The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 15, 2004 - 3B Varsity begins spring with no-contact drills 'M' icers always know when to turn it on By Matt Singer Daily Sports Writer Maybe it was just habit. Or perhaps nostalgia for his days of wearing maize and blue. On Saturday, former Michigan cornerback Jeremy LeSueur somehow found his way back onto the turf at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. "LeSueur, get off the field!" Michigan coach Lloyd Carr shouted. As the senior - who will graduate in April - went back to the sidelines, the new-look Wolverines resumed their first spring practice of the 2004 season. For the current squad, it was a long-awaited return to the field. "I love it," Carr said. "My favorite part of spring is the start of training camp." With a lack of contact on the first day of practice, as helmets were the only equipment worn, the coaching staff had a little trouble evaluating John Navarre's potential replace- ments at quarterback. "There's a major part of the game - the contact part - that isn't available," Carr said. "Today was a practice designed to work on their timing, see their huddle command, their ability to communicate and their ability to rec- ognize certain coverages." Navarre's backup last year, redshirt freshman Matt Gutierrez, looked sharp. He fired accurate passes all morning long, working through his progressions and hitting receivers in stride. Gutierrez tucked the ball and ran on a number of occasions, show- ing off his mobility. Freshman Clay- ton Richard and senior Spencer Brinton also took turns running the offense. Richard, a former Parade All-American, saw no game action last season. Brinton underwent shoul- der surgery in September and has not yet returned to full strength. Highly touted incoming freshman Chad Henne will join the Wolverines this summer. Another interesting position battle is at running back, where at least five players will compete for playing time. Over the next three weeks, Carr hopes to see the jumbled situation become just a little bit clearer. "A guy may be running the football better, but he may not be where he needs to be mentally - in terms of pass protections, routes, checks," Carr said. "The competition will reveal itself." On defense, junior Marlin Jackson worked out at cornerback, where he was an Associated Press second team All-American during the 2002 season. After an inconsistent year at safety, Jackson will reclaim the spot vacated by LeSueur. With Jackson sliding back to corner, freshman Ryan Mundy joined junior Ernest Shazor at safety on the starting defense. Mundy is also expected to get work at cornerback. Sophomore cornerback Leon Hall was unable to participate in contact drills due to shoulder surgery. Michigan may also experiment with senior linebacker Pierre Woods TONY DING/Daily Matt Gutierrez, who will be a redshirt sophomore next season, served as John Navarre's backup for most of this year and looks to be the frontrunner to win the job next year. at defensive end. "One of the things you're always trying to do is to give a guy a role - if you can do it, that really maximizes some of his talents," Carr said. "Pierre has been a good pass rusher. There will be some things we'll try to develop." With playing-time battles, position switches and new senior leadership, a great deal must be resolved before the Wolverines kick off their season on Sept. 4 against Miami (Ohio). But as first steps go, Saturday's practice fit the bill. "I thought we had very good con- centration - I didn't see the ball on the ground much," Carr said. "There are a lot of guys who are really excit- ed about their opportunities. I think for a first day we did good." JIM WEBER The Sports Monday Column Like the Michigan hockey team, I didn't show up to last night's game until the third period. No, seriously. I have a Sociology paper due at 4 p.m. and really didn't have time to sit at Yost while they messed around for the first two peri- ods. But when I saw Nebraska- Omaha's Scott Parse put the Mavericks up 2-1 late in the second period on WOLV-TV, even I panicked. I raced down to Yost Ice Arena convinced Michigan's history of playing down to its competition was finally going to catch up to the team. Anyone involved in March Mad- ness knows the 12 seed is always dan- gerous (granted, the CCHA Tournament's 12 seed is equivalent to the NCAA Tournament's 16 seed, and neither has ever advanced past the first round). More importantly, when I got to Yost, I saw Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Kemp, who is no taller than 5-foot-6, was wearing his bright red jacket. There's a reason opposing coaches say he is the best-dressed coach in the CCHA. Reporters next to me couldn't decide if it was his lucky jacket, or he hadn't planned on taking Michigan to a deci- sive Game 3. Whatever the case, that jacket was straight fire and oozed confidence. But even Kemp's style wasn't enough. Over just a three-minute span in the third period, Michigan turned a 2-1 deficit into a comfortable 4-2 lead. Following the 5-2 win, Michigan coach Red Berenson waited at the end of the ice to shake hands with each Maverick player and leave a short message. He probably told them what a great series they played - a classy move. But I like to think he individually told each opposing player: "Gotcha!" After the game, Kemp was left in the opposing lockerroom a broken man: saying the team "battled as long as we could" - his jacket nowhere to be found. No matter how little the Michigan hockey team tries or how well the opposing coach is dressed, Michi- gan's half-ass attitude toward inferior competition will never catch up to it. Berenson -sporting double coffee mugs (yes, he actually had two) - described his team's style as "heart- attack hockey." But is it really that stressful when the outcome is so predictable? After watching this team the last four seasons, I'm convinced Berenson never worried last night. Each time the Wolverines struggle down the stretch (which they have now in three of the last four years), it has been free of consequence. The only thing you can count on is a Frozen Four berth. By now it all seems pretty ho- hum to me. 2001: Michigan wins just once in its final six regular season games and loses in the CCHA Super Six Finals to Michigan State. That's three loses to State in exactly one month. The Spartans don't make the Frozen Four, the Wolverines do. Go figure. 2002: The top-seeded icers lose the first game of the CCHA Tournament at home to Lake Superior State, 4-3, after the Lakers score just 36 seconds into the game and three times in the first 15 minutes. 2004: The Wolverines go winless in the last two weeks of this season to put the CCHA regular-season title up for grabs. They still claim it by a single point. Last night, they come within 13 minutes from becoming the first top seed not to advance to the Super Six and put- ting an NCAA Tournament berth in serious jeopardy. Berenson said it took the team half the game to loosen up. Ummm, more like wake up. I liken it to a parent who tells his child, "Put a coat on before you get pneumonia!" in the winter. The kid isn't going to listen and even- tually the parent just gives up. You both realize that, in the end, it really doesn't matter either way. Nebraska-Omaha goaltender Chris Holt sounded like one of those par- ents after the game: "They needed that kick in the butt from us. Hopeful- ly they can use it going into the Joe and (realize) how they really need to play all the time, because they obvi- ously can't take any team lightly, especially our team." Whatever. After four years of com- plaining the team doesn't give 100-per- cent every night, I'm finished and you should be too. It's a waste of all our time. BASEBALL I Penn holds 'M' together in win over Pengums By Matt Venegoni "We are still trying to find ourselves, but this and his second shutout. Daily Sports Writer helped." "If we can get our pitching under control, we Unlike every previous game this year, the have the opportunity to be a good, solid team," Mal- From a shootout to a shutout, this weekend pro- Wolverines never trailed and did not need to make a oney said. vided all kinds of excitement for the Michigan base- ball team. With its 7-0 shutout of Youngstown State (2-7) yester- day, the team finished the week- end with two wins out of three games. Michigan has won five out of its last six games. "Anytime you go on the road, you want to win a series and get some confidence," coach Rich Maloney said. MICHIGAN H DAYTON MICHIGAN T YOUNWOWN ST. 0 comeback. The Wolverines took a 2-0 lead in " the third inning, capitalizing on one of COUlNT many Penguin errors. Junior left-field- (IPENIN er Chris Burhans reached second on a T '' dropped fly ball to center. Burhans scored from third on a two-out single by sophomore third baseman A.J. Scheidt. Michigan got another unearned Faa run in the sixth inning after Burhans and junior first baseman Kyle Bohm singled. Burhans scored when Scheidt's fly to left was dropped. Sophomore second baseman Chris Getz had a run-scoring single in the sev- enth, the first earned run of the day scored by the Wolverines. Penn took over from there, walking one and fan- ning two to record his third career complete game Il~i.,ONT M- DAY AT aui can't ad: While yesterday's game showcased solid pitching and good hitting, Satur- day's game against Kentucky (12-4) was a different story. The Wolverines fell behind early 6- 0, but fought back to tie the game at eight in the fifth inning. Junior out- fielder Matt Butler hit a long three-run homer and added a fourth RBI in the eighth inning. Bohm collected his third game in the last two weeks with three or more hits, and he hit his first Yesterday, the Wolverines (5-6) rode the arm of pitcher Michael Penn at the end of the Ken- tucky Invitational. Penn dominated the Penguins for all nine innings, never allowing a runner past second base. "Michael Penn gave us a great lift today, as our pitching had been struggling a bit," Maloney said. homer as a Wolverine. "Us coming back has been a characteristic of this team all year long," Maloney said. "The guys always thought they could win the game." Ultimately the Wolverines fell to Kentucky 15-14, but fought back to end the game with confidence, which showed in yesterday's game. Jim Weber can be reached at jamesmw@umich.edu. Florida State steals a win, breaks softball's streak By Ian Herbert Daily Sports Writer With the bases loaded and two outs, Michigan softball catcher Monica Schock threw the ball back to her pitcher Jennie Ritter just like she did after every pitch of the game. But this time it was different. As soon as Schock threw the ball, Florida State base runners ran a suc- cessful triple steal that gave them the lead and ultimately a 1-0 win in the semifinals of the Florida State Invita- tional. "I feel that there are several things that we have to take care of, and we got beat because we didn't take care of details," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "Whether it was that we didn't look the runner back enough, we didn't cover third base, or our pitcher didn't receive the ball and check the runner, they took advantage of our lack of attention to details. We just need to make sure that we do a better job with it in the long run and get better at the details." With the game stuck in a score- less tie in the bottom of the sixth, Ritter got herself into her first jam of the day. After giving up two sin- gles and a fielder's choice, Ritter faced Florida State slugger Leslie Palmer with two outs and runners on the corners. Hutchins decided to intentionally walk Palmer, and Florida State was poised for its game-winning triple steal. After the steal, Ritter struck out the batter, Beth Wade, on the next pitch, and Michigan came up for its last chance in the top of the seventh. Nicole Motycka started things off well with a lead-off double to left- center. And after a perfect bunt by Schock, Michigan had a runner on third with only one out. Hutchins brought in pinch hitter Lauren Hol- land, who popped out to the pitcher. This left it up to third-baseman Grace Leutele. Leutele battled to a 2-2 count before watching the third strike, and the game, go by. "We didn't give ourselves a chance, and that's frustrating," Hutchins said. "Of all the debacles that happened in the game, I am most upset that we didn't go down swinging. If you did- n't like the pitch you have to fend it off to give yourself a chance. So that was probably the most disappointing part of the game. It would have been a big win." The game ended up being the equivalent of the tournament final because the other semifinal winner, Texas A&M, had to leave Florida due to travel constraints. Until the semifinal, Michigan (17- 6) didn't have any trouble scoring runs. The Wolverines scored 39 runs in their first five games (all wins), but couldn't get anything started on offense against Florida State. "We played some teams, and beat them up pretty good. But that's what we needed to do," Hutchins said. "But against Florida State, they took advantage of our mistakes." The Wolverines were led all weekend by their pitching and defense. Jennie Ritter pitched 19.1 straight innings of scoreless softball and threw a no-hitter against Notre Dame on Friday. "I think that our pitching perform- ance, Jennie Ritter in particular, was outstanding," Hutchins said. "And, of course, our team played great defense behind her. You don't throw a no-hit- ter without great defense. "I think it's great that we gave up only two runs all weekend. It shows right now that the strength of our team is in our pitching - our pitching and our defense." Overall, Hutchins was pleased with the result of the weekend. "It was a good weekend for us," Hutchins said. "We got to get back into the curve of playing and I thought we hit the ball well and hard. And we had great pitching. (Going) 5- 1 is a good weekend. We just lost a tough game at the end." 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