4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 10, 2006
FULL COUNT
6
SOFTBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Grace Leutele
Michigan
The senior slugger was solid on both sides
of the ball this weekend. She posted a hit in
all four games including a homerun on Friday.
She collected three RBI and three runs as
well as a solid defensive performance, with
four assists Saturday.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"We put ourselves in a hole."
- Michigan coach Carol Hutchins on the
challenges of coming back after going down 5-1
to Purdue in the third inning.
BY THE NUMBERS
Runs scored by Michigan in
the second inning of game one
against Purdue.
'M' STAT LEADERS
Friday's Game
p INDIANA 2
) LP: Bogado (11-5)
MICHIGAN 4
WP: Ritter (12-4)
Saturday's Game
INDIANA 0
LP: Roark (6-9)
MICHIGAN 4
WP: Wilson (10-4)
V -
Sunday's Game 1:
PURDUE 0
LP: LaRiva (8-9)
MICHIGAN 14
WP: Ritter (13-4)
Sunday's Game 2:
PURDUE 5
WP: Burns (3-1)
MICHIGAN 4
LP: Wilson (10-5)
Hometown Favorite
Bercaw, Michigan enjoy extra fan support
Home runs
Runs
Becky Marx
Alessandra Giampaolo
10
28
Hits I Giampaolo 137
RBI ~ Marx j35
Average
Samantha Findlay
.337
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team
Big Ten
Overall
1. Michigan State 6-0 27-11
2. Michigan 5-1 25-10
3. Northwestern 6-2 25-10
4. Ohio State 6-2 24-14
5. Iowa 4-2 13-24
6. Purdue 3-5 23-21
7. Indiana 3-5 18-17-1
8. Illinois 3-5 16-22
9. Wisconsin 2-4 15-14
10. Penn State 1-7 21-11
By Amber Colvin
Daily Sports Writer
In the top of the first in game one of yes-
terday's doubleheader split with Purdue,
the day's story had yet to be written. Pur-
due's first batter, Staci Falzon, was ready
to write the first lines.
Falzon nailed the ball high to rightfield,
and it looked like the Boilermakers were
going to kick off the game with a home run.
But senior Stephanie Bercaw didn't
like Falzon's script. She jumped up and
reached over the fence to snatch the ball.
"Bercaw definitely stumped their
momentum by catching the ball at the
fence," senior Grace Leutele said.
Berclaw, a Wooster, Ohio native, con-
tinued to serve as the game's author, set-
ting the tone with her offense as well.
Bercaw led off the second inning with a
hit - a well-placed bunt to third. Sopho-
more Angie Danis followed with a single,
as did junior Rebekah Milian. When a
pitch hit freshman Teddi Ewing, Bercaw
scored. Her run was the first of the inning
- an inning that would prove to be explo-
sive.
The Wolverines kept their bats firing
throughout the inning. Moving through
their entire batting rotation, Bercaw
stepped up to the plate for a second time
that inning. Her slice up the middle sent
Purdue shortstop Tricia Lilley diving for
the ball. But it was just out of her reach,
scoring senior Becky Marx and allowing
Bercaw to reach second.
A Danis double brought Bercaw in for the
score, the eighth of the inning. Michigan
notched a total of nine runs in the second.
"We were just really aggressive," Ber-
caw said. "We weren't letting (Purdue
pitcher Brooke Baker) throw it over our
plate without us being aggressive and
going at it. I thought we had a really good
approach and really good demeanor at the
plate."
Bercaw scored her third run of the
game in the fourth inning. After drawing
a walk, she advanced to second on an error
and scored on a double from sophomore
Lauren Talbot.
Her three scores were the most of any
player in the 14-0 shutout. And for one
section of the bleachers in particular, her
play did not go unnoticed.
Bercaw had her own personal cheering
section inethe stands: a high schooltteam
clad in green and white. Although it may
seem strange for fans in green and white
to cheer for the Maize and Blue, the team
was from Smithville High School, a neigh-
boring school of Bercaw's alma mater,
Hillsdale.
"I know their coach through softball and
through my dad," Bercaw said. "They're
just real big fans of softball. It's really
great to see them out here."
The group continued to root for its
player throughout the heartbreaking game
two.
Bercaw set the tone again, though not
the one her cheering section was hoping
for. She struck out in the first inning, a
good reflection of Michigan's scoring
woes that game.
After being hit by a pitch, Bercaw
reached first at the top of the sixth.
Advancing on a wild pitch and then on a
walk from Danis, Bercaw stood on third
ready to score to start a Michigan come-
back. But true to the theme of the game,
the inning ended before Bercaw could
cross the plate.
Bercaw reached third base again, with
Michigan behind by one run in the seventh
inning. But once again the inning ended
before she could attain the equalizer.
11. Minnesota
1-7
12-21
AROUND THE BIG TEN
Friday's results:
MICHIGAN 4, Indiana 2
MICHIGAN STATE 8, Purdue 2
Northwestern 1, PENN STATE 0
IOwA 2, Minnesota 0
OHIO STATE 8, Illinois 7
Saturday's results:
MICHIGAN 4, Indiana 0
MICHIGAN STATE 1, Purdue 0
Northwestern 3, PENN STATE 0
OHIO STATE5, Illinois 3.
IowA 3, Minnesota }0
Sunday's results:
MICHIGAN 14, Purdue 0
Purdue 5, MICHIGAN 4
MICHIGAN STATE 1, Indiana 0
MICHIGAN STATE 2, Indiana 0
OHIO STATE 2, Northwestern 1
OHIO STATE 3, Northwestern 2
Illinois 5, PENN STATE 0
Illinois 7, PENN STATE 5
IOWA 4, North Dakota State 0
IOWA 6, North Dakota State 1
WISCONSIN 3, Minnesota 2
Minnesota 4, WISCONSIN 2
*Home teams in caps
"HUTCH"-O-METER
The Michigan Daily softball writers break down
this weekend's games by category. The smiling
face of coach Carol Hutchins measures perfor-
mance, with four faces being the best.
BtN SIMON/Daily
Senior Stephanie Bercaw came up big in front of her hometown fans in yesterday's 14-0 win,
PURDUE
Continued from page 1B
inning.
The second game was the antithesis of
the first. Michigan spotted Purdue (3-5, 23-
21) a 3-1 lead after the first inning, and the
Wolverines didn't put up a fight until the last
two innings. Purdue pitcher Melissa Burns
deserved much of the credit for Michigan's
offensive struggles in game two.
She consistently threw first pitches for
strikes and kept Wolverine hitters con-
fused by mixing up her pitches.
"She had a great change-up," senior
third baseman Grace Leutele said. "She
got us a few more times than we would've
liked, but I think that we got better as the
game went on."
Michigan's offensive improvement
didn't show until the sixth inning, when
the Wolverines loaded the bases with one
out, but failed to score.
Down four runs, Michigan mounted a
seventh-inning rally. Suddenly, the bats
came alive.
The Wolverines scored on an RBI dou-
ble by sophomore Samantha Findlay and
RBI singles by seniors Becky Marx and
Stephanie Bercaw. Those runs trimmed
the Purdue lead to just one run with two
outs and runners on second and third.
Hutchins turned to junior Tiffany Worthy
to pinch hit with a chance to take the lead.
After fouling off the first pitch, Worthy
made solid contact on a fastball on the
inside half of the plate. The ball screamed
off her bat and shot past the infield. Unfor-
tunately, Purdue centerfielder Staci Falzon
was in perfect position. Without moving,
the ball settled into her glove, and the
Boilermakers erupted having sealed the
program's second win over Michigan in
twelve years of competition.
Despite the loss, Michigan took some
positives from the seventh-inning rally.
"All I can think about is how well we
finished," Leutele said. "That's all my
energy is going towards is how well we
finished."
After victories over Indiana (3-5, 18-17-
1) on Friday and Saturday and the game-
one blowout, the loss kept Michigan from
a perfect weekend.
Hutchins boiled the difference between
the two Purdue games down to poise - or
a lack thereof.
"The one thing we did (in the second
game), which I was very pleased with, is
we had a lot of poise in the seventh inning,"
Hutchins said. "Why not have poise the
whole game?"
But even after the painful loss, the
group from Smithville waited in the stands
to greet her with smiles. While her team-
mates got ready to head home, Bercaw
ERRORS
Continued from page 18
errors in the game, but neither led to Purdue
runs.
"We appeared to have no focus;" Michi-
gan coach Carol Hutchins said.
The five defensive errors, though poor, didn't
fully encompass Michigan's defensive woes.
Purdue had two easy steals that were
poorly defended by the Maize and Blue, and
no errors were recorded on either play. In the
opening frame, senior catcher Becky Marx
threw her first putout attempt over the head
of senior third baseman Grace Leutele. Two
innings later, Lilley stole third base without
a throw. No one covered third on the steal,
so Marx was left helpless with the ball at the
plate. Damage wasn't done, but Michigan's
focus was clearly shaken.
Another key defensive play came in the
first inning. Haas fielded a groundball with
a baserunner charging from third. Instead
of taking the easy out at first, Haas threw it
home. The throw was late, a run scored and
the Wolverines failed to record an out.
Purdue's two unearned runs proved to be
the difference as Michigan came up just a
base hit short of a tie.
"We didn't play good enough softball to
win," Hutchins said.
SUNDAY, GAME 1
Michigan 14, Purdue 0
Michigan (20-9, 2-0) Minnesota (11-18, 0-4)
stayed and signed autographs.
"It's great to know you have all this sup-
port and people are going to love you no
matter what," Bercaw said.
BROKEN STREAKS: Several streaks came to
an end at this weekend's softball games.
Most notably, Michigan's 12-game win-
ning streak came to a screeching halt with
Sunday's loss to Purdue.
And despite beating Indiana 4-2 on Fri-
day, the Wolverines's six-game shutout
streak was snapped as well. A two-run blast
by Hoosier Sarah Padove put her team on
the board in the fourth inning.
Coming into yesterday's doubleheader,
Wilson had built up 42 1/3 straight innings
of scoreless softball. She added 1/3 of an
inning in game two but conceded three runs
to end the streak.
AMAZING GRACE: With a swing of the bat
on Friday, Leutele took sole ownership of
the second spot on the Michigan all-time
home runs list. Her solo shot over the cen-
terfield fence was her 29th in a Michigan
uniform. She trails former All-American
and current Michigan assistant coach Jes-
sica Merchant by 16.
BATS ON FIRE: In game one of Michi-
gan's doubleheader with Purdue, the Wol-
verines put up a season-high 14 runs off
of an impressive 12 hits. The Maize and
Blue scored at least one run in each inning,
including nine in the second. Eleven players
collected hits, and each of Michigan's four
pinch hitters reached based.
I
DEFENSE
Sure the Wolverines posted
two shutouts this weekend,
but the defense looked flus-
tered yesterday, giving up two
unearned runs in a 5-4 loss.
When you lose a contest like
that, two heads is your reward.
David
VandeVusse
I
PITC HING
Michigan gave up its first run in
six games Friday. Lorilyn Wilson,
riding a personal 40-plus inning
scoreless streak got through
just 1/3 of an inning in game
two on. Sunday. When it goes
Nate Sandals down like that, don't expect
more than two Hutch heads.
99
4
FRIDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4, Indiana 2
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4, Indiana 0
Michigan (24-9, 4-0) Minnesota (18-5-1, 3-3)
SUNDAY, GAME 2
Purdue 5, Michigan 4
Michigan (23-9, 3-0)
Player AB R H
Indiana (18-4-1, 3-2)
H BI Player
AB R H BI
Player AB R H BI Player
Haas 2B 3 1 1 0 Hamilton
ABR H BI
2 0 0 0
Player AB R H 81 Player
Haas 2B 2
Giampaolo CF 4
Findlay 1B 2
Marx C 3
0
0
1
0
00
00
10
00
Hamilton LF
Bogado P
Huddleston 3B<
Hines RF
41
3
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
Giampaolo CF 4
Findlay 1B 2
Marx C 2
Leutele 38 4
Worthy DP 3
0 1 1 Bettenbrock PH1 0 0 0
Haas 2B 2 2 1 3
Winter PH 1 0 1 2
Kidman PH 1 0 0 0
Falzon CF
Krcelich LF
Stone B
Lilley SS
AB R HBI
2 0 0 0
2 0 1 0
2 0 0 0
2 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 1 0
0 1 2
0 1 0
Bogado DP 3 0 0 0
Huddleston 3B 3 0 1 0
Hines RF 3 0 1 0
Michigan (20-9, 2-0)
Player AS R H B
Haas 2B 4 1 1 0
Minnesota (11-18, 0-4)
Player ABR H BI
Falzon CF 2 1 0 0
4
Findlay 1B 1 0 1
1
Leutele 3B 2 1 1 1 DiNallo PR
0 0 0 0
Weatherdon PH 10 0 0 Peterson C
Giampaolo CF 4 1 2 0 Krcelich LF
Findlay 1B 3 1 1 1 Stone 18
Marx C 3 0 1 1 Lilley SS
Weatherdon PRO 0 0 0 Johnson DP
Leutele 3B 2 1 1 1 Peterson C
Bercaw RF 2 0 0 0 Curtis3B
Danis DP 3 0 1 1 Miller 2B
3 1 0 0
3 0 0 0
OFFENSE
The Michigan bats held steady
through the first two games of
the weekend, only to explode
in game one yesterday for
a season-high 14 runs. It
seemed like everyone got a hit
- except for when they really
needed them in game two.
CROWD
Bercaw RF
Kidman DP
Milian LF
Worthy PH
Ewing SS
Ritter P
3
2
2
1
3
0
0
1
0
1
1 1
0 0
0 0
0 0
1 0
Richards CF
Terry1B
Watt CF
Hohs PR
Olson DP
3
2
2
0
3
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 1 0 Richards CF
3i
0
1
0
Bercaw RF 3 1 0 0 Terry C
3 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 Pelerito SS
3 0 0 0
Amber Colvin
Totals 26 4 7 4
Indiana
Michigan
Padove 28 3 1 1 2
Deaven C 0 0 0 0
R H E
000 020 xxx 2 5 2
Kidman DP
Worthy PH
Milian LF
Ewing SS
Wilson P
Total
Michigan
Indiana
2 0 0 0 Hohs PR
Marx C
Worthy C
Leutele 3B
Bercaw RF
Danis DP
2 1 0 0 Miller PR
2 0 1 1 JohnsonDP
2 1 1 1 Mitchell 3B
2 3 2 1 Zaworski RF
3 2 1 2 Devich 2B
0
1
2
2
1
1
4
1
0
0 0 0
1 2 0
0 0 1
0 0 0
Olson 18
Page PR
Padae2B
Pellerito SS
Roark P
2 0
0 0
2 0
3 0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Milian LF 2 1 1 0 LaRivaP
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
3
3
3
0 0 0 0
Deaven C 0 0 0 0
26 4 7 4 Total 2504 0
R H E
010 021 Oxx 4 7 0
000 000 Oxx 0 4 1
Kidman PR
Milian LF
Worthy PH
Ewing SS
Talbot PH 1 1 1 1 Baker P 0 0 0 0
Ewing SS 2 1 1 1
RitterP 0 _ 000 0
Total 24 141214 Total 15 0 1 0
R H E
Purdue 000 00- 0 1 4
Michigan 191 3X - 14 12 0
E - Mitchell, K.; Devich, L.; Baker, B. 2. DP - Purdue
Talbot PH 2 0 0 0
Wilson P 0 0 0 0
RitterP _ 0 0 00
Total 28 4 8 4 Total
0 0 0 0 Trauger RF 3 0 0 0
3 0 1 0 Burns P 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
2 2 2
1 1 3
0 1 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
26 5 4 5
210 302 xxx 4 4
0
E - Huddleston(6); Terry(2). LOB - Indiana 5; Michigan
7. 28 - Terry(6); Findlay(7). HR - Padove(2); Leu-
Michigan
Purdue
R H E
100 000 3 - 4 8 5
302 000 x - 5 4 0
Iddibb,
E - Pellerito(4). DP - IND 1. LOB- Michigan 10; Indi-
--
I