4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 17, 2006 FULL COUNT 0 SOFTBALL 0 PLAYER OF THE WEEK Jennie Ritter Michigan The senior ace posted just a .500 record on the weekend, but surrendered just one run in 10-plus innings of work. Friday, she went the distance in a shutout victory over Iowa. She stuck out 11 Hawkeye batters and conceded just two hits. NOTABLE QUOTABLE "If we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all." - Michigan coach Carol Hutchins on the misfortune of the bad weather that caused the cancellation of two Michigan games. BY THE NUMBERS I Hit posted by the Wolverines in their game at Iowa on Sat- urday. 'M' STAT LEADERS Home runs Becky Marx 10 Runs Alessandra Giampaolo 29 Hits Giampaolo 38 RBI Marx 35 Average Samantha Findlay .330 BIG TEN STANDINGS Team Big Ten Overall 1. Northwestern 9-2 29-10 2. Michigan State 8-2 30-14 3. Ohio State 8-2 28-14 4. Michigan 6-2 26-11 5. Iowa 6-4 28-16 6. Illinois 5-6 19-24 7. Purdue 4-7 26-24 8. Wisconsin 3-5 17-16 9. Penn State 3-7 25-11 10. Indiana 3-8 20-20-1 11. Minnesota 1-11 12-25 Friday's Game IOWA 0 LP: Weil (17-9) MICHIGAN 3 WP: Ritter (14-4) Saturday's Game IOWA_1 WP: Weil (18-9) MICHIGAN 0 LP: Ritter (14-5) Sunday's Game 1: Ppd.: Sunday's Game 2: Ppd. WISCONSIN X WISCONSIN X MICHIGAN X MICHIGAN X Washed Out Stormy weather cuts weekend short By Nate Sandals Daily Sports Writer 4 MADISON - Lightning struck the Michigan softball team twice this weekend - in the form of bad weather. On the road to Iowa City for a Big Ten matchup last Fri- day, the Wolverines' team bus encountered the same band of storms that wreaked havoc on the University of Iowa campus just hours earlier. Even in a large motor coach, the poor weather made the trip harrowing. "Really, there was no place to stop," Indian Trails bus driv- er and driving instructor Thomas W. Sumpster said. "That was the worst part about it. You held on tight because the crosswinds were really strong. We got (the team) there safe and sound, thankfully. "It was just one of those nights that you hope goes away as soon as possible." The gusts were so strong that they diverted the players' attention away from the movie they were watching. "We were all watching a really long movie," senior Grace Leutele said. "The wind was getting to us, and we just saw brake lights going on and off. It was kind of exciting." The weather didn't improve Sunday after Michigan traveled Madison for a scheduled doubleheader against Wisconsin. Though rain (severe at times) had lingered in the area since early Sunday morning, the first game of the afternoon started just 30 minutes late. The sky was overcast and the wind gusted, but it looked like the teams would luck out, and the weather would hold. In the top of the third inning of the first game, with two out and the bases loaded, Alessandra Giampaolo stepped to the plate with a chance to break a scoreless tie. Giampaolo fouled the first pitch out of play. Just as she dug in for the second pitch, lightning struck, and the players, coaches and umpires ran off the field. The weather worsened from that point on. Lightning and booming thunder continued to strike, and a wind from the southeast nearly tore the stars and stripes off the flagpole behind the centerfield wall. Eventually, the Wisconsin field crew, comprised primarily of players, managed to get the tarp on the infield. But the damage was done. Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said she was upset to see the weather put an early close to a lackluster weekend for the Wolverines. "It was a disappointing end to a disappointing weekend," Hutchins said. The game would have been called sooner, but Hutchins held out hope that the field could be made ready. The final verdict didn't come until Hutchins and associate head coach Bonnie Tholl studied multiple radar images and asked the Wisconsin staff about the condition of the field. AROUND THE BIG TEN Friday's results: MICHIGAN 3, IOWA 0 WISCONSIN 5, Michigan State 3 NORTHWESTERN 8, Indiana 0 PENN STATE 3, Minnesota 0 ILLINOIS 5, Purdue 1 Saturday's results: Iowa1, MICHIGAN 0 Michigan State 5, WISCONSIN 4 NORTHWESTERN 11, Indiana 1 PENN STATE 3, Minnesota 0 Purdue 8, ILLINOIS 5 Sunday's results: MICHIGAN, Wisconsin PPD NORTHWESTERN 4, Purdue 0 NORTHWESTERN, Purdue PPD OHIO STATE 9, Minnesota 0 OHIO STATE 9, Minnesota 5 ILLINOIS 6, Indiana 5 ILLINOIS, Indiana PPD Michigan State 8, IOWA 4 IOWA 4, Michigan State 1 *Home teams in caps ALEX DZIADOZ/Daily Michigan coach Carol Hutchins helped to make the tough decision of calling off Sunday's games in Madison. "This is the hardest decision I make," Hutchins said. "It's much easier to decide when to take out your pitcher." Hutchins waited more than two hours before agreeing to call the game and heading for the bus. At that point, large puddles had gathered in the outfield, and the tarp covering the infield floated up and down like a plastic bag caught in an updraft. Weather prevented Michigan from playing three confer- ence games last season. After a loss to Penn State on April 22, 2005, Michigan saw the second game against the Nittany Lions on Saturday and a doubleheader against Ohio State on Sunday cancelled because of snow in Ann Arbor. Some couldn't help but notice the irony of the bad weather in both Iowa City and Madison. "This weather just has not cooperated," the 16-year bus- driving veteran Sumpster said. "It just seems like this weather wants to follow us." For others, it wasn't irony, but luck that explained the weekend's weather. "If we didn't have bad luck we wouldn't have any luck at all," Hutchins concluded. Hutchins looks to new lineup for a spark "HUTCH"-Q-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. By Nate Sandals Daily Sports Writer MADISON - For the first game of Mich- igan's scheduled doubleheader against Wis- consin, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins decided to mix up the batting order she has used, more or less, for the past 14 games. Senior Tiffany Haas still led off, but other than © .goo David VandeVusse DEFENSE The 'D' gave up just one run in two games and was certainly not at fault in Michigan's 1-0 loss on Saturday. The team committed just one error and looked a lot sharper than it did last Sunday, earning three h e a d s .1 PITCHING Jennie Ritter did most of the work in Iowa, playing a game and a half. She surrendered just two hits on Friday and gave up just one run in a loss Saturday. If the offense would have delivered, Ritter would have won both. Three heads. 9 , OFFENSE The Wolverine offense failed to produce this weekend. It scored three runs in game one but was shutout in a loss to the Hawk- eyes Saturday. Michigan mus- tered just one hit in the contest and failed to give run support to pitcher Jennie Ritter. One head. that, similarities to the old lineup were rare. In the two-hole, Hutchins used rightfield- er Stephanie Bercaw, who had previously occupied the sixth spot in the lineup. The previous No. 2 hitter, Alessandra Giampaolo, completed the swap and hit sixth for the first time all season. Hutchins also made a switch in the heart of the order. Senior Becky Marx, the regular clean-up hitter, moved up a spot to third, swapping with sophomore slugger Samantha Findlay. Marx has 10 home runs on the season, and Findlay has six. Senior Grace Leutele held her usual fifth spot in the lineup; Rebekah Milian, usually the eighth hitter, batted seventh. Freshman Teddi Ewing started her first game out of the bottom spot in nearly a month, moving up to eighth. Designated player Michelle Weatherdon, the latest can- didate to fill a much-needed hole in the Wol- verines' lineup, stepped into the nine-hole, previously occupied by Ewing. Hutchins said the lineup changes were made in an effort to spark the Michigan offense. "I just wanted to switch things up," Hutchins said. "Sometimes you shake it up and it works, and sometimes it doesn't. We're trying to get some chemistry in our lineup." The coach denied that Giampaolo's drop from second to sixth on the lineup card was due to poor performance. BEN SIMON/Daily Sophomore Samantha Findlay got a hit and scored a run Friday at Iowa. Leutele followed with a walk to reload the bases, and Bercaw got drilled with a pitch to force in another Michigan run. A two-out sin- PLAYS AT THE PLATE: In the final three Michigan at-bats before bad weather struck, the changes appeared to have the desired effect. Michigan recorded four hits in 2 2/3 innings, including a triple by Milian. Twice in the early part of the game, Michi- gan had runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Twice, runners were tagged out at home to end the threats. In the first inning, with two out and run- ners on first and second, Leutele hit a single to leftfield. Hutchins chose to send Marx home from second base. The leftfielder had the ball before Marx reached third, and she was out by three steps. The second play at the plate came in the second inning. Milian hit a triple to the left-centerfield gap with one out. The next batter, Ewing, hit a groundball to the shortstop. The infield was drawn in, but Milian broke for home anyway. Again, the Michigan runner was out by multiple steps. "We were getting some-good contact and good at-bats here," Hutchins said. "It's too bad we didn't get to finish." BIG TEN RACE: With Sunday's games cancelled, Michigan didn't have a chance to climb back atop the Big Ten standings. Going into Sunday's games, Michigan (6-2 Big Ten, 26-11 overall) was a game behind Michigan State (8-2, 30-14). The Spartans' doubleheader split with Iowa on Sunday maintained Michigan State's one- game lead, but the current Big Ten lead- ers now have two games in hand over the Wolverines. The cancellation of the two games against Wisconsin adds importance to the final games of the conference season, especially the two contests against the Spartans on May 6 and 7 in East Lansing. "You always want to have a chance to win the conference," Hutchins said. It's unclear whether or not the weather hurt those chances for Michigan, but it cer- tainly didn't help them. FRIDAY'S GAME Michigan 3, Iowa 0 SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 0, Iowa 1 A Nate Sandals Michigan (26-10, 6-1) Player AB R H BI Haas 2B 3 0 1 0 GiampaoloCF 3 1 1 0 Iowa (25-15, 4-3) Player AB R H BI May SS 4 0 0 0 Heidgerken CF 3 0 2 0 Michigan (27-11, 6-2) Player AB R HE Iowa (27-15, 5-3) BI Player AB R H BI Haas 2B 3 0 0 0 MaySS Giampaolo CF 2 0 0 0 West PR Findlay 1B 2 0 0 0 Heidgerk 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 Findlay 1B 3 1 1 0 Nichols 3B 3 0 1 0 Marx C 3 1 0 0 Riemersma 2B 2 0 0 0 er Leutele 3B Bercaw RF Danis DP Milian LF Ewing SS Ritter P 3 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 00 0 1 0 1 0 0 Downs DP 0 0 0 0 Murray RF 3 0 0 0 West PR 2 0 1 0 Baugh C 2 0 1 0 McGlaughlin PH 0 1 0 0 Gerlick LF 3 0 0 0 Arnold PH 3 0 0 0 Ackerson 1B 3 1 1 2 Sargent PH 0 0 0 0 Weil P 3 010 22 0 2 0 Marx C 2 Weatherdon PRO Leutele 3B 3 0 o 0 1 0 0 0 Nichols 3B O Riemersma 0 Downs DP m CF i 2B 4 3 4 00 0 2 00 0 0 0 Bercaw RF 1 0 0 0 Amoid PR 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Danis DP Ewing SS Worthy PH Milian LF Wilson P 2 0 0 0 Murray RF 1 1 2 0 0+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Baugh C Amber Colvin 0 0 0 Gerlick LF 1 0 0 0 McGlaughlin PH1 0 0 0 Ackerson 1B 3 0 1 0 Ritter P 0 0 0 0 Spratt PR 0 0 0 0 HAWKEYES Continued from page 1B1 Weil P 0 0 0 0 Total 19 0 1 0 Total 26 1 51 Totals 25 3 5 2 I I