He opened the fourth inning with a shot that hit the base of the wall under the 400-foot sign. Brian wound up at third base with a stand-up triple.

The designated hitter knocked in a run in his next at-bat in the sixth with a line-drive double that raced by the leftfielder and centerfielder.

But Brian contributed in another way yesterday. He was called upon by Michigan coach Geoff Zahn to relieve starter Mike Hribernik in the middle of the third.

Brian pitched four and two-third innings and allowed just three hits, striking out three.

The Besco brothers are more and more becoming crucial factors in Michigan's games.

Derek's bat is a must in the fifth position of the batting order. Cervenak and Kelly Dransfeldt are going to be pitched around if they continue their hot hitting.

Brian has somewhat regained his hitting stroke. But it's on the mound where he is going to counted on just as much as at bat.

Now can't you distinguish between the two of them?

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