The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 14, 2003 - 3B Diamond talk ~The A~tid~loat Mad -vMVP "There's no strategy. Just (take it) one play at a time." - Michigan coach Carol Hutchins Y on her team's gameplan on the road th against Wisconsin and Minnesota. d th of ME .. Pitchingke 25-8) AB R iiBI Marissa Young (Michigan) oung hurled a complete-game 'hree-hitter in the first game yester- ay before belting a grand slam in he second game - Michigan's only ffense in the 4-1 win. STEVE JACKSON I YESTERDAY'S GAP Michigan 4, Minnesota 1 What the world needs now is one more stupid column Minnesota (6-4, 29-131) Michig Player AS R Hi BI Player Ny ren3b 3 00 0 Haas Roberts rf 3 0 10 Doe c Nanchy 1b 2 00 0 Mouk Thul c 3 0 10 Schoc Wallace pr 0 1 0 0 Berc Nichols 2b 3 0 0 0 Youn~ Smith dp 1 0 1 0 Leute tPeyerp 2 0 0 0 Merch ecknorp/dp 10 0 0 Tes& Swardph 1 00 0 Motyc Alston ph 1 0 1 1 Betley Erickson cf 2 0 0 0 Elsne Keenyfss 0 0 0 0 Total 24 1 4 1 Total igan (7-1, er 2b 3 0 denif 3 1 ck cf 3 1 cawp r 0 0 hantss 3 0 hler pr 0 0 y ka p/dp 3 0 ,rpb 0 0 20 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 26 4 6 4 E - Keeney 3; MotYcka. LOB- Minnesota 5, Michigan 5. 26 - Schock. HR -Young (9). Minnesota Michigan R H E 000 000 1 - 1 4 3 400 000 0- 4 61 IP H R ER BB SO MinnesotaDuJ Recknor L (13-5) 0,1 3 4 3 0 0 Peyer 5.2 3 0 0 0 5 WMchlan MotycaW, (10-6) 6.1 4 1 0 2 4 Young 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 Umpires - HP: Tim Topping, 18: Billy Patterson, 38: Jay McGivern At -Jane Sage Cowel Stadium, Minneapolis Attendance - 341 Time -1:43 io YESTERDAY'S GAME 1 Michigan 2, Minnesota 1 to Blue sweep By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Writer If Michigan's dynamic duo of pitchers, Marissa Young and Nicole Motycka, continue to dominate the Big Ten, then only Mother Nature can keep the Wolverines from winning. Michigan's last four games before its competition this weekend had been cancelled, and while the layoff slowed down the Wolverines' offense, their tag team on the mound showed no signs of being rusty. The duo dominated a pair of good hitting teams in Minnesota and Wisconsin, allowing just one earned run in four games this weekend. Young started the weekend off right, tossing a one-hit, complete-game gem Friday in Madison. Young struck out 10 and walked just one, and she had a shutout until she allowed a run in the sixth inning. On the other side of the ball, Young herself supplied some of the run sup- port she needed, belting a solo homer in the second inning. In Saturday's game, Young relieved Motycka in the sixth inning and shut the door on the Badgers as the Wolverines squeaked out a 2-1 win. The first game of yesterday's doubleheader saw Young throwing like her usual dominant self, striking out nine and allowing just a solo homerun. In the second game with Motycka on the mound, the sophomore found herself cruising until the seventh inning when she surrendered three hits and a run. With just one out and the tying run at the plate, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins put in Liz Elsner at first base to allow Young to warm up in the bullpen. But Hutchins kept Motycka in, and she retired the next two batters to end the game. "Nicole did really well," Young said. "Minnesota is a really good hitting team. She just kept them off balance and let the defense make plays." Michigan (6-1, 24.8) Player AB R H BI Haas 2b 3 00 0 Doe cf 3 1 20 Moulden If 3 1 1 2 chock c 3 0 0 0 Young p 3 0 00 Mack dp 20 0 0 Motycka ph 1 0 0 0 Leutele 3b 3 0 0 0 Merchant ss 1 0 0 0 Betleyrf 3 0 0 0 Elsnerl1b 0 0 0 0 Minnesota (6-3, 29-12-1) Plaryer AS R H Bi Robertsrf 3 00 0 Nanchy 1b 3 0 1 0 Fisk pr 0 0 0 0 Thu c 2 00 0 Nichols 2b 3 0 0 0 Smith dp 2 00 0 Recknor ph 1 0 0 0 Erickson cf 3 0 0 0 Watti s 2000 Marten p 2 0 1 0 Keeney ss 0 0 0 0 These are the days of good-bye columns. This sort of sentimental crap allows seniors to find clo- sure after spending untold hours toiling over Quark Xpress at 420 Maynard. This will be my last SportsMonday column. But since I've decided to forgo my last year of eligibility on this page to pursue a career of killing puppies for money in the Business School, I may not be the most qualified person in the world to pontificate about the glorious lessons that can be learned at a daily newspaper. I am, however, perfectly capable of writing one more random and stupid column. And what better way to start such a piece than with a quote from the legendary Homer Simpson. "If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls' sports, such as hot oil wrestling, foxy boxing, and such and such." I wonder how Homer would react when confronted with the news that the WNBA is on the verge of shutting down because of a labor strike. I know I laughed out loud. Apparently making an average $60,000 for just a few months of work is not enough for the women with the good fundamentals and the complete lack of fan support. Bobby Knight once said: "If the NBA (Editors' Note: He meant the WNBA) were on channel 5 and a bunch of frogs making love were on channel 4, I'd watch the frogs, even if they were coming in fuzzy." The sad fact is that the Discovery Channel's frog specials might get better ratings nationwide than the WNBA, but then again the Detroit Tigers aren't much better. Tram and the gang finally put a win on the board this weekend, but we all know it is just a matter of time before they are mathematically eliminated and emergency fan promotions start pop- ping up at the CoPa. In order to set its product apart from the WNBA and the frogs on the Discovery Channel, I think the Tigers may want to duplicate the "funny mating dogs night" promotion that was recently on display at a soccer match in Uganda. According to The New Vision, Ugan- da's leading English newspaper, specta- tors "were treated to rib breaking laugh- ter by the funny mating dogs during the halftime break. "As the dogs were mating, revelers screamed in amusement while others were seen shying away saying it was bad luck to the home side." Speaking of bad luck, how would you like to be named Tony Suck? According to my crack research staff, this one man may actually be responsi- ble for the negative, non-sexual mean- ing of the word "suck." Born Charles Anthony Suck in 1858, he was one of the first professional baseball players. Baseball is widely regarded as a common influence on the development of the modern American lexicon, and after looking at Suck's career statistics I'm sure you'll agree that the term "awful" doesn't really do him justice. During his two-year career in the big leagues, Suck hit .151 with just two extra base hits. But what set him apart from the other sad-sack men of his day was his dreadful glove work. He com- mitted 32 errors in 32 games at catcher, 16 errors in 15 games at shortstop, and five errors in 13 games in the outfield. Perhaps the trend that began with Suck will continue with the Cleveland Cavaliers. I can just imagine my grand- son telling me how much his doing his homework "really Cavs." To prove this point, I submit to you exhibit A: Someone took a $50 gift cer- tificate for Cavaliers' game tickets and tried to auction it on Ebay with a $4.50 price tag. The bidding ended earlier this week without a single bid. I'm starting to run out of space, so I will leave you with a random piece of mathematical information that just needed to be mass produced. If you took the $49,636 you would spend on college tuition as an out-of-- state LSA student at the University and instead spent it on condoms, you could have sex 40 times a day or 1.7 times an hour during your stay in college. If that sounds a bit excessive, you could have sex three times a day, and still have $31.50 per day to spend on alcohol and Taco Bell. Total 25 2 3 2 Total 23 1 3 1 E - Nygren. LOB - Michigan 4; Minnesota 3. HR - Moulden (5); Nygren (13). SH - Thul. SB - Doe. Michigan Minnesota AkIchigan Young W (13-1) Minnesota Marten L, (14-8) R H E 000 002 0- 2 3 0 000 001 0 - 1 3 1 IP H R ER BB SO 7.0 3 1 1 1 9 7.0 3 2 2 2 8 SETH LOWER/Daily Michigan sophomore Nicole Motycka kept Minnesota off- balance in the second game of yesterday's doubleheader. After mustering just 11 runs in the four games this weekend, Michigan needed these stellar performances on the mound. During her team's nine-day layoff due to cancelled games, Hutchins focused on keeping her two hurlers ready, and the plan paid off. The team simulated games indoors with Young and Motycka pitching. Umpires - HP: Billy Peterson, 1B: Jay McGivern, 3B: Tim Topping At - Jane Sage Cowel Stadium, Minneapolis Attendance - 731 Time - 1:42 SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 2, Wisconsin 1 Wisconsin (2-6, 13-18) Player AS R H Bi Zacher ss 3 00 0 Liles cf 3 0 0 0 eiss, M. 1b 3 11 0 Millerpr 0 00 0 Gillette c 2 0 1 0 Barnharst If 3 0 1 1 Friedman 2b 3 0 0 0 Kirchberg p 3 0 0 0 Padovan dp 3 0 0 0 Phillips rf 3 0 1 0 Reiss, K. 3b 0 0 0 0 Michigan (5-1, 23-8) Player AB R N4 BI Baas 2b 3 00 0 Doe cf 3000 Moulden If 2 1 2 1 Schock c 3 00 0 Young lb/p 1 1 1 1 Bercaw pr 0 00 0 Mackdp 3 0 00 Leutele 3b 3 0 0 0 Merchant ss 2 0 0 0 Betley rf 2 0 1 0 Motycka p 0 0 0 0 Elsner 1b 0 0 0 0 Total 26 1 4 1 Total 22 2 4 2 E - Zachar; Haas. LOB - Wisconsin 5, Michigan 7. HR - Moulden (4), Young (8). SH - Betley. SB - Betley. Michigan Wisconsin Wisconsin Kirchberg L, (11-13) Michigan Motycka W, (9-5) Layne R H E 000 100 0- 1 4 1 002 000 0- 2 4 1 IP H R ER BB SO 6.0 4 2 2 4 5 5.1 4 1 0 1 2 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 Steve Jackson can be reached at sfjackso@umich.edu. Umpires - HP: Steve Culp, 18: Tim Townsend, 3B: Sally [Walker At - Goodman Softball complex, Madison Attendance - 293 Time - 1:30 FRIDAY'S GAME Michigan 3, Wisconsin 0 Michigan (4.1, 22-8) Player AB R Haas 2b 4 0t Doe cf 4 0 Moulden If 4 1 Schock c 1 1t Bercaw pr 0 0 'Youngl1b 2 1 Prichard pr 0 0 Mack dp 3 0 Leutele 3b 3 0 Merchant ss 2 0 Betley rf 3 0 t Eisner lb 0 0t H Bi 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 00 2 2 00 2 1 00 00 00 0 0 Wisconsin (2-5, 13-17) Player AS R H BI Zacher ss 1 0 00 Liles cf 3 01 0 Gillette c 3 0 0 0 Reiss, M.1b 3 0 00 Kirchberg p 3 0 0 0 Friedman 2b 3 0 0 0 Consolmagno If 3 0 0 0 Padovandp 2 0 0 0 Phillips rf 2 0 0 0 Reiss, K. 3b 0 0 00 GOPHERS Continued from Page 1B a strong Minnesota offense. The four early runs were all Michi- gan needed. "We have to hold them down until you can get something going," Michi- gan coach Carol Hutchins said. "Sometimes it's the middle (of the game), sometimes it's late, but the goal is to keep them down." Unfortunately for Michigan, game one was a different story. Minnesota brought the heat - starting pitcher Piper Marten entered the weekend No. 2 in the Big Ten in strikeouts - and Michigan could not get anything going early offensively. "The first game was a pitchers' duel," Young said. "(Marten) was pitching well. Things were going really quick: Three up, three down." It wasn't until the sixth inning when the Wolverines finally found the spark they needed. Senior Melin- da Moulden knocked a two-run homer over the leftfield fence, her fifth of the season. "I knew it was going to come down to one swing to win the game," Young said. "We kept people off the bases, and that ended up working for us." The Gophers answered with a solo shot by Jordanne Nygren, but Young held off any other attempts to score as she threw three more strikeouts to end the game. Michigan's other two victories ear- lier this weekend came against Wis- consin, 3-0 and 2-1 on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The four-win weekend put Michigan atop the Big Ten with a half-game lead over Iowa (7-2, 28-9). The Wolverines had their only two games of the season against Iowa cancelled last week due to inclement weather. But the Wolverines are not con- cerned with the rankings. The only thing Young and her team want is the opportunity to play as much as possi- ble - weather permitting, of course. "We obviously can't control the weather," Young said. "The games we play count. At this point in the season, we'd rather be playing than practicing." Total 26 3 7 3 Total 23 0 1 0 I E - Young; Kirchberg. LOB - Michigan 6; Wisconsin 5. 2B- Moulden, Young. HR - Young (7). HBP - Zacher, Padovan. SH4 - Young. SS5- Doe, Merchant. MIchigan Wisconsin R HE 010 002 0- 3 7 1 000 000 0- 0 1 1 IP H R ER BB SO i Michigan Young W, (12-1) 7.0 1 0 0 1 10 Wisconsin Kirchberg"L, (11-12) 7.0 7 3 3 3 6 Umpires- HP: Sally Walker 1B: Steve Culp 38: Tim Townsend At - Goodman Softball Complex, Madison. Attendance - 401. Time - 1:36. 44, .4 4, ..)'. If outhik ou'e reg nant.. ca uswe istnwe care~. PR1OBLEM PREG~NANCY HELP 975-4357 An~y time, any day, 24 houirs. S nvg $t s~ fice4970 Free movie. Free lunch. Free frisbees. Free T-shirts. Life hasn't been this good since parents' weekend. Lucky for you, Volkswagen's Major Motion Picture MAJOR MOTION . 1. . . l . r r.. . CUJ1 AuIW Jobs!!! Spring/Summer Term Apply now at the Law Library *non-law Students *Law Students