The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
March 17, 2008 - 3B
'M' focusing on the future right now
Clutch double spurs
fifth-inning comeback
By IAN KAY The team heeded the advice. All
Daily Sports Writer four of the Wolverines fifth inning
hits came on ground balls or line
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With two drives.
outs in the bottom of the fifth Pitcher Jordan Taylor kept Lou-
inning, Louisville pitcher Kristin isville's offense at bay throughout
Wadwell delivered an 0-2 pitch the game, allowing three hits and
to Michigan sophomore Maggie racking up 12 strikeouts in seven
Viefhaus. The offering appeared innings. The win was Michigan's
close to the plate's inside corner second against the Cardinals in as
and the crowd stirred in expecta- many days.
tion of a strikeout. On Saturday afternoon, the
But the home plate umpire's Wolverines mustered just one hit
right hand remained still. A ball. off Wadwell in the first six innings,
The Cardinals' fans groaned. but Samantha Findlay scored on
"That's awful!" one spectator an error in the sixth, tying the con-
yelled. test. Then, Viefhaus was walked
Viefhaus simply composed her- with the bases loaded in the eighth
self, stepped back into the batter's inning to drive in the winning run.
box and smacked the next pitch "I thought in the eighth inning
between the first and second base- we came back on offense and we
men, scoring senior Alessandra had some great moxie about us that
Giampaolo from third and sopho- we hadn't had the whole game,"
more Angela Findley from second, Hutchins said.
to turn a 2-1 Wolverine deficit into Offense was no problem for
a 3-2 lead. Michigan in Saturday morning's
Sophomore Nikki Nemitz later five-inning game against Miami
added a two-run RBI single of her (Ohio). The Wolverines scored six
own, but Viefhaus's hit proved to runs in the first inning and another
be the difference in No. 9 Michi- six in the fourth, with the big blow
gan's 5-2 win over the Cardinals coming on a grand slam off the bat
in the championship game of the of Findlay. Taylor tossed her first
Louisville Tournament yesterday. career no-hitter, coming a walk
Five of six Wolverine hitters away from perfection in the 12-0
before Viefhaus had been retired Michigan win.
on fly balls. Michigan coach Carol The Wolverines also defeated
Hutchins told her players to adjust Minnesota, 7-2, Friday behind 3
their hitting strategy, which could RBIs fromFindlay and6 2/3innings
have been the reason for the fifth- of two-run ball from Nemitz.
inning offensive explosion. After going undefeated on the
"We'd had a lot of really good at- weekend, Michigan has now won
bats,"Hutchins said. "We swungat 14 straight games. The Wolver-
good pitches, but we were getting ines will travel to Fullerton, Calif,
under the ball and that inning I for the Judy Garman Classic next
said, 'You need to get on top of the weekend before beginning Big Ten
ball."' play.
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
INDIANAPOLIS - Spring prac-
tice for the Michigan football team
started Saturday. And after Friday's
ugly 51-34 loss to
No. 8 Wisconsin, NOTEBOOK
spring workouts
for the Michigan men's basketball
team began that day, too.
Redshirt junior C.J. Lee planned
to go to the gym the day after the
season ended and see the rest of his
teammates there.
When freshman Kelvin Grady
heard Lee say it in the locker room,
he said he'd be waiting for Lee's
phone call.
"We can't control what happened
in this season, but we can control
how we get better," Grady said.
The loss to the Badgers revealed
many areas where the Wolverines
can improve during this crucial off-
season.
Shooting: Michigan hit just 10
field goals and shot 20 percent from
the floor against Wisconsin.
Michigan coach John Beilein will
give each player a tailored training
plan for the summer. He said a play-
er could get more out of a half-hour
workout session than three hours of
pick-up games.
Strength: Michiganbarelyscored
inside against Wisconsin's big front-
court.
Over the summer, Beilein expects
his big men to get stronger. For
instance, he said he thinks redshirt
sophomore Zack Gibson could add
SPRING PRACTICE
From Page lB
son, who was relieved he wouldn't
have to move to defensive end.
Rodriguez primarily works with
the offense. So fifth-year senior cor-
nerback Morgan Trent wasn't ready
to admit the defense, which returns
seven starters, had as ugly a first day
as his coach described the team had.
"Defensively, I was proud," Trent
said. "I was happy with what we did.
Of course we've got to get better, but
I'm happy for the first day."
QUARTERBACK SEARCH: Nick
Freshman Kelvin Grady has already started working ou
"We needed to play with more of
a sense of urgency. I don't think peo-
ple really played with that sense,"
senior Ron Coleman said. "This
could be the last one, you know.
We got to go out and lay it all on the
41 line."
The loose balls that Michigan got
on Thursday went to the Badgers
Friday, A few times, the Wolverines
forced Wisconsin into ill-advised
shots at the end of the shot clock
only to give up an offensive rebound
and putback.
When Michigan put together a
5-0 run to make it a close game at
the beginning of the second half, it
couldn't get the defensive stops to
stay within striking distance.
Instead, the team allowed its own
CLIF REEDER/Daii missed shots to turn into mental
eparation for next year. mistakes on the defensive end.
"That's something people got to
aboard with getting get over," Coleman said.
o the gym as soon as Harris develops Flowers allergy:
NCAA will move the Wisconsin's Michael Flowers wasn't
ck one foot next sea- named Big Ten Defensive Player of
rena will have that the Year last week.
ce by Sunday. Purdue's Chris Kramer was.
ars, it will be a day too Flowers thinks he knows why:
The 26 points freshman Manny
G SOMETHING: Harris scored on him when the
day's win over Iowa, Wolverines played in Madison.
ared to embrace the Friday, he got his revenge. Flow-
the conference tour- ers held Harris to a season-low four
led. The Wolverines points on 1-for-12 shooting. Much
thusiasm and intensi- like the rest of his team, Harris
bout being energized couldn't get anything going against
g mid-major confer- the stifling Badger defense.
ots. "This was his best defensive
he team appeared to effort," Harris said. "He played with
message. a little bit more of an edge."
enough muscle to get a few more
rebounds per game.
LEARNING THE OFFENSE: The
Wolverines had no apparent offen-
sive rhythm.
Whether it's skills or fitness,
Beilein's team will be more prepared
for his system.
But NCAA rules restrict the
amount of time a coach can spend
with his team. Before this season,
Beilein spent so much of that prac-
tice time on developing skills and
track workouts that he couldn't
fully implement his system. With an
entire offseason of Beilein-designed
workouts under their belts, the play-
ers will put more time into offensive
and defensive schemes.
Sheridan, Steve Threet, David Cone
and Ryan Sheridan took snaps at
quarterback. Rodriguez was asked
whether junior running back Carlos
Brown, who played quarterback his
senior year of high school, would be
in the mix at that spot.
"We haven't got to that," Rodri-
guez said. "If we did, it would be a
secret. I wouldn't tell you."
Justin Feagin, a dual-threat
quarterback whose style seems to fit
the scheme Rodriguez employed at
West Virginia, will enroll as a fresh-
man in the fall. He is also expected
to compete for the job.
SPRING GAME: Rodriguez hopes
Beilein is on
his players inti
possible. The I
3-point line ba
son. Crisler A
new line in pla
For the playe
late.
FORGETTIN
During Thursd
Michigan appe
second chance
nament provid
played with eni
ty and talked a
after watching
ence tourname
On Friday, t
forget its own a
BADGERS
From page 1B
"Heck of a read, right?" Beilein
said. "In years to come, guys will
just see that on their own. I won't
have to call it."
But before Michigan can focus
on future seasons, it's reflecting on
this one.
"Awful, the worst season of
my life," sophomore Ekpe Udoh
said. "It was a base - the base for
the Beilein foundation. But it was
awful."
Said Wright: "A great one. This
is going to be one of those'I'lllaugh
about it later' things, like 'I can't
believe I did this' or 'Why did we
do that play when we easily had
this or that?"'
And it was even a remarkable
season for the coach of 30 years.
"I learned that, if you have a sea-
son like this, it does not put you in
your grave," Beilein said. "If you
just put it in the right perspective,
and see it from the growth experi-
ence, that you can survive it."
For Beilein, the "right perspec-
tive" was to minimize the impor-
tance of wins and losses and focus
on the growth of his team's under-
standing of his system. He antici-
pates that being the case again
next year, because the freshman
and sophomores dominate the
lineup right now.
"I grew up on the apple farm,"
Beilein said. "And every spring,
right? You'd go out and you would
just prune the heck out of those
trees - and just prune 'em, and
prune 'em and prune 'em. And it
looked ugly. But by the time the
beautiful blossoms would come
out shortly after that, and then the
little apples.
"Then, by October or Septem-
ber, you'd get these big beautiful
apples that when you crunched
'em, you could hear 'em a mile
away. We gotpruned a lot this year.
The coach got pruned. The players
got pruned. Everybody got pruned.
But that is how you grow back to be
a better team."
to hold a springgame Apr. 12. Michi-
gan Stadium is unavailable because
of construction, and playing at Ford
Field couldn't be arranged. The
game may be played at a local high
school.
A reporter from The Toledo Blade
asked Rodriguez whether Toledo's
Glass Bowl was a possible location
for the game.
"No," Rodriguez said. "What
state's that in?"
COURT DATE: Rodriguez has an
Apr. 3 hearing in Monongalia County
Circuit Court over his buyout from
West Virginia, but he won't be there.
"That's for the lawyers," Rodri-
guez said. "I've got spring practice.
I'm focused on Michigan."
NOTES: Offensive lineman Grant
DeBenedictis and defensive tackle
Brett Galimore were both eligible
to return for a fifth year, but nei-
ther was on the 2008 roster. Neither
was fullback Quintin Patilla, who
would've been a redshirt junior. ...
Redshirt freshman tight end Steve
Watson won't practice this spring.
Sophomore wide receiver Zion
Babb, redshirt junior running back
Kevin Grady, fifth-year senior Mike
Massey, redshirt freshman running
back Avery Horn and Johnson are
also working through injuries.
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