The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Monday, March 26, 2007 - 3B
GRIZZLIES
From page 1B
runners in duringthe sixth, cement-
inga 4-1 win.
"We just battled enough," Malo-
ney said. "I tip my hat to Oakland
because they played with a lot of
energy. When you're the underdog
and you play like that, you have a
chance to win, especially in the
short games like these."
The Wolverines found themselves
playingcatch up in the second game
of the day, Down 2-0 in the fourth,
Michigan'soffense hadn'tyetshown
up. That is, until sophomore Adam
Abraham decided to impose his will
on the opposition.
Abraham stepped up to the plate
and sent a rocket that soared over
the leftfield wall. The shot was
Abraham's first home run of the
2007 campaign.
"I had been struggling at the bat
lately," Abraham said. "So just mak-
ing solid contact with the ball and
getting one was a good feeling. It's
always nice to get the first home
run."
Junior Ben Jenzen was called
upon in the seventh inning to close
out the tight game. After hitting
the first batter with a pitch, Jenzen
calmed down and swiftly took care
of the next three to give the Wolver-
ines a 4-3 victory.
"It was big for our team and it
was big for (Jenzen)," Maloney said.
"The life of a closer is tough, because
in the end everybody sees the result.
You either really help the team or
really hurt the team if you don't get
it done. I just told Ben to stay the
course because more often than not
he'll do the job."
And after a rough patch last
weekend, the Wolverines can rest a
little easier now.
"The sweep was huge," Wilson
said. "Especially coming off of the
East Carolina trip. Our morale was
kind of low. ... To come out and
unquestionably beat this team four
times, it's big for us."
Sophomore Mike Wilson threw a one -hitter in Sunday's 17-0 win
Sophomore Tiffany Ofili broke her own Michigan record in the 100-meter hurdles.
0
Arizona heat
good for Blue
Porter
Picks up
where he
left of
The Michigan men's track
and field team returned to
action this weekend at the USC
Trojan Invitational after a two-
week break to kick off the out-
door season.
Running for the first time
since winning the 60-meter
hurdles indoor crown at the
NCAA Championships, senior
1 Jeff Porter posted a regional
qualifying time for the 100-
meter hurdles for the NCAA
Outdoor Championships. Por-
ter finished third in the event,
with a time of 14.19.
Senior Andrew Ellerton, who
finished second in the 800-
meter run at the indoor finals
two weeks ago, also posted a
regional qualifying time during
the non-scoring invite. Placing
second in the 800-meter run,
Ellerton crossed the finish line
in 1:49.79.
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
After breaking the Michigan
100-meter hurdles record as a
freshman, it was only a matter
of time before she would break it
again.
Sophomore Tiffany Ofili ran a
time of 13.36 seconds in the 100-
meter hurdles to break her own
record by 0.01 seconds. Ofili's time
snapped the Arizona State Invi-
tational meet record by 0.14 sec-
onds.
"It is great for (Ofili) to break
a school record, especially at the
start of the outdoor season," Mich-
igan coach James Henrysaid. "She
picked up close to where she left
off last year."
Ofili's success was just the
beginning for Michigan at the
Arizona State Invitational, a non-
scoring event.
The dominoes continued to fall
as senior Katie Erdman captured a
meet-record time of 2:02.99 in the
800-meter run. Her first-place
finish wasn't much of a surprise
given that she captured an All-
America honor in the 800-meter
two weeks ago.
"Erdman ran an excellent time
to win the event," Henry said. "I
was pleased with the result and
she is very happy with her perfor-
mance."
The Wolverines' success contin-
ued in the middle-distance events.
Nicole Edwards led the Wolver-
ines with a first-place finish in the
1,500-meter run (4:20.92).
Sophomore GeenaGallmatched
her teammate's effort giving
Michigan a 1-2 finish in the event.
Both Edwards and Gall took home
regional qualifying marks for
Michigan.
"Geena and Nicole were both
very pleased with their results,"
Henry said. "Especially because
this was the start of the outdoor
season."
Sophomore Amber Hay finished
fourth in the 400-meter hurdles
with a time of 59.84. Her team-
mate, sophomore Katie LaValley,
was also solid for Michigan, fin-
ishing seventh in the event. Both
Wolverines picked up qualifying
standards for the Wolverines at
the meet.
The Wolverines began the out-
door season in stride after their
strong ninth-place finish two
weeks ago at the NCAA Indoor
Championships.
"We wanted to get out and run
a great meet," Henry said. "We did
just that by having the best open-
ing week in a long time."
Despite not having the ability
to practice in the warm weather,
the Wolverines excelled under the
sultry Arizona skies. This is espe-
cially impressive because much of
the fiercest competition hails from
the South and West.
"We wanted tocome to Arizona
to be able to run down here and get
a feel for competing in the warm
weather," Henry said.
The Wolverines return to the
track next week when they travel
back to the west coast to compete
in the Stanford Invitational on
Saturday.
Senior Andrew Ellerton finished
second in the 900-meter run.
SOFTBALL
From page 1B
ly was.
"I think I've got some hitters,"
Hutchins said. "But many of them
are just absolutely not staying
focused. If you're not focused, they
take a good pitch (and) swing at a
bad pitch."
Three players - including the
two senior captains - stood out as
targets of Hutchins's wrath.
Leftfielder Rebekah Milian
popped up two bunts and strug-
gled at the plate against North-
western, and was benched against
Liberty after her showing against
the Wildcats. She received playing
time against the Flames late in the
game solely because two fly balls
fell in, which proved to be costly
hits. Milian batted ninth against
Louisville rather than in her nor-
mal No. 2 spot.
"I have my best outfielder on the
bench because she's sitting around
VARSITY
From page 1B
the fall that are both really talent-
ed guys," Carr said. "The change
in the running game will allow a
younger guy to come in and play
faster than he would have been
able to do when we were in some
of the other things."
Germany could have contrib-
uted to a defensive line looking to
reload. Germany was a four-star
Rivals.com prospect coming out
of high school and recorded three
total tackles in eight games last
season.
Richards made five tackles last
season, but it seems like the only
requirement to join this year's
depleted defensive back corps
is two legs and a pulse. The unit
feeling sorry for herself because
she can't hit," Hutchins said. "It's
ridiculous."
Catcher Tiffany Worthy riled
her coach up as well.
"We had a big opportunity
with Worthy up to bat (with bases
loaded against Liberty)," Hutchins
said. "She had a shitty at-bat. She's
a senior.... You need to have consis-
tency in your leadership."
And Hutchins made sure not to
leave out shortstop Teddi Ewing.
Against Liberty with runners on
first and second and one out in the
fourth, Ewing missed a call from
Hutchins that they were stealing.
"Then, she had a terribly weak
swing," Hutchins added.
The uncharacteristic perfor-
mances of Michigan's veteran
players were reflected in the Wol-
verines' approach to each game -
particularly when they overlooked
Liberty after playing Northwest-
ern closely.
"You can't always control where
you hit the ball, but you can con-
struggled last season and with-
out All-American cornerback
Leon Hall - and a fearsome
front seven flooding the backfield
- that could continue into next
season.
One player who could allevi-
ate those issues is Carlos Brown,
the running-back-turned-cor-
nerback that drew Carr's praise
Saturday. He soon impressed
reporters, too, intercepting a pass
during the 70-play scrimmage at
Oosterbann Field.
"I think athletically, that will
be a great move for us," Carr said.
"He's a got a lot to learn but he
can run. Carlos has a great atti-
tude, a great desire to be good.
He's a guy that's got a passion for
the game. And anytime you have
the kind of mentality that he has,
good things are in store of them."
trol your demeanor, your attitude
and your effort," Hutchins said.
"And I thought some of them were
downright, from the get-go, pretty
poor."
The poor demeanor of the team
has translated into Michigan beg-
ging forRBI. The Wolverines didn't
register one RBI in Saturday's two
losses, leaving 35 runners on base
between their four games.
But the more startling stat is
one you won't find in the box score
- Michigan's confidence is a big fat
zero.
"Clearly our confidence was
very poor in the second game
yesterday," Hutchins said.
And I didn't feel they were real
confident (in yesterday's win
against Louisville). Your confi-
dence can't be dictated by your
outcomes. Clearly I'd like to think
a win would give us confidence, but
we have to have confidence regard-
less of the situation."
Though the Wolverines are
lacking in confidence, a few play-
GROWING PAINS: Quarterback
Ryan Mallett took a significant
number of snaps in Saturday's
scrimmage. Well, the ones he
received cleanly, anyway.
The freshman. who graduated
high school early to participate in
the Wolverines' winter condition-
ing program and in their spring
session, fumbled four snaps.
No worries though, Carr said.
"He's going to make some
freshman mistakes," Carr said
before practice. "But I think he's
a bright guy. Of course the chal-
lenge is when you go to the line
of scrimmage you've got so many
things to think about and you're
trying to communicate at the line
of scrimmage and in the huddle,
so he's going to have some grow-
ing pains, but I think he's going to
be fine."
ers had redeeming performances
in the invitational's final game.
Lorilyn Wilson bounced back
from a two-inning, six-run show-
ing against California to pitch six
shutout innings (four hits) against
a hot-hitting Louisville team.
Regaining her confidence was
key.
"Lorilyn with confidence is who
you saw today (against Louisville),"
Hutchins said. "Lorilyn without
confidence is who you saw Friday
night (against California)."
Worthy also made up for her
"shitty" at bat, providing Michi-
gan's lone RBI in the first inning
against Louisville on a triple to
leftfield.
And with the Big Ten season
beginningnext weekend, Hutchins
is focused onhelping the rest of her
team regain its swagger and confi-
dence in the game's fundamentals.
But don't worry - if the Wolver-
ines aren't focused, you'll be able
to hear Hutchins screaming about
it all the way back in Ann Arbor.
J E W I S HI
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