The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 5, 2004 - 4B Players of the Indiana Series Players of the Purdue Series Abby Stark (Indiana) Stark helped the Hoosiers give the Wolverines a run for their money by going 2-for-3 with an RBI which put Indiana on the board in the seventh. FRIDAY'S GAME SIndiana 2 LP: M. Bogado (12-8) Michigan 3 WP: J. Ritter (11-3) Grace Leutele (Michigan) Before injuring her hamstring, Leutele held up the bottom half of the order with an RBI to drive in the first run of the second game. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 4 WP: N. otycka (10-3) Indiana 1 LP: M. Bogado (12-9) Brooke Baker (Purdue) Baker held the Wolverines to just two runs in the second game of the series. She was named Big Ten Pitch- er of the Week last week. SUNDAY'S GAME 1 Michigan 9 WP: J. Ritter (12-3) Purdue 0 LP: D. LaRiva (9-9) Nicole Motycka (Michigan) In the first game of the series, Motycka hit three home runs in her first three at-bats to lead the Wolverines' massacre of Purdue. SUNDAY'S GAME 2 Purdue 0 LP: B. Baker (13-3) m Mich(1an 2 SWP: N. otycka (01-3) YESTERDAY'S GAME 2 Michigan 2, Purdue 0 Michigan (29-6, 4-0) Purdue (22-12, 0-2) Player AS R H BI Player AB R H BI Doe cf 3 0 0 0 Knight rf 3 0 1 0 Milian h 3 0 1 0 Absher cf 2 0 00 Haas 2b 3 0 1 0 Lilley ss 3 0 0 0 Olds 1b 3 1 1 1 Devich 2b 3 0 0 0 Merchant ss 3 0 1 0 Johnson dh 3 0 1 0 Motycka p 2 0 00 Dum pr 0 00 0 Schock c 3 1 1 0 Messer3b 3 0 2 0' Churchill 3b 3 0 1 1 Peterson c 3 0 1 0' Betleyrf 2 00 r0 FazonIf 2 000 TeschlerIf 0 0 0 0 Fo n 1b 1 0 0 0' Fortune lb 2 0 0 0 Baker p 0 0 0 0 Total 252 6 2 Total 250 5 0 E - Purdue 1: Lilley. DP - none. LOB- Michigan 6; Purdue 5. 2B - Michigan 2: Merchant; Churchill. 3D - Michigan 1: Schock. HR.- Michigan 1: Olds. DBR- Michigan 1: Motycka; Purdue 0. SD- None. CS - Pur- due none; Michigan none. R H E Purdue 000 000 0- 0 51 Michigan 010 100 X - 2 6 0 IP H R ER BB SO Michigan Motycka W, (11-3) 7.0 5 0 0 0 5 Purdue Baker L. (13-3) 6.0 6 2 2 1 2 At- Varsity Softball Complex, West Lafayette Time - T1:30 YESTERDAY'S GAME 1 Motycka plays one-woman show By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer In any game at an outdoor venue, wind plays a factor. In softball, it holds home runs in and blows sure fly- outs into the next zip code. Wind does not discriminate, so those who deal with it best will come out on top. Dur- ing yesterday's doubleheader in West Lafayette, Michigan junior Nicole Motycka showed that she has the abili- ty to adapt to rough conditions, both on the mound and at the plate. In the opening game against Purdue she sent a school-record three shots over the outfield wall, anchoring the Wolverines' record-setting six home run performance. No amount of wind was going to take Motycka out of her zone. Prior to this weekend, Motycka had hit just two home runs in her career, but yesterday's outburst did not seem to take her by surprise. "I wasn't surprised that I did well," Motycka said. "Sometimes you just have that feeling, but I didn't expect it to go out three times." After taking advantage of the wind while at the plate during the first game, Motycka was determined to prevent the Boilermakers from doing the same during the nightcap. Know- ing Motycka's typical pitching style, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins was confident in sending her out there. "On a day like today, Nicole is the kind of pitcher we want out there," Hutchins said. "She keeps the ball down so you are not going to hit the ball in the air as much." Motycka pitched a five-hit shutout in the second game, the Wolverines' 15th shutout of the season. As Hutchins suspected, Motycka con- trolled the Boilermaker hitters, forcing them to ground out time after time. "That's always been part of my game, using the ground," Motycka said. "I use our infielders to get the outs - I've never been a strikeout pitcher. I guess it helps on windy days." This sort of double duty is nothing new to Motycka, who has worked overtime all year. She is one of Michi- gan's three starting pitchers, and on what would be her off days, she serves as the team's designated player. Through Sunday's action, Motycka has compiled an 11-3 record, with a paper-thin 0.61 earned-run average. She sat out several starts during the past few weeks with a leg injury but bounced back to give up just one run in 15.1 innings of work this weekend, including complete games both on Saturday at Bloomington and yester- day against Purdue. "I don't know if (sitting out) really helped my leg so much, or if it just helped me get rid of bad mechanics I had because of my leg," Motycka said At the plate she has been one of the team's most consistent hitters, compil- ing a .309 batting average, while driv- ing in 12 runs and scoring 13. She has been responsible for nearly twice as many runs on offense as she has given up in 80 innings on the mound for Michigan. Hutchins believes the key to Motyc- ka's success is her well-founded self- assurance. "Her greatest aspect is her confi- dence," Hutchins said. "She was con- fident, she was loose and she was having a good time. I think it's easier to play when you enjoy what you are doing." As the Big Ten season continues at home against Ohio State and Penn State, Motycka's continued success on the mound will play a large part in Michigan's run for a Big Ten title and a trip to the College World Series. Michigan 9, Purdue 0 Purdue (22-11, 0-1) Michigan (286, 3-0) Player AB R HB l Player., - Knight rf 3 0 1 0 Doe cf Absher cf 3 0 1 0 Milian If Lilley ss 3 0 1 0 Haas 2b Flazon If 2 0 0 0 Oldsl1b Messer 3b 2 0 0 0 Merchant ss Johnson dh 1 0 0 0 Motycka dh Dum pr 0 0 0 0 Schock c Devich 2b 2 0 0 0 Holland c Peterson c 2 0 0 0 Lueutle 3b Fortune lb 1 0 0 0 Churchill 3b Stone ph 1 0 0 0 Betley rf LaRivap 0 00 0 J. Ritterp Wilson AD R H B 4 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 4 010 3 3 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 9 8 9 SETH LOWER/Daily Michigan junior Nicole Motycka was the winning pitcher for Michigan twice this weekend and also earned her first save against Indiana on Friday. Diamond Stars The Michigan Daily softball writers evaluate the team's performance in the weekend's road trip to Indiana and Purdue. The categories include defense, pitching and offense. For each category the team will receive a grade between one and five 'M' logos, with five being the highest. Tota 20 0 3 0 Total E - Purdue 1: Lilley. DP - none. LOB - Michigan 1; Purdue 4. 2B8- Michigan 1: Olds; Purdue 1: Lilley 3D - none. HR - Michigan 5: Merchant, Motycka (3), Leutele."BRD- Michigan 1: Schock; Purdue 1: Falzon. SB - none. CS - Michigan: Doe; Purdue: Absher Michigan Purdue Purdue LaRiva L (9-9). Michigan J. Ritter W (12-3) Wilson 030 402 - 000 000 - - R H E 9 80 0 32 Defense: Senior Angie Churchill epitomized Michigan's nearly flawless defense this weekend when she dove into Purdue's dugout to catch a foul ball. The Wolverines committed just one error in all of its four games. IP H R ERBB SO 6.0 8 9 8 1 8 5.0 3 0 0 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 8 2 At- Varsity Softball Cormplex, West Lafayette TimeG 1:55 BIG TEN STANDINGS Team Michigan Iowa Minnesota Illinois Ohio State Penn State Michigan State Northwestern Wisconsin Purdue Indiana Conference Overall W L W L 4 0 29 6 4 0 22 15 3 1 22 11 2 2 23 13 2 2 19 12 2 2 14 21 1 3 19 13 1 3 16 11 1 3 19 16 0 2 22 12 0 2 23 18 h j ..4Pitching: Michigan's pitching was led by junior Nicole Motyc- ka, who allowed just three fly balls yesterday. She also earned her first save in the Wolverines' 3-2 vic- d4 a . tory against Indiana. v. Offense: It was the weekend of the home run for Michigan. They had seven, including six in yesterday's first t game. Had they been more aggressive at the plate, yesterday's nightcap would not have been ckose. Leutee is Blue's sav aeg Grace Merchant closes in on school home run record Sunday's results: INDIANA 6, Bowling Green 4 Michigan 9, PURDUE 0 IOWA 8, Michigan State 2 Minnesota 3, PENN STATE 0 ILLINoIS 2, Northwestern 0 Ohio State 2, WIScONSIN 0 Northwestern 3, ILLINOIS I Wisconsin 3, OHIO STATE 1 INDIANA 4, Bowling Green 2 Michigan 2, PURDUE 0 IOWA 8, Michigan State 2 Minnesota 5, PENN STATE 2 ON DECK: OHIO STATE The Buckeyes are 18-11 overall and 1-1 in conference games after splitting games with the Gophers on this weekend. The Wolverines split the series last season in Columbus. IN THE HOLE: PENN STATE BOILERS Continued from Page 1B on just three hits. And it wasn't much better the second time around. Motycka, who pitched the second game, also pitched a shutout. She allowed just three hits, and all of them came in the fifth inning or later. For the Wolverines, it was more important to have strong pitching in the second game because they were not able to continue the offensive slugfest throughout the rest of the day. Purdue's freshman pitcher Brooke Baker pitched a strong game and held the Wolverines to just two runs. "Brooke Baker was the differ- ence," Hutchins said. "She did a nice job of keeping us off balance and working us in and out and throwing in her change. She did not let us dig in on her as much (LaRiva)." Michigan still won the second game of the doubleheader, 2-0, but the Wolverines had a couple of scares late in the game. "I'm always worried," Hutchins said. "Obviously, when you only have two runs on the board, one key hit can make the difference in the game. So I just want our offense to get a few more runs on the board. But our defense is our strength no matter what. No matter what we do on offense, our defense is our strength." Michigan does not play again until next weekend, when the Wolverines stay at home and take on Ohio State and Penn State at Alumni Field. Merchant said that the week off will give the Wolverines a chance to prepare for the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions. She thinks that the Wolverines will be able to fix the few mistakes that they had this weekend. By Jamie Josephson and Anne Ulble Daily Sports Writers After smacking two home runs in the first game of yesterday after- noon's doubleheader against Pur- due, sophomore Grace Leutele lived up to her name by becom- ing the "saving Grace" for the No. 9 Michigan soft- ball team. "I really thought j 1 prowess made the difference in Michigan's narrow 3-2 win. The sophomore hit an RBI single in the fourth inning, allowing senior Monica Schock to score from sec- ond base. Leutele has been a bright spot in Michigan's bottom half of the bat- ting order. Hutchins has expressed concern about the offensive per- formance of batters five through nine, but lately the Wolverines have made significant improvements, as demonstrated by Leutele's recent hitting surge. Leutele's only setback this week- end came when she jammed her hamstring after sliding into second base in the first game against Pur- due. She sat out the second game. "Today I was most disappointed that (Leutele) injured her leg a little bit," Hutchins said. "It didn't seem to be anything serious, but she just didn't get to play in the second game." GOING, GOING, GONEI: Jessica records. "I don't really think about it," Merchant said. "If it happens, it happens. But honestly, I just want to win the Big Ten, and I have big- ger goals than breaking the home run record. So that's really not on the top of my head ever." At Michigan's home opener against Bowling Green on March 25, Merchant hit three home runs, including one grand slam. She cur- rently has a slugging percentage of .826 for the season, and was just named Big Ten Player of the Week. With games against Ohio State and Penn State on the horizon, Merchant believes the team has not yet reached its hitting potential. "I think we can always improve," Merchant said. "Some of our at- bats weren't as good as they could have been - me in particular. So that's something that we can get better at. We have a week of prac- tice to go and become as good as we can." TunV un nl.~. ss - anc Ila. ..,c9 that Leutele was a better player this weekend," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "I was really pleased with her. She is really starting to hit. I think that she had a lot of confidence, and that's been an area where she's needed help." The starting third baseman also contributed to the Wolverines' 4-1 victory over Indiana on Saturday. Up to bat with the bases loaded and no outs in the second inning,