10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 11, 2003 Concordia no match for Collins on mound Freshman of the year Willis keeps growing By Waldemar Centeno Daily Sports Writer Michigan freshman outfielder Mike Schmidt launched his first career homerun en route to an 11-4 non-con- ference victory for the Wolverines yes- terday over Concordia. "It feels pretty good," Schmidt said. "It was a hit-and-run, and I saw the curveball coming. I kind of felt the pressure, and it was a good ben- N3 DA; der. I just had to C N jump on it." The Wolverines (3-3 Big Ten, 13-12 overall) beat Concordia (9-25), a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics team from Ann Arbor, at the Fish. However, the Cardinals contin- ued to add pressure on the Wolverines throughout the course of the game. "No, that's baseball," Michigan coach Rich Maloney said in response to being surprised with Concordia's play. "It is hard knowing that we have a big weekend coming up, and we knew that today would be a tough day to focus. I'm not surprised (they played tough) because the great thing about baseball is that any team can win on any game. Especially when you're playing some different guys, anything could happen. (Concordia) played hard and played well. We didn't play extremely well." Michigan's defensive play was not up to par with five crucial errors on the day. "There is no doubt that we're not playing defense the way defense should be played," Maloney said. "We knew that was a weakness in the past, and we have been working really hard on it. We've played pretty good defense for a period of time. We just got to keep working on it, and that's all we can do." Despite Michigan's inefficient defense, sophomore pitcher Matt Collins pitched a gem. Collins allowed just one earned run on three hits in his 6.2 innings worth of work. "(Collins) is one of the reasons why we wanted to play today," Maloney said. "I wanted to get Collins back out there. He started struggling this year, but he has really good stuff. If it ever comes together for him, he'll become a really good pitcher." Collins (2-1) previously struggled in his last two outings. However, his curveball consistently broke over the plate for strikes. Also contributing to Michigan's vic- tory were senior first baseman Mike Sokol, junior outfielder Brandon Roberts, and Schmidt. "Sokol has been on fire," Maloney said. "He is hitting really well, and he's a leader on our team. Furthermore, it's good to see Brandon swing the bat real- ly well. Also, it's great to see Schmidt hit his first collegiate homerun, which is really nice on a hit-and-run." Sokol is the Big Ten leader in bat- ting average (.526) and went 2-for-4 with two RBI against Concordia. By Benjamin Lawless Daily Sports Writer It's not everyday you run into some- one on campus who can legitimately say he is "from a land down under." And while he's not a member of the band Men at Work, freshman runner Nick Willis certainly can make that claim. Willis, who hails from Lower Hutt, New Zealand, has made his presence felt since arriving in Ann Arbor. Despite moving halfway across the world, Willis was an All-American in cross country this past fall, finishing 21st overall in the NCAA champi- onship meet despite having very little experience with cross country before coming to Michigan. He helped the Wolverines to a surprising eighth-place team finish. "He was a little surprised at how well he did at cross country," said Michigan coach Ron Warhurst. During the winter's indoor track season, Willis continued to improve and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year - no small accomplishment in a conference with so much young talent. He was also a member of the distance medley relay, which finished third at the NCAA Indoor Champi- onships. Willis has had to make some adjust- ments this year, both to his training regiment and to the events he runs. "My mileage has increased a lot," Willis said. "Before, I ran about 70 kilometers a week; I run 70 miles a week here. The workouts have been a lot more distance oriented." With so much depth at his usual event, the 800 meters, Willis has switched to the 1,500- and the 3,000- meter runs. In an individual sport, Willis put his team ahead of himself. "That is just the way the team worked out. We need the points," Willis said. His talent on the track and unselfish leadership off it have made Willis an invaluable part of the team. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the country," Warhurst said. "He gets along tremendously with the guys on the team and treats everyone as an equal. Just because a guy can't run a sub-four-minute mile doesn't mean he won't talk to them." DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Michigan's Ali Husain pitches to Minnesota in last Sunday's double-header at the Fish. Michigan lost both games to the Gophers. C Roberts scored once and had two RBI while hitting 1-for-3 on the day. Schmidt did not just hit his first homerun of his career; he also stole two bases for the Wolverines. "For next year, (Schmidt) will be a guy that will play a lot," Maloney said. "If you just watch him, you could see that the guy can run and hit. Right now, we don't have that great deal of speed. So it is kind of a tough thing, which you will see improve in the future." Knowing that the Wolverines will focus more on speed in the upcoming years, Schmidt's stolen bases are an excellent sign for Michigan's future. "It will be a good move to have a fast outfield," Schmidt said. "We hope to get some more stolen bases on the year." This weekend, Michigan will host Illinois (3-5 Big Ten, 15-10 overall). "Illinois is a solid program, and we have to play well to win," Maloney said. "We are ready as a team. We are playing a veteran lineup, and they know that this is an important series. They're 3-5, and we're 3-3, and something has to give. If we want to make the playoffs, we got to start separating us." Cold can't keep crew from ACC showdown By Ian Herbert For the Daily Softball looks to improve Big Ten standing By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer easy 'W' for Michigan on paper - the Badgers are hitting a mere .199 as a team. But Wisconsin's pitching, not hitting, will be its best chance to win this weekend. Badgers senior Andrea Kirchberg has been solid on the mound, striking out 210 batters in It's been nine days since the Michigan softball team has taken the field to compete, but tonight in Madison is no time for the Wolverines to come out rusty. "This weekend for us is particularly important," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "They all are, but this one is particularly important. I expect once we get out there, our enthusiasm will be high." After being forced to cancel two Big Ten games against Iowa last weekend, No. 15 Michigan (3-1 Big Ten, 21-8 overall) needs to take advantage of all the conference matchups it has left, THIS WEEKEND Michigan at Wiscon- sMinnesota Tme: 7 pm.tonight, Noon tomorrow & Sunday Goodman Softball Conplex s Madison her 149 innings this season en route to an 11-11 record. Wisconsin beat two top-25 teams earlier this season (then-No. 15 Fresno State and then-No. 23 Oregon State) and will look to add to that total today. Minnesota (4-2, 27-11-1) has fared better than Wisconsin so far this sea- son, winning four straight Big Ten games and sitting one spot behind Michigan at No. 4 in the conference standings. The Golden Gophers' only conference losses came to the Big Ten- has also been solid with a combined 1.47 ERA. Hutchins knows her team will have to give its best to compensate for being on the road. "Both those teams have great pitching, and you're playing at their place, so our pitching needs to keep us in the game until we can get some offense going." Hutchins said. "You expect (the opponent) to be able to contain your offense some- what, you need to contain theirs first with pitching and defense." For Michigan, catcher Monica Schock will look to extend her 11-game hitting streak in today's action. Over the course of the streak, Schock has raised her season average to .354, good enough for 10th in the Big Ten. Michigan third baseman Grace Leutele has also been scorching the ball lately. The freshman is hit- ting .600 on the season (6-for-10) with three home- runs - including a game-tying two run shot against Northwestern in extra innings on March 30 and two dingers in one game against Western Michigan two days later. The weather has been cold recently. But not cold enough to keep the Michigan rowing team off the water as it prepares for the ACC/Big Ten Dou- ble Dual regatta this weekend on the Scioto River in Columbus. "Cold is a factor, but it doesn't deter us from practicing. Only ice and strong winds keep us off the water," Michigan coach Mark Rothstein said. "In a typi- cal week, we practice nine times, four inside on the ergometers and five more out on the water." The practices vary each day from 50-minute, continuous rows to multi- ple sprints, and from race intensity workouts to slower technical work. Senior Kate Maxim, who has earned three varsity letters as a Wolverine, explained that each works a different aspect of rowing and is difficult in its own way. But they all have the same goal - to help the team stay com- posed through each race. "One advantage we have is that we can row in unfavorable conditions," Maxim said. "It makes us mentally tougher." No. 5 Michigan is hoping that those workouts will make it tough enough to defeat two very good crews this week- end in No. 11 Virginia and Duke. "We have a lot of respect for Vir- ginia," Maxim said. "They are a great team." Said Rothstein: "Virginia is a very tough team. They've been one of the most successful programs in the coun- try over the last five years." The Wolverines are used to tough competition by now. Last week, they swept No. 9 Michigan State and East- ern Michigan in all three races of their only home regatta of the year. Two weeks ago, they raced very well against defending national champion Brown and No. 2 Princeton. Rothstein explained that the team is focusing on the long term, but not over- looking the regatta this weekend. "This is going to be a tough regatta. We don't have an easy race all year," he said. 0 beginning with games against Wisconsin tonight under the lights and tomorrow followed by a dou- bleheader in Minnesota on Sunday. Wisconsin (2-4, 13-16) might appear to be an leading Hawkeyes, who Michigan has yet to play. Minnesota is led at the plate by senior Jordanne Nygren, who is hitting .379 on the season with 10 homeruns and 32 RBIs. The Gopher pitching staff 4 she passes 0 UNFUNNY COMICS The girl from Ipanema goes walking, and when she passes each one... ~~0 YOUR GOT USED BOOKSTORE ,-- , she passes goes OUCH! OU Hey! Wha isths SELL THOSE BACK YOU JERK! 1 Man, Jerry, my El Camino sure needs a new paint job. Well, did you sell your books back to the bookstore? No, I didn't Jerry. I Then I guess this El Camino stays ugly. « 549 E. University a 662~3201 (rm-f 9...6) (sat 10...5) (sun 12...5 ) www.ulrichs.com BOOK & SUPPLY ((317 S. State)) 665~4990 ( m-th 9...7) (fri 9...5 ) ( sat 10...5 ) ( sun 12...5) wwwemichbook.com 0 qm j p I Sheila, you caught Roger frenching Janelle, remember? 0 4 ~jm U - U / ~*%~ / ~ tffJ~~ U U I