On the whole, Rutkowski would rather be in Ann Arbor

By Ryan C. Moloney

Daily Sports Writer

CHAMPAIGN - "No way," freshman outfielder Blake Rutkowski said.

The short and to the point answer from Michigan's freshman centerfielder quelled all speculation of whether or not the Illinois native regretted choosing Michigan over the Fighting Illini to play college baseball. Illinois had just finished taking three of four games from the Wolverines, but as he scanned the Illini's celebration, Rutkowski stopped short of prediction - confident swagger would do.

"We can play a lot better than these guys," he said. "I'm looking forward to that."

Rutkowski was recruited heavily out of high school by Illinois and liked the program - but he liked Michigan more. Playing in front of his parents and friends, Rutkowski's weekend started off relatively quietly. He sat out Friday's game and went 0-for-3 in Saturday's first game. He singled in a tidy, but modest, 1-for-2 performance in Saturday's second game and cracked the starting lineup again yesterday.

Though most of the Michigan batting order would beg to differ, Rutkowski found nothing mysterious about Illini starter Mitch Walk's curveball, going 3-for-4 including two crushed doubles for three RBI. If his bat continues, Rutkowski may find himself as the third freshman, along with Brock Koman and Jordan Cantalamessa, to join the every day starting lineup.

"I'm starting to see the ball a lot better now," Rutkowski said.

Parrish on a rip-roarin' race: David Parrish continues to impress managers on his tenacious tour of Big Ten hitting venues. Parrish found Illini Field especially comfortable - he batted .692, going 9 for 13 in the four-game set and extended his hit streak to 13 games. Illinois coach Itch Jones employed a number of strategies, all to no avail.

"I don't know if we can pitch to David Parrish, he's hit everything we've thrown to him."

Jones decided on pitching Parrish inside in the series' third game when Parrish popped-out and knocked a bloop single to right on fastballs on the handle.

"We'll take our chances (with inside pitching)," Jones said. "Scratch singles are a lot better than him ripping doubles down the line."

In fact, on Sunday it looked as if Jones' strategy worked too well - Parrish was hit by a pitch in his first two at-bats.

Bat Caved: The umpiring crew of Dave Smith, Steve Partington and Don Umland confiscated one of Jordan Cantalamessa's bats before the start of yesterday's game. The umpires examine the bats in both dugouts before every game and found Cantalamessa's bat too flat for game play.

"With the light alloy metals they use, they flatten out sometimes," coach Geoff Zahn said.

The Wolverines have sent back 15 bats to their manufacturers this year because of splitting or flattening-out, Zahn said.

Varsity Blues: After starting the season as Michigan's red-hot No. 3 hitter, freshman Brock Koman has struggled as of late. For the series, Koman went 2-for-13 and dropped to sixth in the batting lineup. Against Big Ten competition, Koman is hitting .090. Overall, he's hitting .308.

"Brock's a mature kid," Zahn said. "He's just going through a slump, a tough time. He'll hit again, he's got the temperament for it.

Courtesy of Jim Atwood/DAILY ILLINI

Freshman firstbaseman Brock Koman is still in a slump, but his batting problems have not affected his fielding. Koman played an error free weekend at first and third base.