Weekly Release No. 12

U-M's Big Ten Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 15 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 7:05 p.m.
Thursday, May 16 -- vs. TBA (Columbus, Ohio, 12:05 or 3:35 p.m.
Complete Schedule

Wolverines Face Big Ten Champ Ohio State
The University of Michigan baseball team faces No. 24-ranked Ohio State, the Big Ten Conference regular-season champion, in the first round of the 2001 Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday (May 16, 7:05 p.m.) at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Michigan's second-round game will be on Thursday (May 17) with opponent and time to be determined.

The Wolverines (26-26, 10-14 Big Ten) earned the sixth seed in the conference tournament by going 1-3 vs. Ohio State last weekend (May 11-13) to close out the regular season. Michigan's 1-3 series combined with Minnesota's sweep of Northwestern kept the Wolverines in the playoff picture. No. 2 seed Purdue, No. 3 Minnesota, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Illinois join Michigan and host Ohio State in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

Michigan Returns to Big Ten Tournament
Michigan heads back to postseason play in the Big Ten for the 14tth time in the 21 years that the conference has held a tournament. The Wolverines hosted and won the first Big Ten Tournament in 1981. In fact, the Wolverines have won the tournament six times, including three in Ann Arbor (1981, 1983 and 1987), two in Minneapolis (1984 and 1986) and once in Columbus (1999). This will be Michigan's first appearance in a six-team league championship tournament.

Zahn Leads Wolverines To Fourth Tournament
Michigan's Geoff Zahn, with a career record of 161-167-2, is in his fourth Big Ten Tournament in his six seasons at the helm for the Wolverines. Zahn has led Michigan to Big Ten Conference championships in 1997 (regular season) and 1999 (tournament). The Wolverines have made the Big Ten playoffs four times in his six seasons (1996, '97, '99, 2001) and advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 1999.

Michigan vs. Tournament Field
Michigan holds a 128-77-1 edge in the series vs. Ohio State that started in 1895. OSU took three of the four games played last weekend in Columbus, but Michigan has won three times in Bill Davis Stadium, including an 8-6 win in the first round of the 1999 conference tournament won by the Wolverines.

Against the rest of the field, Michigan holds a 113-40 edge over Purdue, a 71-68 lead over Minnesota and a 99-75 edge over Illinois. Penn State has a 26-15 lead in the series vs. the Wolverines.

Tentative Wolverine Tournament Pitching Rotation
The tentative starting pitchers for the Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament at Ohio State this week (May 16-19) include junior Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS), junior Bobby Wood (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and staff. Wolverine "tentatives" for Big Ten Tournament:

Wednesday vs. Ohio State: Korecky (RHP, 6-3, 2.94 ERA) allowed 15 hits in eight innings but limited OSU to five runs in the 7-5 win last Friday (May 11). Five of his six wins have been on the road, vs. OSU, Minnesota and Iowa in the Big Ten and Kansas and McNeese State in non-conference action. Korecky leads the staff in starts (11), wins (6), innings (93.2) and complete games (7). Korecky has allowed runs in just 25 of his last 88 innings.
Thursday vs. TBA: Wood (RHP, 4-3, 2.70 ERA) took the loss in the 2-0 Ohio State win last Saturday (May 12). Wood has pitched a pair of complete games in his four starts this season. His complete games include a win over Michigan State and a 3-2 loss to Illinois. He enters the tournament tied for third on the team with 14 appearances and he has wins over Michigan State, Western Michigan, Bowling Green and Indiana. Took first loss in relief at Minnesota. Wood has saves over McNeese State and Indiana. He recorded win and save in doubleheader vs. Indiana.

Korecky Key to Friday Success
With Michigan entering the Big Ten Tournament at Ohio State this week, junior RHP Bobby Korecky has played a major role. The Wolverines collected half of their 10 wins in Friday action in the battle of pitching aces. Korecky made all seven Big Ten Friday starts and earned four of the wins, including Big Ten road wins vs. Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State. His fourth win was at home vs. Indiana and his no-decision vs. Illinois was a game the Wolverines won 11-10 with a 10th-inning rally. Korecky's Friday losses were both complete games, a 2-1 loss to Penn State and a 9-7 loss at Michigan State.

Alexander Sets Lefty Mark, Ranks Sixth Overall
Senior LHP Nick Alexander (Alpena, Mich./Alpena HS) made two bullpen appearances in the doubleheader at Ohio State on Saturday (May 12), giving him 61 career pitching appearances. He moved from a tie for seventh on Michigan's all-time pitching appearance list to sixth alone. Alexander now holds the Michigan career mark for appearances by a left-handed pitcher. The top six Wolverines on the pitching appearance list are right-handed, led by Todd Marion (1990-93), who made 106 appearances.

Captain Tousa Notches 200-200, Ranks Eighth on Hit List
Senior tri-captain 2B Scott Tousa (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands HS) collected seven hits during the final week of the regular season to move into eighth slot on Michigan's all-time hit list, passing Tim Flannelly (209 hits, 1989-91) during the eighth inning Sunday (May 13) while playing in his 200th game as a Wolverine. Next on the hit list is Phil Price (215 hits, 1987-90). Tousa has kept his batting average steady, hitting .319 (60-for-188) while playing in a team-leading 51 games.

Michigan's Career Hit Leaders

Rank, Player (Years)		Games	Hits
1.	Mike Cervenak (1996-99)	214	293
2.	Jason Alcaraz (1996-99)	213	272
3.	Ken Hayward (1982-85)	234	267
4.	Jim Paciorek (1979-82)	197	254
5.	Casey Close (1983-86)	229	240
6.	Bobby Scales (1996-99)	190	226
7.	Phil Price (1987-90)	222	215
8.	Scott Tousa (1998-present)	200	210

More Tousa Milestones
Senior 2B Scott Tousa has played in 51 of Michigan's 52 games this season and he pushed his career total to 200 games played Sunday (May 13) in Columbus. Tousa enters the Big Ten Tournament with 680 career at bats to rank in fourth place on Michigan's all-time at bats list. Tousa moved ahead of Jim Paciorek (677 at bats, 1979-82) and former teammate Bryan Besco (679 at bats, 1995-99) during the OSU series.

Michigan's Career At Bats Leaders

Rank, Player (Years)		Games	At Bats
1.	Mike Cervenak (1996-99)	214	831
2.	Jason Alcaraz (1996-99)	213	788
3.	Ken Hayward (1982-85)	234	710
4.	Scott Tousa (1998-present)	200	680

Koman Reaches Century Start
Sophomore 3B Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) made his 100th career start on the same day tri-captain 2B Scott Tousa played in his 200th game as a Wolverine. Koman enters the Big Ten Tournament leading the Wolverines with his .376 (68-for-181) batting average and he collected his 12th homer of the season against the Buckeyes. Koman leads the Wolverines in hits (68), doubles (18), home runs (12), sacrifice flies (5), RBI (53), total bases (126), slugging percentage (.696) and on-base percentage (.459). He ranks second in games (49), at bats (181), runs (43) and hit by pitch (11) and he is third with 21 walks.

Closer Trzos Drops ERA Under Two
Junior LHP Jeff Trzos (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS) saw action twice in the Ohio State series, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 1.83 (four earned runs in 19.2 innings). Trzos has made 17 appearances and has allowed earned runs in just one outing, so his ERA for the other 16 outings is 0.00.

Trzos also made two first base starts at OSU. He reached base three times in the opener and his sacrifice bunt helped fuel the four-run ninth-inning rally in the 7-5 win.

Fox Streak Snapped
Freshman catcher Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS) had his career-best hitting streak snapped at nine games in the regular season finale at Ohio State. Fox led the Wolverines in Big Ten play with a .395 average that included 32 hits (81 at bats) and both of his home runs (vs. Penn State and Minnesota).

Fox, who leads the catching corps with 31 starts, has been hitting at a .374 pace (40-for-107) to push his overall average to .297 after a very slow (3-for-38, .079) start in his first 12 games. Fox has had 10 multiple-hit games this season, including a season-high 4-for-5 game vs. archrival Michigan State (May 5) and three-hit games vs. MSU (May 4) and Ohio State (May 11).

Ralston Saves Opener
Fifth-year senior RHP Bryce Ralston (Tacoma, Wash./Curtis HS), who has seen limited duty while returning from "Tommy John surgery" that kept him out all of the 2000 season, made a major contribution in the series opener at Ohio State (May 11). Ralston (0-1, 6.14 ERA) entered the Friday night contest with two outs and two OSU runners on base and Michigan leading 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning. He threw four pitches, got a flyout to right and notched the save. Ralston's save was his third career save, but the first since 1998 and his first-ever Big Ten save.

Rutkowski Battles Out of "Rut"
Sophomore CF Blake Rutkowski (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) is another of the Wolverines that started slowly in 2001. Penciled in as the regular centerfielder to start the season, Rutkowski went 6-for-39 (.154) in his first 25 games. However, since a 4-for-4 game vs. Siena Height (April 22) Rutkowski has been smoking with 23 hits in 56 at bats (.411) and three-hit games in Big Ten play vs. Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State. Rutkowski finished the Big Ten portion of the schedule hitting .347, giving him back-to-back Big Ten seasons over .300 as he hit .302 as a freshman in conference action.

Big Ten Standings (through 5/14/01)

 1. Ohio State 20-7 .741 2. Purdue 19-7 .731 3. Minnesota 19-8 .704 4. Penn State 15-11 .577 5. Illinois 13-14 .481 6. MICHIGAN 10-14 .417 7. Northwestern 11-17 .393 8. Michigan State 9-17 .346 9. Iowa 8-17 .320 10. Indiana 7-19 .269

Wolverine Lineup
After 52 games in 2001, senior 2B Scott Tousa leads the team in games started/played at 51, with sophomore 3B Brock Koman second with 49 starts.

The players with the most starts at each position in 2001 include (2001 starts at position/total career starts at any position): 1B -- Nate Wright (33/41); 2B -- Scott Tousa (48/191); SS -- Bill LaRosa (34/68); 3B -- Brock Koman (49/100); LF -- Jordan Cantalamessa (41/87); CF -- Blake Rutkowski (28/65); RF -- Brandon Roberts (24/24); C -- Jake Fox (31/38); and DH -- Mike Sokol (25/53). Roberts and Fox are true freshmen.