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 COALITION FOR S E RV I CE WW Wm EW is r S E R V iC E . R Volunteer full-time Alternative break, summer, or year-long programs in the U.S., Israel, & other countries Change the world for good wwW.jewishtservice.org/aa.html I IIIVItIII! ANTJE DUVEKOT W/SG JEN SYGIT IDAISY MAY & SETH BERNARD Friday, April 6, 8 p.m. MAIA SHARP MONDAY, APRIL 16 8 P.M.