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8A- Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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BASEBALL
Calm bats pay off in win
By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily SportsWriter
In yesterday afternoon's game,
three Michigan players had a 3-0
count and refused to lift the bat off
his shoulder on each occasion.
The reason is simple - the big
inning.
"Walks are called freebies, and
freebies mean big innings, and big
inningswingames,"Michigancoach
Rich Maloney said. "We want to try
to create a big inning and we want
to not give upthe big inning - that's
the secret. If your team does that a
lot, your team will probably win 35
to 40 games. Statistically, you just
win."
Maloney made it clear that get-
ting to an opposing team's bullpen is
the key to winning games.
As a team gets deeper and deeper
into its pen, the quality of pitching
lessens. And with an offense as tal-
ented and as deep as Michigan's, the
green light is not something Malo-
ney uses, nor do many other college
baseball coaches.
"Even though he may get a ball
right down the middle, and he prob-
ably could have thumped it," Malo-
ney said. "Reality is, that's another
pitch that guy had to make."
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY: Yester-
day's game was called in the bottom
of the seventh inning because of
lightingand heavy rains.
Maloney's attitude toward rain is
simple.
"Rain is a part of what we deal
with in this game," Maloney said.
"It's justsomething as a ballplayer -
you got to be ready to play when the
umpires saythat you are able to play.
It's part of being a professional."
Luckily for the Wolverines, yes-
terday's game was long enough to
count as a completed contest. How-
ever, a gamethatresults in a rainout,
like the Michigan's contest against
East Carolina March 16, makes the
team's main goal - attaining 40
wins - even harder reach.
"We got to try to play 56 games
because we're trying to get to 40
wins," Maloney said. "Forty wins is
like the magical number for an at-
large bid."
Right now, 40 wins would give
Michigan a very good chance of
making the NCAA Tournament.
But with just 11 victories under
their belt, the Wolverines still have
a long way to go.
BRANCH SIGHTING: Former
Michigan football player Alan
Branch was in attendance during
yesterday's game.
"The training(for the NFL Draft)
is going," Branch said. "I'm just
ready to play football."
After Branch declared himself
eligible for this year's draft, he
was looked at as a top-10 pick. But
regardless of his sub-par perfor-
mances during pre-draft workouts,
Branch still isn't certain where he
will end up next year.
"Honestly, teams do crazy stuff
(on draft day) that you never even
know about," Branch said. "I don't
even pay attention to that stuff right
now."
Instead, Branch has been work-
ing out.
The Rio Rancho, N.M., native,
started his pre-draft training in Ari-
zona, but is now back in Ann Arbor.
The most important question is
- why was Branch at the Michigan
baseballgame?
Last year, the defensive tackle
was one of a number of Michigan
football players who were part of
the tarp crew at Michigan baseball
games.
"Last year, I went to a lot of games
because I was on the tarp crew,"
Branch said. "So I know a lot of the
guys."
As much as Maloneyloved watch-
ing Branch and the Wolverines dom-
inate this season, his heart is set on
another pro prospect - JaMarcus
Russell.
"I want him," Maloney said. "I'm
a die-hard Lions fan."
Senior co-captain Eric Rose led Michigan with three hits in yesterday's 10-2 win over Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.
Blue cruises to
rain-shortened 'W'
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Writer
The only unpredictable aspect
of yesterday's game was the
weather. ---- ----
Fol- IPFW 2
lowing MICHIGAN 10
an 80-
degree, sunny start, a quick-hit-
ting thunderstorm cut Michigan's
first mid-week home game short
after seven innings.
But the Wolverines' consistent
hitting sealed a runaway win over
Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 10-
2, continuing an offensive trend
at The Fish that began with last
weekend's series sweep against
Oakland.
The win over the Mastodons
(4-19) was Michigan's final non-
conference game before the
beginning of Big Ten play this
weekend.
"We should be taking care of
business," first baseman Nate
Recknagel said. "We should be
beating teams like this during the
mid-week, and it becomes very
important in the long run, espe-
cially for getting an NCAA at-
large bid. Today we came out and
we wanted to have swagger and
show them that we are the best
team in the North."
Asix-runthird inningbroke the
game open for the Wolverines (11-
6) as they continued their offen-
sive streak with 16 hits and gave
underclassmen playing time.
Five Wolverines had multi-hit
games with centerfielder Eric
Rose pacing them with three.
Yesterday's game was the first
this season where both a fresh-
man catcher and pitcher started
for the Wolverines. Freshman
Chris Berset caught for the Wol-
verines and Eric Katzman pitched
four innings to earn his first win,
striking out five batters in the
process.
"It was good to see Eric have
some success," Michigan coach
Rich Maloney said. "We think
he has the potential to be a good
pitcher for us ... quite honestly,
I'm not jumping up and down
thrilled (about Katzman's per-
formance) - but it's a step in the
right direction."
on his 20th birthday, third
baseman Adam Abraham went
2-for-4 with two RBI. Recknagel
scored twice for the Wolverines,
with a third run credited to pinch
runner Tim Kalczynski after
Recknagel left the game with
a sore hamstring as a "precau-
tion." Recknagel said the incident
wouldn't affect his status for this
weekend's series against North-
western.
Junior Derek VanBuskirk
pinch-hit in the sixth inning and
hit a two-run homer, his first
since returning from injury dur-
ing last weekend's series.
"I was going up there to hit
the ball hard, and whatever hap-
pened, happened," VanBuskirk
said. "Obviously, I'm not 100 per-
cent yet, so if I hit the ball on the
ground, I wouldn't really be able
to run it out hard."
Against Northwestern this
weekend, Michigan hopes to avoid
a repeat of last year's series when
it dropped three of four against
the Wildcats in Ann Arbor.
"The first 17 games were all
good preparation for the Big Ten,"
Maloney said. "Now, we start 0-0,
so we're no better and no worse.
We have to start all over again."
Man-down errors doom M'
*.
By JAMES V. DOWD
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan coach Red Berenson
had no qualms discussing his feel-
ings on Saturday's 8-5 loss to North
Dakota in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament Monday after-
noon.
"It's crushing," Berenson said. "I
can't tell you how the players feel;
I'm sure some of them are more
crushed than others. Especially the
seniors - this was their best chance.
And we played well."
The Michigan hockey team met
Monday afternoon at Yost Ice Arena
to dissect its second consecutive
first-round loss.
Even with an early start to next
season's preparations, Berenson
knows his team has a lot to learn
from its meeting with the Fighting
Sioux.
"I don't think we can talk about
everything in one day," Berenson
said. "But the main thing is looking
at this game and what happened and
learningsomething from it."
one of the immediate issues
Berenson and his team are putting
under the microscope is the Wolver-
ines' play on the penalty kill.
Five of North Dakota's eight goals
came on the power play. That total
is the most Michigan had given up
since a Phil Kessel-led Minnesota
team knocked infive atYostin 2005,
which was 70 games ago.
But when asked about the Fight-
ing Sioux power play, Berenson
more readily criticized his own team
than laud the opponents. Berenson
noted many of the power-play goals
could've been prevented by better
goaltending or improved defensive
awareness.
"We have a list of things that
are important on the penalty kill,"
Berenson said. "It starts with the
faceoff. The next thing is trying to
block shots - either blocking them
or fronting them so they don't want
to shoot. Then you need to get your
stick in the passing lanes. Then,
when there is a shot, the defense-
men are picking up sticks so that
there is no rebounds - no one gets
a rebound."
It was clear that the Wolverines
struggled with many of these ide-
als on Saturday. After reviewing the
tape, Berenson pointed out specific
mistakes that cost the team a place
inthe Regional final.
"We did three of those things
poorly," Berenson said. "Faceoffs.
Didn't block the shots. Didn't pick
up sticks in front of the net on the
first goal. There were two guys
whacking at it. (Senior Jason) Dest
got beat back to the front of the
net, and (sophomore Mark Mitera)
was whacking at the puck instead
of knocking a guy on his ass to
take his stick out. And your goalie
has to make that save - those are
shots he can see."
Skating on the penalty kill has
proven to be an issue for Michigan
all season long. It kept the puck out
of the netjust 82 percent of the time
- eighth best inthe 12-team CCHA.
Justhowimportant is the penalty
kill?
The last Michigan team to reach
the Frozen Four killed off nearly
90 percent of its opponents' power
plays.
While the players' offseason has
officially begun, many will continue
to skate to improve on the penalty
kill in voluntary workouts over the
next few weeks before team off-ice
training begins.
h
Each year one-third of the students admitted
to our Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree
program are cross-campus transfers from LSA.
To learn more about great professional
opportunities open to Michigan PharmD
graduates, be sure to attend the
CAREER OPTIONS
FOR MICHIGAN PHARMD
GRADUATES
Wednesday, March 28, 2007; 6-8 p.m.
Room 1544, C.C. Little Building
(On North University between Church and
Fletcher Streets, across from the
Exhibit Museum of Natural History)
Format:
" Current students discuss their choice of
pharmacy and their experiences in one of
America's best pharmacy schools.
" Michigan College of Pharmacy alumni,
representing a variety of practice paths, discuss
their work and the diversity of rewarding career
paths open to U-M College of Pharmacy
graduates.
Pizza and soda will be served.
For more information, contact:
Assistant Dean Valener L. Perry
Telephone: 734-764-5550
E-mail: vlperry@umich.edu
Also be sure to visit the College of Pharmacy
Web site at: www.umich.edu/~pharmacy.
Sponsored by
the University of Michigan
College of Pharmacy
Your Future Begins Here
The Native American Law Students Association presents
American Indian Law Day 2007
Preventing Exploitation:
Native Peoples, Medical Ethics,
and Institutional Research
Please join us for a presentation on genetics, institutional
review boards, and research on Native populations.
Friday, March 30, 2007
University of Michigan Law School
Hutchins Hall, Room 250
1:30pm - 4:00pm
Free and Open to the Public
*..the University of ichigan
College of Pharmacy
One of America's Rest
Pharmacy Schools
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