48 -The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 15, 2002 0 YESTERDAY'S GAME 2 Michigan , Wisconsin 0 Michigan (8-2, 32-8) ' Player AB R H BI Kolen 2b 4 00 01 Doecof 4 01 01 Volpe 3b 4 1 2 0 Shock c 4 1 10 Young 1b 3 01 0 Teschler pr 0 0 0 0 Moulden If 3 1 2 11 Merchant ss 2 0 0 0 Mack dh 3 1 1 1 Conner rf 1 0 0 0 Motycka p/ph 1 0 0 01 Wisconsin (7-5, 24-14) Player AB R N BI Hagen cf 2 0 00 Liles rf 3 0 0 0 Zacherss 3 0 1 0 Jlones 2b 1 0 0 0 Gillette c/3b 3 0 0 0 Reissi1b 3 00 0 Padovan If 3 0 0 0 Starry dh/c 3 0 1 0 Barnharst pr 0 0 0 0 Ox8I nro3/ch 2 0 0 0 Kirchberg p 0 0 0 0 Layne p 0 00 0 YESTERDAY'S GAME 2 Michigan 4 Wisconsin 0 YESTERDAY'S GAME 1 Wisconsin 2 Michigan 0 SATURDAY'S GAME 5 % Michigan 5 All- Minnesota 3 FRIDAY'S GAME Minnesota Michigan 11 0 Total 29 4 8 2 Total 230 201 E - Wisconsin 2: Consolmagno, Kirchberg. DP - none. LOB - Michigan 7; Wisconsin 5. 28 - Michigan 2: Moulden, Mack. 386- none. HR - none. BB- Wis- consin 3: Jones 2, Hagan. SB - Michigan 1: Kollen. CS- Indiana none; Michigan none. Confident Motycka rebounds in shutout Michigan 000 Wisconsin 000 iP Michigan Motycka W, (14-2) 7.0 Michigan Kirchberg L, (16-11) 5.0 Layne 2.0 R H E K 022 0-- 4 8 0 0 000 0- 0 2 2' H R ER BB SO 2 0 0 3 7 6 4 2 0 2 00 0 1 0 Umpires - HP: Doug Keller, 1B: Vic Sena. 3B: Rick Wynn At - Alumni Field, Ann Arbor Attendance - 731 Time -"1:42 YESTERDAY'S GAME 1 Wisconsin 2, Michigan I Wisconsin (7-4, 24-13) Michigan (7-2, player AB R H 81Player Hagan cf 4 1 1 0 Kolen2b Liles rf 3 0 1 2 Doe cf Zacher ss 4 1 2 0 Volpe-3b Reiss 1b 3 0 0 0 Schock c Jones 2b 3 0 1 0 Prichard pr Gdette c 2 0 1 0 Young p S rry dh 2 0 0 0 Moulenib Padovan If 3 0 1 0 Merchant ss C lmagrxY30 00 Mackdh Kirchberg p 0 0 0 0 Bentley If Conner rf t31-8) AS R 4 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 20 00 H B 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 S0 1 0 1 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Writer When pitcher Nicole Motycka walked the first batter she faced on four pitches in Michigan's second game against Wisconsin yesterday, it looked as if her struggles from the day before would continue. Against Minnesota on Saturday, Motycka gave up four runs on three hits, got frustrated and left the game in the third inning. Motycka looked tight on the mound, straight-faced and emotionless. After- ward, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins expressed concern about the pitcher's mindset. "1 don't believe she is believing, whether it's in herself or in the pitch she's throwing," Hutchins said. "So she's having some confidence problems in herself and maybe the system, I don't know." But yesterday, Motycka shook off the leadoff walk and struck out the next batter, and then she went on to fan six more Badgers in the game en route to a 4-0 shutout, Motycka seemed like a different pitcher, loose and full of laughter on the mound as she held the Badgers off until the Michigan offense came alive in the fifth inning. Motycka's problem with control on Saturday seemed to disap- pear yesterday along with her grim expression, but she said the difference wasn't anything technical. "This morning I talked to coach Hutch about my approach on the mound, and she basically told me that I need to lighten up," Motycka said. "So I went out there and felt more relaxed then I did yesterday." Assistant coach Jennifer Brundage, who works with the pitchers, said atti- tude can have a big effect on a pitcher's game. "When you're smiling and laughing everything's a lot more relaxed, every- thing's a lot more fluid," Brundage said. "That's something we would like to see more of from her, but it's tough. She's got a lot thrown on her all at once, and she's doing the best she can to cope with it:" Motycka admitted that she is often too hard on herself on the mound, and after Saturday's outing and Michigan's 2-0 loss to Wisconsin in the first game yesterday, she could have felt even more pressure. But instead, she took an opti- mistic approach. "You kind of hit a point where you're like, 'well, it can't get any worse,"'" Motycka said. "You only have one place to go and that's up." Motycka pitched well early in the season, but has had trouble recently against tough Big Ten opponents, espe- cially when Michigan has faced early deficits. She tends to throw well when she gets ahead in the count, but falters when pitching from behind. Hutchins believes Motycka's problem is not physical. "She is her own worst enemy and she Tota 27 2 7 2 Total 23 0 4 ®1 E - none. OP - none. LOB - Wisconsin 7; Michigan 7. 28 -Wisconsin: Padovan; Michigan: Schock. 38 - none. HR -Wisconsin: Zacher (4). 88 -Wisconsin 2: Liles, Gillette; Michigan 2: Moulden, Mack. SB - Wis- consin: Liles; Michigan: Volpe. CS - none W6sconsIn M wirh4gan R H E 002 0000- 2 7 0 000 000 X - 0 40 IP H R ERS88SO With seven strikeouts against Wisconsin yesterday, Nicole Motycka won her 14th game this season. The freshman rebounded from a rough Saturday outing. gets frustrated, and we talked about it Brundage also pointed out that most before the game," Hutchins said yester- softball players don't peak until after day. "I just encouraged her to really give their college careers. to her teammates and be more focused "The average age of the (U.S.) on them, don't get too caught up in Olympic team was like 30 because it yourself." takes that long to develop the maturity Brundage said Motycka's mental and to have the different experiences to struggles are part of being a freshman. learn what mental approach works the "The mental game in softball and best for each individual." baseball is the hardest thing to master, Motycka's rebound yesterday was and it's the main difference between a one more experience that should help good softball player and a great softball her reach that maturity. player," Brundage said. "Part of it is just "I just think that it is big," Hutchins going to be learning through experi- said. "She got her confidence going, ences, good and bad, for her." and she needs to build on this." BADGERS Continued from Page 1B that was the key because once they start hitting they start scoring. They're a good hitting team." While Kirchberg was dominating, Nicole Motycka was throwing a gem of her own. After being taken out in the third inning of Saturday's game, Motycka came out with more confidence and pitched a two-hitter, recording her second shutout of the season. "She lightened up on herself a lit- tle bit," Hutchins said. Motycka (14-2) allowed just three runners into scoring position and two base runners in the game's final five innings. The freshman struck out seven, including five in the first three innings. "I came out a little more confi- dent because I knew I would do a little better than I did (Saturday)," Motycka said. Motycka's performance was huge considering all the innings Young had on the mound over the weekend. While Michigan's ace did not rival Kirchberg's 24.2 innings, Young did put in five innings of work on Fri- day and Saturday, striking out 16 and allowing just one hit. Young then came out again in yesterday's opener and went the distance. On Saturday, the Wolverines came' back against Minnesota after Motyc- ka gave up three runs in the first three innings. After scoring two hits in the game's first four innings, Michigan's bats finally came alive in the fifth. A Jessica Merchant single and an error on Mary Conner bunt set the table for Kelsey Kollen, who hit a shot off of pitcher Piper Marten's glove to the second baseman Shelly Nichols, but Nichols's throw was not in time. Then Volpe ripped a double of the left field wall scoring Conner. The rally was capped off by a Monica Schock single up the middle, which scored Kollen and Volpe on a play at the plate. "(Saturday) was such an emotion- al day," Hutchins said following yes- terday's doubleheader. "We were so excited. You never want to get too high and you never want to get too low, and we got too low. It's was an emotional hangover." 0 Minnesota Kirchberg W (16 10)7.0 4 0 0 I I 0 2 5 Michigan Young, L (18-6) 7.0 7 2 2 2 8 At -Alumni field, Ann Arbor Umpires -iP. Vic Sena, 18: Rick Wynn, 3B: Doug Keller Attendance - 4,30 Time-1:21 SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 5, Minnesota 3 Halfway home After this weekend's games, Michgan is now halfway finished with their Big Ten schedule. The Wolverines have played well, going 8-1 after losing to Penn State on back on March 30, but Iowa, Ohio State and Northwestern are right in the hunt. Here is a look at this year's Big Ten contenders. Michigan (7-1, 31-7) Minni Player AB R H O nPlaye Kollen 2b 4 2 3 1 Swar Doe cf 3 0 1 0 Haysi Volpe3b 2 1 1 2 Nchcl Schock dh/c 3 0 2 2 Nygrer Young lb/p 2 0 0 0 Fisk1 Moulen fi/b 2 0 0 0 Thul Merchant ss 2 0 1 0 Recki Teschler pr 0 0 0 0 Rober Mack c/dh 2 1 0 0 Nanch Conner rf 2 0 1 0 Marti Churchill ph 1 0 0 0 Walla Motycka p 0 1 0 0 Bentley If 0 0 0 0 Total 27 5 9 6 Total esota (3-5, 26-15) d rf/If If/cf Its 2b n 3b kpr lb/dh nor dh/p rts cf/rf ,y lb en p/dh ce ss AB R B I 4 0 0 1 3 1 0 o0 4 0 3100 0 1 0 0 23 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 o0 423 s2 100 52 Michigan Wolverines Big Ten Record: 8-2 Overall Record: 31-7 Best win: 1-0 vs. No. 9 Oklahoma in Columbus, Ga. on Feb. 23rd Worst loss: 5-4 vs. Ball 'tate in Tal- lahassee, Fla. on March Hutchins: "(A, Minnesota coach) walked up to me after (Satur'ay's) game and she said, 'Your teaii is awesome.' And all I could o was agree with her, to be honest." Iowa Hawkeyes Big Ten Record: 8-2 Overall Record: 25-13 Best win: 1-0 vs. No. 2 UCLA in San Jose on March 9 Worst loss: 5-1 vs. Illinois State on March 27 Hutchins: "They're a very balanced team. They have good pitching, they have good offense, they have good defense and they have great coach- ing. So they get an edge." Northwestern Wildcats Big Ten Record: 6-4 Overall Record: 15-12-1 gad Ohio State Buckeyes Big Ten Record: 9-3 Overall Record: 38-9 '.. Vi'e';: . E - Minnesota 1: Nygren. DP - none. LOB - Michigan 5: Minnesota 6. 2B - Michigan 2: Kollen, Volpe; Mir- nesota 1: Nichols. 3B - none. HR - none. BB- Michi- gin.: Doe, Volpe, Mack; Minnesota 4: Nygren 2. Hays, Thul. HBP - none.kSBR- Michigan 2: Kollen, Doe: Minnesota 1: Wallace. CS - Michigan 1: Mack. Best win: 1-0 vs. No. 8 California in Honolulu on March 23 Worst loss: 11-10 vs. Utah St. in San Diego on Feb. 15 Hutchins: "They're a scary team, because they swing from the heels, they're very offensive, and they can beat you." Best win: 6-2 vs. No. 17 Pacific in Fullerton, Calif. on March 3 Worst loss: 2-1 at Tenn-Chattanooga on March 25 Hutchins: "From top to bottom, Ohio State in the best team in the Big Ten" Mctilga Minnesota 000 040-: 5 9 0 021 000 0 - 3 5 1 I IP, H R ER BB SO Michigan Motycka 2.0 4 3 3 2 2 Young W (18-5) 5.0 1 0 0 2 10 Minnesota MartenL(16-9) 6.1 9 5 5 3 5 Recknor 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 A-Alumni Field mps HP: Rick Wynn, IB: Vic Sena, 3B: Kevin Ryan Attendance - 861 Time - 208 FRIDAY'S GAME Wisconsin ace starts three of four games on the weekend Michigan 11, Minnesota 1 Minnesota (3-4,26-14,) MIchI Player AB R H Bl Playe ;.tiard rf/If 3 0 0 0 HKollei Haysj If/cf 1 1 1 0 Chur icis2b 1 0 2 0 Doe c Nyren 3b 1 1 0 0 Volpe C isk pr 0 2 30 Schc R ec rnror p/lb1 2 0 1 0 Young T-hul 1c{/ih 2 0 0 0 Moulk Roberts cf rf 2 0 0 0 Merck Nanchy dh/lb 1 0 1 0 Mack EL.indberg ph 1 0 0 0 Bentit W lace ss 2 0 0 0 Conn srit c 0 0 0 0 P eyr p 0 00 0 Total 16 1 1 0 Total gan (6-1, 30-7) r m 2b rchill 2b E3b ck c 19 den lb hant ss k dh ley If )er rI AB R 3 0 0 0 2 2 23 3 2 3 1 3 2 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 H Bi 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 4 00 1 0 0 0 By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Writer This year's Energizer Bunny award definitely goes to Wisconsin pitcher Andrea Kirchberg. Because just when it looks like she can't pitch another inning, she keeps going and going and going ... And at 16-11 this season, she holds the key to whether the Badgers will make their second straight NCAA tournament appearance. Against Michigan State on Friday and Satur- day and against Michigan in a doubleheader SOFTBALL yesterday, Kirchberg pitched 25 and two-thirds Notebook innings out of a possible 28. This type of weekend is not new to Kirchberg, as she leads the Big Ten with 176 innings pitched and 25 starts, including three this weekend. She started both games of the doubleheader and Friday's tilt against the Spartans. For the weekend she was 3-1, beating Michigan State twice (1-0, 2-1) and Michigan in the first game of the doubleheader (2-0). Kirchberg gave up four runs to the Wolverines in the second game in a 4-0 loss. "(Kirchberg's) really good, and I don't think we were as ready as we could have been for her," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "We've seen her before, and she's struck us out before. "We just have to try to wear down a pitcher like that, but you have to give her a lot of credit. I'm telling you that these pitchers can throw and throw and throw. Kirchberg is top notch, she's one of the top pitchers in the country. Without a doubt she's top three, top four in the country. She had a great weekend, and if we see (Wis- consin) again, I won't look forward to see her again." Wisconsin's next best pitcher is freshman Katie Layne, who faced just 15 batters the entire weekend. On the season, Layne has- n't pitched half of the innings that Kirchberg has. One might wonder why Layne hasn't pitched more, but unlike baseball pitchers, softball pitchers have better stamina on the mound. And when a team has a competitor like Kirchberg, who is not intimidated by tougher opponents, it only makes sense to start her as much as possible. "Michigan's a great team, but that's what I look forward to," Kirchberg said. "Teams like Michigan, Arizona, Oklahoma and all those big teams. If you can't get up for them, you shouldn't play. One win (against Michigan) is absolutely wonderful." STRAIGHTENING IT OUT: Last Wednesday, Michigan freshman Jessica Merchant sent four Central Michigan pitches over the outfield fence. Unfortunately all of them were foul. In Friday's 11-1 mercy-rule win over Minnesota, though, Merchant would not be denied as she hit a three-run homer over the right-field fence in the first inning. "I was pretty frustrated with the Central Michigan game," Mer- chant said Friday. "T workek' hard in practice (Thursday) and got a little extra batting .actice. I figured some things out and -it paid off today." ROAD FIELD ADVANTAGE: For the fourth time in its past six tries, Wisconsin has defeated Michigan at Alumni Field. But the Badgers are accustomed to doing well on the road, with a combined record.of 21-13 away from The Goodman Brothers Soft- ball Complex. "Honestly I think we play better on the road," Kirchberg said. "When we stay on our own field, we freak out. I don't know what it is, but we play a lot better when we're away." Kirchberg went on to comment on how the turf at their home facility isn't as good the grass they find at other stadiums, which could explain some of their problems. 22111111 E - Michigan 1: Doe. DP - Mifnesot a 1. LOB - Min- ist 3; Michigan 3. 26- Michigan 2: Young, rMooden 38- none. HR - Michigan: Merchant (3). 88- Miniesota 2: Hays. Nygren; Michigan 2: Doe, Volpe. SB- Minnesota 2: Hays, Fisk; Michigan 2: Doe Moulden. CS - Indiana none; Michigan none. R H E Mrnnesota 001 00-1 1 0 MichIgan 540 2X - 11111 IP H R ER88 SO Re L( L9-6) toye MIchIgan Young. W (17-5) At - Alumni Field 1.2 5 2.1 6 7 7 2 2 4 4 0 0 5.0 1 1 0 2 6 HP: Kevin Ryan,.13: Rick Wynn,38: Vic Sena Attendance - 430 Tlime -1:21 BIG TEN STANDINGS DANNY MOLOSHO /Daily Wisconsin's Andrea Kirchberg pitched 25 and two-thirds innings in four games this weekend against Michigan State and Michigan. 0I Team Iowa Michigan Ohio State Northwestern Wisconsin Minnesota Ilirnois Penn State Michigan State Purdue Indiana Conference Overall W L W L 8 2 25 14 8 2 30 8 9 3 38 9 6 4 15 10 6 6 23 15 5 5 28 15 5 5 23 18 5 7 18 20 3 7 16 25 2 6 29 15 0 12 9 23 Stacking up with the Best The USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Top 25. Rankings and records as of April 7. First-place votes in parentheses. Team Record Pts. LW 1. Arizona (22) 35-5 670 2 2. UCLA (5) 34-6 651 1 3. Stanford 33-5 623 3 4. Nebraska 34-7 582 4 5. Louisana State 32-8 568 5 6. Arizona State 33-9 522 8 7. Cal-State Fullerton 38-9 520 7 8. California 37-12 497 6 9. Oklahoma 34-8 454 9 10. Washington 32-12 413 10 11. Florida Atlantic 44-7 410 11 12. Fresno State 32-13 357 12 (tie) Michigan 27-7 357 13 14. Oregon State 31-11 320 14 15. Alabama 33-13 288 15 16. DePaul 21-6 259 16 _- 4- . n 17040 'M' stats Stats are through April 13th Batting Player Volpe Schock Kollen Moulden Young Doe Merchant Holland Churchill Betley Mack Teschler Conner Motycka Fsnir GP-GS 38-38 38-38 38-38 36-36 38-38 38-37 38-38 4-0 14-4 31-25 22-18 27-7 37-35 7-6 7-0 Avg .409 .392 .367 .324 .305 .304 .210 .500 .333 .292 .217 .192 .152 .118 non R 36 15 36 21 11 27 9 0 1 5 5 4 10 2 0 HR 4 0 3 2 3 0. 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 RBI 22 31 12 26 29 0 14 2 3 5 15 1 1 1 0 SB-ATT 13-16 0-0 9-9 3-5 0-0 11-12 1-2 0-0 1-1 3-5 0-1 2-2 1-1 0-0 0-0 SLG% .602 .485 .492 .448 .474 .304 .352 .500 .400 .308 .348. .192 .152 .118 .000 OB% .558 .468 .407 .387 .400 .331 .265 .500 .444 .324 .288 .300 .188 .250 .000 FLD'Yo .922 1.00 .963 .978 .995 .920 .943 .000 .909 .929 .990 .778 1.00 1.00 1.00 Ysterdav's results: No. 12 MICHIGAN 4, WISCONsIN 0 WiscoNSIN 2, No. 12 MICHIGAN 0 No. 20 IOWA 5, PENN STATE 0 No. 20 IOWA 2, PENN STATE 0 No. 25 Ohio State 12, Northwestern 4 No. 25 Ohio State 3, Northwestern 1 Purdue 7, Indiana 4 Purdue 6, Indiana 3 U gal