Consistency a must for Blue

Here's the scenario: Last year, the Michigan baseball team won the Big Ten championship. This season, the Wolverines were honored with a top-10 national ranking, but when April started, they were buried in the cellar of the Big Ten.

To make the situation even more complicated, the once-heralded pitching staff was struggling, and was set to face one of the hottest teams in the nation in Minnesota. Nobody had confidence in the Wolverines. They lost two big series to Illinois and Ohio State in consecutive weeks, only managing to beat up on little Oakland University.

Tomorrow's game will provide an interesting test. Last week, Bowling Green visited Ann Arbor. Usually, Michigan schedules cream puffs as midweek opponents in order to beef up individual statistics and the team record. But Bowling Green wasn't defeat

LOUIS BROWN/Daily Battling inconsistency all year, the Michigan baseball team looks to get back to .500 when it plays Bowling Green for the second time this season.

ed handily. Michigan won the game behind 13 runs - an expected offensive output against a MAC opponent - but the pitching and defense in this game was horrendous, to say the least.

The Wolverines seemed to have the game wrapped up in the fifth, leading 9-3. But in the next four innings, the Wolverines gave up eight runs and committed an unheard-of five errors. This sloppy contest was not extinguished until the top of the ninth, when Tyler Steketee struck out the side with the bases loaded.

Bobby Scales said "A win is a win" after the game, but if the Falcons face the same Wolverines they saw last week, they might take advantage of the opportunity to defeat last year's Big Ten champs.

"Since we started off pretty poorly, and we need wins, we treat every game as a big game," rightfielder Derek Besco said.

But the big question is: Which team will show up tomorrow - and furthermore, for the rest of the season? The Wolverines are in seventh place in the Big Ten standings, but remarkably are only four games behind conference-leading Illinois.

"Last season the Big Ten championship came down to the final weekend," Besco said. "We're not going to worry about what other teams do, but rather just win our games and stay focused on our goal."

But the goal the Wolverines set for themselves at the beginning of the season can be erased with another series blunder. Besco said their goal is still to win the Big Ten, but more important, to reach the NCAA regionals.

Michigan has already played the top three teams in the Big Ten: In Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio State. Teams such as Penn State, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan - all middle-of-the-road ballclubs remain on the schedule.

Michigan's confidence has been rattled. The Wolverines' horrid trip to Texas disappointed many, and up until Minnesota, the only fans Michigan had were the managers and redshirt freshmen in the stands.

But can we really believe that this talented Michigan squad will steam roll into the Big Ten Tournament?

Or will Michigan falter this week against Bowling Green and Michigan State? Only time will tell if consistency will prevail.

04-14-98