10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 24, 2004 SOFTBALL Blue on the lookout for repeat Falcon win By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer It started on the ice, and then spread, untraced, onto the football field and basketball court. Upset after upset, the Bowling Green State Uni- versity Falcons and their counterparts in the _____ Mid American Confer- ence are transforming the mid-major league Bowlin into a bona fide nation- Mi al power. Today, the Fal- cons are hoping toT expand this trend to the Alur softball field.----- Upsetting No. 12 Michigan (21-6) would be a daunting task for the Falcons (10-11). Only a year ago, Bowling Green upset the Wolverines in the first game of a dou- bleheader. But this time it faces a Michigan team that has been relent- less on the mound, allowing less than one run a game, while racking up 205 strikeouts. Though on paper, the Wolverines OD ngt ich mni should walk all over the Falcons, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins refuses to look past Bowling Green. "Bowling Green beat us in the first game of the double header last year," Hutchins said. "They have a good pitcher in (sophomore) Liz Vrabel, and they have (sopho- more Gina) Rango back" DAY Rango was a first- Greenat team All-Region igan selection at third base 2 p.m. last season and has 2 pim. been impressive thus Field far this year. Through -- the first 21 games, Rango has hit .371 with three home runs and 17 RBIs. She has been the cornerstone of a Falcon offense that scores runs in bulk. "Any team has the capability to explode;' Hutchins said. "The goal of our defense, which starts on the mound, is to stop that. We need to get ahead of their hitters, make them hit our pitches" The defense will be anchored on the mound by both sophomore Jennie Rit- ter and freshman Lorilyn Wilson - Hutchins has not decided who will pitch each game. Junior pitcher Nicole Motycka will receive some well- deserved rest this week. Hutchins said she feels good about Motycka's status, as there is no serious injury, but is tak- ing this final chance to give her some precautionary rest before Big Ten play begins. Ritter and Wilson have been in top form this entire season. Ritter has compiled an 8-3 record with a 0.98 earned run average. She also hurled the 20th no-hitter in school history on March 12. Ritter was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week last week. Wilson has been virtually un-hittable in her limited action, going 4-0 without giv- ing up an earned run. She has allowed just nine hits in 27.2 innings. While its pitching has been stel- lar, Michigan's offense has been its soft spot thus far, and Hutchins is hoping for increased production during this last week before the con- ference season. "Our offense is not coming togeth- er like we need it to," Hutchins said. "The bottom half of our order really needs to pick it up." Hutchins is trying to shake up the lineup a bit, both as a reward for out- standing performances and to try to increase production. Freshman out- fielder Rebekah Milian hit .375 in three starts over the weekend, and is now hitting .333 in 17 games of work. As a result, Hutchins has moved Milian up to the second spot in the order. Michigan's fielding has greatly improved after it committed 14 errors in the first eight games of the year. Since then, the Wolverines have com- mitted a mere 12 errors in 19 games, and have not made a blunder in more than 40 innings. The first clash of the doublehead- er between the Wolverines and the Falcons is scheduled for today at 2 p.m. Should rain postpone the game, the teams have agreed to play tomorrow. BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily Michigan's Anthony Jackson whips a forehand. The senior lost his No.12.singles match yesterday. N ettes cr p u ua slimRlossMtoNNotreDDame N MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING Tankers ready for their last dance By Gabe Edelson Daily Sports Writer Nine members from the Michigan men's swim- ming and diving team will travel to East Meadow, N.Y., this weekend for a special opportunity - the chance to swim in the NCAA Championships. Eight swimmers and one diver will perform on the sport's brightest collegiate stage. "This is the Big Dance," retiring coach Jon Urbanchek said. "And we'll be dancing." Michigan will participate in 15 of 21 swimming events, while senior diver Jason Coben will attempt to defend his co-National Championship in 10- meter platform diving. Coben will also participate in the one- and three-meter springboard contests. Sophomore Peter Vanderkaay heads the field of swimmers with No. 1 seeds in both the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle events. Cal-Berkeley junior Draganja Duje is the only other swimmer with multiple top rankings. Senior captain Dan Ketchum (200-meter freestyle) and sophomore Davis Tarwater (200- meter butterfly) have also earned top spots in races at the Goodwill Games Aquatic Center. Sopho- more Chris DeJong and juniors Andrew Hurd, Zayd Ma, Chuck Sayao and Christian Vanderkaay round out the group. But swimmers and coaches alike know that a national championship for the No. 10 team in the country is not feasible. Dominant squads such as Stanford (17 swimmers), Texas (16) and Auburn (16) will simply have too much manpower at the meet for the Wolverines to overcome. "If we swim up to our potential, we can be fifth," assistant coach Eric Namesnik said. "If we're outside the Top 10, that's not a good finish for us. We are a little bit smaller (than some other teams), but we just have to cash in on our quality points." Urbanchek has tempered his expectations, antic- ipating a finish slightly below the top five. His swimmers are more optimistic. "I'm a little bit more conservative than the boys are," Namesnik said. "I've lived longer and I have a little bit more experience, so I have to be opti- mistic, but not overly optimistic. If everything goes according to the script, we should rake up some points." Namesnik will look to Michigan's four relay teams to perform well against the nation's best. "Our relays have to come through for us," he said. "We haven't been known for our relays, but they're pretty good this year, and we need to capi- talize on those." Peter Vanderkaay is thrilled about the possibili- ties awaiting the team in New York. "If I can keep those two No. 1 places, I would be really happy," he said. "I've never won (an individ- ual) title, so it would be very exciting. We'd all like to send (Urbanchek) out with our best performance individually and as a team because he means so much to the program and to us. We just want to try and do our best for him." Tarwater, who - like Vanderkaay - is swim- ming in his second NCAA Championships, feels last year's experience was valuable. "This year I know what to expect, I know how the meet is run, some of its idiosyncrasies," Tarwa- ter said. "That experience definitely helps." Ketchum hopes to end his final meet wearing maize and blue in style. "I just want to end it on a good note," he said. "I'd like to get an NCAA title, whether it be relay or individual. It's quite a big honor for me to be going out with (Urbanchek)." The captain knows exactly what kind of effort his coach expects from the team. "We just have to do what (Michigan swimmers) have been doing for the last 22 years under him," Ketchum said, "and swim like Michigan men." By Eric Ambinder Daily Sports Writer After Michigan senior Anthony Jackson ripped an overhead winner to tie the decid- ing doubles match against Notre Dame at 8- 8, he crouched, flexed and let out a scream to the Varsity Tennis Center crowd. It was perfect timing for the shot. Rid- ing on Jackson's emotion, Michigan went on to win the ___________ doubles point. But Jackson never would have expected he would be shouting in pain later during his singles match at the worst possible time. With the overall contest tied 2-2, and Jackson serving for the match in the third set, the Wolverine went for it all. "I thought I had the match, pretty much, and I thought I could serve it out," Jackson said. "On match point, I went for a huge serve, and my leg cramped up." Luis Haddock, Jackson's opponent, knew Jackson's legs were hurting and ran the sen- ior back and forth on the court. The pain was too much. Haddock fought through another match point, and took the match 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. No. 35 Notre Dame (11-7) took four of the five three-set singles matches to defeat No. 48 Michigan (8-2), 5-2. "I told the guys that I would never be upset if they lay it on the line and go out there and give it everything they got," coach Mark Mees said. "I'll never ever be upset with a loss." The contest was much closer than the final score. "All of these matches could have gone either way,"Notre Dame coach Bob Bayliss said. "(Michigan is) going to win some matches this year." After the Wolverines took the doubles point, Notre Dame's Brent D'Amico pulled off an improbable win at No. 3 singles over previously unbeaten freshman Ryan Heller. With the match tied 1-1, Notre Dame's Matthew Scott fought off first set jitters and defeated Michigan's Brian Hung at No. 2 singles, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Wolverines tied the match 2-2 when David Anving outlasted Barry King at No. 5 singles, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Michigan's usual No. 1 singles player, junior Michael Rubin, did not play because of an aggravated shoulder. Rubin's injury forced Mees to move each Wolverine up one slot in the lineup. Jackson was forced to play the No. 1 sin- gles position for just the second time this season. Despite his loss, the senior did not disappoint the crowd. "I try to have fun out there - I will pump the fist," Jackson said. "I will try to stay relaxed, but I enjoy screaming to the crowd." After Jackson hit a down-the-line passing shot to set up his first match point against Haddock, he went to fetch a ball in the cor- ner of the court. Hearing the cheers from the crowd, Jackson glanced up at his ecstat- ic teammates, and joked, "This is what they paid for, this is what they want." Tennis legend Jimmy Connors said the same thing after he won a huge point during a U.S. Open tournament in the early 1990s. While Connors won his match, Jackson failed to grab the 'W' yesterday. But Mees was proud of Jackson and his teammates. "I think that it was a heck of an effort by both teams," Mees said. "I couldn't have been more proud of the way our team fought." 9 6M9 NOTE Wolverines prevail in East Lansing, 6-1 No. 19 Michigan blew out Marquette 7-0 on Saturday. But yesterday, Michigan (10-1 over- all, 1-0 Big Ten) wasn't as per- fect, dropping a doubles match to Michigan State (5-7 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) yesterday. Despite the lone blemish, the Wolverines won 6-1, winning every singles match. The Spartans have now lost three of their last four overall. "We did a great job after not winning any doubles points," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "We were off to a great start in singles." Despite their unusual perform- ance in doubles, Michigan main- tained its high ranking by working twice as hard in singles. It was Michigan's second road match in three days. The Wolverines continue the Big Ten season with matches against Penn State on Saturday and Ohio State on Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Center. - Chastity Rolling I I As an engineer in the U.S. Air Force, there's no telling what you'll work on. (Seriously, we can't tell you.) United States Air Force applied technology is years ahead of what you'll touch in the private sector, and as a new engineer you'll likely be involved at the ground level of new and sometimes classified developments. You'll begin leading and managing within this highly respected group from day one. Find out what's waiting behind the scenes for you in the Air Force today. To request more information, call 1-800-423-USAF or log on to airforce.com. . RE.UEST YOUR CATALOG TODAY! REGISTRATION BEGINS APRIL 12 CLASSES BEGIN JUNE 12 847.491.5250 www.northwestern.edu/summernu F . . r'l