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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

BASEBALL
Blue
returns
against
EMU
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Writer
You could call tomorrow's
matchup a warm-up for Ohio
State.
Or you could hope the weather
warms up so
Michigan can
actually play. MiChigan
Michi-
gan plays at Easten
at Eastern Michigan
Michigan in a
doubleheader Matchup:
this afternoon Michigan
as the Wol- 16-6; Eastern
verines end Michigan 8-12
a week-long When: Today,
layoff caused 3 p.m.
by cold tem-
peratures. The thie: a s- W ti
games will like Stadiam
help Michi-
gan make up
for its five weather-cancelled
games this season - including
all four in last weekend's series
against Minnesota - and pre-
pare the Maize and Blue for its
biggest Big Ten test this season:
this weekend's matchup with the
Buckeyes in Columbus.
The Wolverines haven't
played since they trounced Cen-
tral Michigan 13-3 last Tuesday.
Following this past weekend's
cancellations, Michigan coach
Rich Maloney and his staff
looked to add another game to
the schedule either yesterday or
today. Though they were looking
for any open Division I opponent,
the solution came from fewer
than five miles away.
"Eastern (Michigan) hap-
pened to call and say that their
game tomorrow was canceled,"
Maloney said. "It made a lot of
sense because they're right down
the road, and if we could play a
doubleheader, we could get two
of the games done ... to get to
our 56 (game) total. It wasn't so
much of looking for a particular
opponent as it was that we're
down five games and you kind of
have to take who's available."
Eastern Michigan (8-12) has
already had 11 games canceled
this season, including five of its
past six. The lone game that the
Eagles have played this month
was a home win over Miami
(Ohio) last Friday, the same day
that Michigan canceled its first
game against Minnesota.
With both the Wolverines and
Eagles plagued by poor weather,
a sluggish start by both teams
might be expected in today's
first matchup. But junior Derek
VanBuskirk, whose grand slam
headlined last Tuesday's six-run
first inning, said that his team is
ready to repeat its quick start.
"Maybe (the layoff) is good for
a little rest, but we're a little anx-
ious to get back on the field and
keep playing games," VanBus-
kirk said. "We need to get back in
the mindset of playing in games.
We can't afford to have a men-

tal lapse or not come out strong,
especially in a seven-inning
See BASEBALL, Page 10

Tuesday, April10,2007 - 9
Assistant
returns to
Michigan

By DANIEL BROMWICH
Daily Sports Editor
Out with the old, in with the ...
old?
In his first major move as head
of the Michigan men's basketball
program, coach John Beilein has
re-hired Mike Jackson as an assis-
tant coach.
Jackson had signed on to be an
assistant coach at Illinois State on
March 30 after then-coach Tommy
Amaker was fired. But Beilein
wanted an assistant with Detroit
recruiting ties, and Jackson caught
his attention.
"I am thrilled to have Mike
Jackson rejoin the Michigan Bas-
ketball staff," Beilein said through
the athletic department. "I did alot
of research in the days since I was
hired and there is no doubt Mike is
a tremendous fit for the future of
this program. His experience and
connections with and around this
program will only be a plus for us
as we get set to move forward."
Jackson spent two years with
the Wolverines under Amaker. He
was instrumental in recruiting
forwards DeShawn Sims and Ekpe
Udoh, and coached the Michigan
guards.
"This was a great opportunity
for my family and I to stay in Mich-
igan," Jackson said through the

athletic department. "To be able
to learn and work with a coach like
John Beilein, I have no doubt it will
be a wonderful experience. Having
a chance to come back and be with
these kids that I grew close to and
shared a lot with over the last two
years makes it even more special."
Recruit Alex Legion has indi-
cated he has a positive relation-
ship with Jackson, and the coach's
return might help convince the Oak
Hill Academy product to stay com-
mitted to Michigan. Jackson's hir-
ing might also have an influence on
fellow Detroit native and Michigan
signee Corperryale "Manny" Har-
ris.
Jacksongraduated fromthe Uni-
versity of Detroit with a degree in
business administration in 1995
and was the first Titan to score
1,000 points and record 400 assists
in his career.
He started his coaching career
with his alma mater immediately
after graduating and coached there
until 2001, helping Detroit to two
NCAA appearances along the way.
Jackson left the Titans for Toledo
and served as an assistant coach
there for two years until moving
to Dayton in 2003. He helped the
Flyers capture an Atlantic 10 West
Divison championship in 2004 and
a trip to the NCAA Tournament
before leaving for Michigan.

FIL E PHO'
Assistant coach Mike Jackson (top) will return to Michigan after taking an assistant coaching job at Illinois State just more
than a week ago. Jackson left the Wolverines after Tommy Amaker (bottom) was fired more than three weeks ago.

Wolverines hope return to field goes
smoothly after weather-induced layoff

By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan softball team has 18
players who joined the team to play
softball games.
It has a head
coach and two Ball State at
assistants to coach Michigan
softball games.
And the team is Matchup: Ball
expected to beat State 13-22;
Ball State in soft- Michigan 28-6
ball games. When: Today
But lately none 5 p :m y
of that has been pm
happening. Where:
Michigan has Alumni Field
lost its last two
contests to the
Cardinals.
It's been a week since the Wolver-
ines played a game, their longest lay-
off in nearly a month.
Michigan (1-1 Big Ten, 28-6 over-
all) will look to end both streaks this
afternoon at Alumni Field.
The Wolverines' four scheduled
games (two each against Penn State
and Ohio State) last weekend were
canceled because of temperatures in
the 30s inAnn Arbor.
Ball State, on the other hand,
trudged through its four games in
Muncie, Ind., where the high temper-
ature of the weekend was 37 degrees,
according to weathercom. The Car-
dinals' doubleheader against West-
ern Michigan on Friday was delayed

three times because of snow.
The Broncos swept Ball State (4-
4 Mid-American Conference, 13-22
overall), but the Cardinals responded
to the conditions, sweeping Northern
Illinois in a doubleheader Sunday
"Staying focused was our biggest
problem Friday," Ball State catcher
Abby Gross told the Ball State Daily
News. "I don't think our team as
a whole was focused. (Sunday) we
came out with a lot better attitude
about the cold and we played a lot
better."
Weather.com projects a high of 45
and a low of 31 for tomorrow. So the
wintry conditions could benefit the
Cardinalsbecause oftheir experience
inthem.
Ball State's regular lineup features
two .300 hitters - leadoff hitter Allie
Pennock (310) and cleanup hitter
Abby Gross (385, four home runs, 23

RBI, 1.007 on-base plus slugging per-
centage).
The rest of the team is hitting just
.207.
But when the Cardinals reachbase,
they are aggressive. Pennock leads
the teamwith21steals (Michiganhas
25 as a team). Ball State is stealing 2.7
bases per game, at a 77 percent suc-
cess rate.
The Cardinals' top pitcher is fresh-
man Elizabeth Milian (9-9, 2.09
earned run average). She is Michi-
gan's senior leftfielder Rebekah Mil-
ian's sister.
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
didn't throw her ace pitcher, then-
senior Jennie Ritter, in either of last
season's midweek single-game days.
If the trend holds this today, sopho-
more Stacey Delaney and/or fresh-
man Nikki Nemitz will pitch, instead
of Lorilyn Wilson.

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Freshman pitcher Nikki Nemitz and the Wolverines hope they won't show any
signs of rust today against Ball State after not playing a game in a week.

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