The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 22, 2004 - 7B
'M' nine loses three on road trip
By Ryan Sosn
Daily Sports Writer
Sunday's matchup with Harvard marked the last
chance for Michigan's baseball team to put the win-
ning taste in its mouth before heading back to Ann
Arbor for its home opener.
Coming into the weekend, the Wolverines (5-9)
appeared to be on the right track, taking five of
their last six contests, after dropping their first
five games.
This weekend's contests, hosted by Louisiana-
Lafayette, featured a game with
Louisiana-Lafayette (12-6) Friday,
followed by a pair with Harvard (4- COUNTI
3). The trip south was a ticket back 'ENN(
on the roller coaster for the Wolver- TR E
ines, as inconsistency led to a three-
game skid when Michigan was
outscored 24-9. Friday's 16-5 loss to
the Ragin' Cajuns was the only occa-
sion when Michigan pitchers faltered. ; mid
The 3-1 loss Saturday and 5-3 loss
yesterday featured good pitching,
while the offense lay relatively dormant.
"The pitching was there this weekend, we just did-
n't have the offense," sophomore A.J. Scheidt said. "In
weeks past, we've had the offense and not the pitch-
ing. We just need to get consistent in all three facets of
the game."
Michigan's fortunes looked to be turning for the
better yesterday. In the second, down 1-0, sophomore
Matt Rademacher knocked a ball up the middle for a
hit. The centerfielder misplayed the ball, and
Rademacher found himself in scoring position at sec-
ond. Sophomore Jeremy Goldschmeding followed
with a line-drive triple and the Wolverines appeared to
be in business, tying the game at one with one out.
But Michigan couldn't convert Goldschmeding into a
run. After a line out and a fly out, the chance to take
the lead was gone.
"We are just a play or two away, a hit or two away
Fh spot at
Big Tens
W01V S R
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Writer
N WATER POLO
Freshman aids sweep
for Michigan out West
from winning both ballgames (against Harvard),"
Michigan coach Rich Maloney said.
Harvard responded with a two-run third and never
surrendered the lead.
Scheidt did manage to put a dent in the Harvard
lead when he knocked a Hendricks pitch over the right
field fence in the sixth. The 3-for-4 performance puts
Scheidt atop Michigan's stat sheet in batting average
(.404), home runs (3) and RBIs (14).
"I'm just staying with my game plan, which is
usually being aggressive and attack fastballs,"
Scheidt said.
Junior Michael Penn, coming off a co-
WN TO Big Ten pitcher of the week award, put up
EDAY AT six and one third innings of solid work,
ISH giving up four runs - just three of which
were earned. But, unlike his four-hitter of
a week ago, the Wolverine offense wasn't
there to back himup en route to a loss.
Trey Hendricks, who had earned a save
6 (III for Harvard in Saturday's game, went the
distance yesterday for the Crimson and
chipped in three hits and an RBI.
Saturday's loss to Harvard was more of the same
for the Wolverines. Senior Bobby Garza was sharp
through five innings, yielding just four base runners
and a single run.
Freshman Brad Roblin's RBI single in the first
inning that drove in junior Matt Butler gave Michigan
an early lead. But no lead is safe for long, as Michigan
had learned Friday during its shellacking at the hands
of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Garza did suffer some control problems. In the
fourth, he opened the inning by plunking Harvard's
Bryan Hale, followed by a wild pitch to move Hale
into scoring position. After walking the next Crim-
son batter, Lance Salsgiver, Garza again threw a
pitch past the catcher, Rademacher. Hale moved up
again and was then driven in on a fielder's choice
back to Garza.
"My concentration started to slip a little bit," Garza
ETHL OWER/Daily
Junior Michael Penn threw six-and-one-third innings in
a Michigan loss to Harvard on Sunday.
said. "I just had to buckle down and settle into it."
Garza escaped the inning with Hale's run as the
only damage.
The game remained deadlocked at one until the
eighth when Michigan sophomore Derek Feldkamp
gave up a two-run double to a pinch-hitter Rob
Wheeler. Michigan failed to put a hit on the board for
the remainder of the game.
Feldkamp, who has been one of Michigan's best
pitchers, turned in another solid performance in relief
Saturday despite suffering the loss. He contributed
eight of Michigan's season-high 14 strikeouts during
his four innings of relief.
"He's shown signs of really emerging as a top flight
pitcher" Maloney said. "And he's becoming a leader
on our staff"
Coming into the home opener against Oakland,
Friday, Michigan will rely on Feldkamp out of
the bullpen.
By Brad Johnson
Daily Sports Writer
Final Score: Shana Welch 13,
Michigan's opponents 13.
The freshman water polo standout
had a breakout weekend for the No.
8 Wolverines at the Pomona Invita-
tional in California, leading her
team to a tournament sweep and a
35-13 overall margin of victory.
Michigan easily defeated Santa
Clara 8-3 and host Pomona 9-2 yes-
terday, with Welch contributing
seven of her 13 weekend goals in
yesterday's contests. On Satirday,
Michigan took care of business as
well, defeating Wagner 12-5 and
No. 19 Cal. Baptist by a 6-3 margin.
"This is the first tournament
where (Shana) has really gotten a
lot of playing time," Michigan
coach Matt Anderson said. "She's
definitely going to be a force at the
college level."
Welch should have no problem
finding increased playing time after
this weekend's performance, and
she has definitely proven that she
can put the ball in the net seemingly
at will.
Goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong
also turned in a strong performance
for the Wolverines (19-7 overall, 3-
0 CWPA).
"(Betsey is the reason) why we
are where we are," Anderson said.
"It allows us to play strong defense
when you have the best goalie in
college playing on your team. Our
success starts with defense, and that
starts with the person in the cage,
Betsey. I would hate to think where
we would be without her at this
point in the year."
Armstrong's success has not gone
unnoticed, as she was recently
named the Central Water Polo Asso-
ciation's Western Division Player of
the Week for the third time already
this season.
Anderson had even more to be
excited about following Michigan's
California weekend.
"This weekend gave me a chance
to try different combinations in the
pool," Anderson said. "We were
able to get some sun and do some
things offensively and defensively
to get ready for the final three
weeks of the season, and see what
we want to go with now that we're
hitting the stretch run."
Next weekend, Michigan will
take a break from the West Coast
and travel to Pennsylvania to com-
pete at the CWPA League Tourna-
ment. With five contests on the
slate and a heap of confidence
under her belt, Welch will undoubt-
edly be gunning for an even bigger
weekend.
WOMEN'S WIMMING
Blue silences critics at NCAAs
By Anne Uibie
Daily Sports Writer
CHAMPAIGN - The team com-
petition was already over. The Michi-
gan men's gymnastics team had
already finished a disappointing fifth
at the Big Ten Championships when
sophomore Andrew DiGiore got him-
self ready for the vault competition
finals. With no team behind him,
Digiore said it was tough competing
only for himself.
"It was hard for me to come out
here and try to be excited," DiGiore
said. "We had a team meeting to try-.
to keep the intensity up and excite-
ment up today throughout finals, and
it helped out a lot. By the time I was
ready to go out, I was pretty
focused."
Digiore had a good vault, but
stumbled on the landing. He over-
rotated and had to take two steps to
stabilize himself. But his score of
9.450 was good enough for first
place, his second-consecutive Big
Ten vault title.
"Last year, I definitely knew as
soon as I landed that I had it in the
bag," DiGiore said. "But (this year),
I was a little nervous afterwards
because I knew I hadn't done my
best landing. Waiting for those last
two guys to go made me a little bit
nervous."
DiGiore's Big Ten title was one of
the few high points for the Wolver-
ines this weekend. The team came
out flat on Friday and ended up
behind Illinois, Penn State, Ohio
State and Iowa. Michigan had beaten
both Penn State and Ohio State earli-
er this season.
"We've struggled all year, and we
struggled again," assistant coach
Mike Burns said. "When we stop
struggling, we'll move up. Fifth place
is what it is. I've been coaching in
the Big Ten for 16 years now, and
I've never taken fifth. So it's not
where I want to be. We've got some
work to do."
The team started off the weekend
slow on high bar. The Wolverines fell
twice - including a spill by Andre
Hernandez, who hadn't fallen all
year - and earned only two scores
over 9.000. Only Justin Laury quali-
fied for the event finals.
After the high bar, Michigan was
in fourth place, and it stayed there
T HRE EGAKS
G R Q U P
Cool Apartments/Houses
Great Locations in Ann Arbor
and Ypsilanti
U of M- Kerrytown
For a team that wasn't highly regarded by swimming's
elite at the beginning of the season, the Michigan
women's swimming and diving team proved to the
nation that it is worthy of respect and recognition. The
Wolverines concluded the NCAA Championships in
College Station, Texas, this weekend in 13th place with
114.5 points. They started off the season ranked No. 23
in the nation and moved up to 16th by the end of the
regular season. Michigan improved its regular-season
ranking by three spots in its championship performance.
"I was extremely proud of the girls performance this
weekend," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said.
"Everyone had exceptional races and all nine of our
swimmers were honored as All-Americans. It was a
great conclusion for a team that wasn't predicted to do
much this year. I think we proved to everyone that we
are a powerful squad."
While it was a memorable meet for the-Wolverines, it
iwas alsr arNCAA Swimming:and Diving Champi-
onship that went down in the record books. The meet
produced two world records, nine American records
and 12 U.S. Open and NCAA records in every single
event. Not to mention it was the highest-scored meet
since 1993.
"The NCAA Championships is usually exciting, but
this year is special since everyone is trying to qualify
for the Olympic Trials," Richardson said. "That's why
so many more records were broken this year compared
to past years."
Auburn won its third consecutive national champi-
onship with a total of 569 points, the most since 1993
when Stanford finished with 649.5 points. Georgia was
runner-up with 431 points, followed by Arizona (369),
Florida (253) and Stanford (237). Big Ten rivals Wis-
consin and Indiana finished ahead of Michigan - in
10th and 12th place, respectively.
"I think we probably could have finished 11th overall,
team-wise," Richardson said. "We swam so much faster
than we did at the Big Ten Championships, but with
only nine swimmers who qualified, it's hard to produce
a whole bunch of points."
Richardson was most proud of the 800-meter
freestyle relay squad of freshman Lindsey Smith, fresh-
man Susan Gilliam, junior Amy McCullough and senior
Emily-Clare Fenn, who closed the weekend's competi-
tion with a seventh-place finish in the event in a time of
7:58.62.
"It was the most emotional event of the weekend for
us," Richardson said. "It was about 9:30 at night, the
last event of a tough weekend, everyone was really tired
from swimming in their events earlier in the day, and we
had to produce four exceptional 200-meter freestyle
swims. The girls really pulled it together and swam an
amazing race."
Richardson was most proud of freshmen Gilliam and
Smith, both of whom qualified for the finals in both of
their events. Gilliam qualified for the championship
final in the 400-meter freestyle on Thursday with a pre-
liminary time of 4:07.07, and finished eighth at the
evening finals. Later in the meet, Gilliam placed 22nd
in the 200-meter freestyle. Smith was Michigan's top
finisher in the 200-meter freestyle with a 12th place
showing. After qualifying for the consolation final with.'
a time of 1:59.39, Smith finished the evening race in
1:59.43.
"They both had one of the fastest meets of their,
lives," Richardson said. "It will be so exciting to see
them grow over the next three seasons."
Richardson also commended Fenn for her perform-
ance. Fenn earned her third career NCAA All-America
Honorable Mention award after finishing ninth in the
400-meter freestyle on Thursday. Fenn later went on to
take sixth in the 1,650-meter freestyle.
Richardson admits that it's difficult ending the season
and having to bid farewell to the seniors. However;
although college competition has concluded, Richard=
son now gets to spend a little more time with his ath-y
letes as Michigan will continue training in hopes of
qualifying several swimmers for the Olympic Trials irk
June. Smith and senior co-captains Anne Weilbacher,
and Sara Johnson have already qualified for the trials.
A step out of bounds gave Gerry Signoreil a fourth-place finish on the floor
exercise at the Big Ten Championships. Michigan took fifth in the event.
until pommel horse, the third rota-
tion.
"We had some falls on pommel
horse - that's been our Achilles heel
all year," Burns said. "We've been
addressing the problem in practice,
but it hasn't been showing up in
competition."
Michigan had a strong rotation on
floor, but it could not move itself up
from fourth place. Gerry Signorelli,
the Michigan record holder on floor,
led the team with a score of 9.300
and qualified for the individual event
finals on Saturday. Signorelli said
that it was different competing when
the team's score wasn't important,
but it wasn't hard to motivate himself
for the event final.
"It's more of a showoff time," Sig-
norelli said. "We go out one at a
time, so it's your chance to be an
individual. Everyone in the crowd is
watching you, and they stop all of the
other events. So that's enough moti-
vation. You are either going to crawl
up into a little shell or step up to the
challenge and show off a little bit."
Signorelli had a good routine in
the floor finals and stuck the dis-
mount. But a step out of bounds on
his first tumbling pass took away any
hope that he had of moving up to a
place higher than fourth.
"I knew (I stepped out of
bounds)," Signorelli said. "I saw the
guy in the corner stick his hand up
like, 'He stepped out of bounds.' So I
knew (for the rest of the routine) that
I had to be better. I lost a tenth there
plus another tenth for the step. And
with a start value lower than most of
the other guys in the finals, I knew I
had to stick the dismount."
Michigan had a scary moment dur-
ing the event finals of the high bar.
Laury, who had been struggling with
his release during warm-ups, hit his
face on the bar while attempting his
back flip. He had to leave the compe-
tition to get stitches in his lower lip.
But did not suffer a concussion or
damage to his jaw, and he should be
able to compete in two weeks at the
NCAA finals.
Laury had "the performance of his
life" on still rings just minutes earli-
er, scoring a 9.575. He placed second
in that event behind Penn State's
Kevin Tan - a two-time Big Ten
champion and defending national
champion in the event.
6MD
NOTE
Netters bounce back
with two victories
After suffering its first loss of the
season on March 14 to No. 37
Alabama, the No. 19 Michigan's
women's tennis team has come roar-
ing back. It handed Western Michi-
gan a 6-1 loss last Wednesday at the
Varsity Tennis Center.
Then on Saturday, the Wolver-
ines traveled to Marquette and
dominated the Golden Eagles 7-0.
The victory extended their season
record to 8-1.
Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt was
very happy with the play of her
team. The Wolverines won all five
singles matches, and swept the
doubles as well.
Michigan won the sixth singles
match by default because Mar-
quette did not have anyone to play
in that slot.
"We dominated today," Ritt said.
"We played very competitive ten-
nis, and just performed well."
Even though Marquette has
struggled tremendously this season
- losing many players to injuries
and compiling just a 3-9 record -
Ritt was able to draw many posi-
tives from the match.
"It is tough to play on the road;:
in a different environment, and on
different courts," Ritt said. "We did
a good job of going there and just
playing our game."
After dropping just one match in
their nonconference schedule, the
Wolverines now begin their Big
Ten schedule starting this week.
The team will begin the confer-
ence season with a match against
Michigan State tomorrow in East
Lansing. The Wolverines then take
on Penn State and Ohio State at
the Varsity Tennis Center next
weekend.
-Richie Jain