2B - March 31, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 40
2B - March 31, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Blue shuts down Big Ten
opponents early in season
Junior Zach Putnam hit his first two home runs of the season, pacing the Wolverines in their sweep over Iowa. CLF REEDER/Daily
Put nam leads sweep
Wolverines pickup
four wins on the
weekend behind
strong pitching duo
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE - Up by
two runs with two opposing run-'
ners on base and no outs in the
bottom of the sixth inning, No. 6
Michigan's lead was precarious at
best.
And when
Purdue's NEMITZ
Kelli Miller NMT
reathed first
onanerrorby
second base-
man Saman-
tha Findlay
to load the
bases, it only YEAR:
made things Sophomore
worse. HOMETOWN:
But after S
Findlay St. CairShores
tossed the POSITION:
ball back to Pitcher
sophomore
pitcher Nikki
Nemitz, the
Boilermakers gave baserunning a
bad name.
They ran their way into a double
play, helping the Wolverines (4-
0 Big Ten, 29-3 overall) preserve
their lead. Michigan beat Purdue
and Indiana twice each on the
weekend by a combined 29-2 score.
Looking for a rally, Purdue
attempted to steal home, but
Nemitz was quick to respond and
ripped the ball to catcher Roya St.
Clair for the tag at home. But the
Boilermakers' mistake didn't end
there. The runner on second tried
to swipe third.
She over-slid the base as St.
Clair delivered the ball to short-
stop Teddi Ewing covering third.
Ewing tagged out the runner
to complete an unconventional
double play. Although the runner
at first advanced to second, the
Wolverines regained control of
the inning.
"We could have had nobody
out and bases loaded, but instead
we had runner on second and
two outs," third baseman Mag-
gie Viefhaus said. "It was a really
big momentum changer, and the
infield did a great job."
Throughout the play, the infield
remained poised and confident as
it voiced the location of the ball
and where the baserunners were
headed.
"We practice all the time com-
municating and telling each other
where to throw the ball," Ewing
said. "When the play happened,
(Purdue) just happened to make
some mistakes, and we got to capi-
talize on them."
Michigan never let go of its lead,
beating Purdue (2-2, 23-10) 3-0 in
the second game of Sunday's dou-
ble-header.
Afterdominantoffensiveperfor-
mances in their first three contests
of the weekend, the Wolverines'
bats were quiet through the first
two innings of the second game
against Purdue, registering just
two hits.
Michigan tallied its first run
of the game with two runners on
in the third inning, when Nemitz
sliced the ball into shallow right
field. Her single scored Samantha
Findlay. Findlay scored again when
she ripped atoweringblastoverthe
right field fence in the fifth to make
the score 2-0.
Freshman pitcher Jordan Tay-
lor (16-2) was solid from the circle
through five innings, giving up just
one hit. Nemitz replaced Taylor in
the sixth for the save.
In its first stop this weekend,
Michigan dominated Indiana in
a 10-2 decision Friday and an 8-
0, six-inning mercy Saturday in
Bloomington. Heavy rain Sunday
morning delayed the start of the
double header against the Boiler-
makers, but when play resumed,
the Wolverines came out swing-
ing.
Anchored by a three-run double
by sophomore Angela Findlay in
the fourth, Michigan notched its
second mercy of the weekend in the
8-0 five-inning win in which seven
Wolverines registered hits.
"It's a good start for the Big Ten,"
Samantha Findlay said. "I think
any win in the Big Ten is a good
win, and we can't take any team for
granted."
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
The first 16 games of the season
didn't go as planned for junior Zach
Putnam.
His batting statistics were down
from last year, and he had no home
runs.
But his performance in the
Michigan baseball team's sweep of
Iowa this weekend was much more
to his liking.
Putnam was the star of the series
against the Hawkeyes, particularly
on Saturday, when he delivered
clutch hits for the Wolverines in
both games of the doubleheader.
Michigan beat Iowa 4-3 and 5-3
Saturday and 6-3 and 3-2 Sunday.
Not only did Putnam excel in the
batter's box, he also intimidated
hitters from the mound.
The senior pitcher started the
first game ofthe series for Michigan
(4-0 BigTen, 14-6 overall) Saturday
and simply dominated Iowa (0-4,
7-12). Putnam had a perfect game
through six, struck out 12, and had
four hits in the two games.
"The nice thing was I was able to
throw all my pitches for strikes and
I was getting ahead in the count,"
Putnam said. "It's tough when
you're braving the elements and the
opposition, but I had everything
going for me today."
But in the seventh inning, the
Hawkeyes finally broke through
and scored three unearned runs,
preventing Putnam from recording
the win.
"Zach was outstanding," Michi-
gan coach Rich Maloney said. "He's
an outstanding player and his star
shined today. He pitched a great,
great game. It's too bad he didn't
get a better verdict because he
deserved better than that."
As effective as Putnam was on
the mound, he played a more impor-
tant role from the batter's box.
The Ann Arbor native hit the
game-winning RBI in both of Sat-
urday's games.
In the first game, with pinch-
runner Kenny Fellows on second
base in the 10th inning, the Hawk-
eyes made the mistake of pitching
to Putnam.
And it was an error they regret-
ted.
Putnam smashed a double off the
left-field wall - anew addition this
year to Ray Fisher Stadium - to
drive home Fellows and win the
game in walk-off fashion.
In the second game, another
Putnam hit was just as crucial to a
Michigan win.
Ioeta started the game off strong,
scoring the first three runs, while
the Wolverine offense sputtered
through four innings.
After finally tying Iowa in the
fifth, Putnam put the Wolverines
on top. He hit a two-run home run
to left-center field, his second of
the day, in Michigan's 5-3 win over
Iowa. It was even more impressive
considering the strong headwind
the batters fought Saturday.
"You're never thinking home run
and you're never trying for that,"
Putnam said. "I've been struggling
of late, and it was nice to pop a few
out of here, but I wasn't thinking
more than just hitting the ball hard
and getting the guys in."
Putnam and the Wolverines hope
his impressive day can jumpstart
his season. Before this weekend,
he had an .313 average this season,
which is below a .359 level at the
same point last season. Focusing on
hitting the long-ball has taken Put-
nam away from the fundamentals
of his game.
"'One of mybiggestgoals this sea-
son was to try to improve my power
numbers," Putnam said. "From the
get go, I was just trying to hit the
ball out of the yard all the time, and
you should never do that because
good things never happen."
Wolverines roll to 18th-straight win,
prove they remain "best in the east"
Michigan sweeps
through Fluid Five
Invitation al
By RYAN KARTJE
Daily Sports Writer
One match at a time.
That's the late-season philoso-
phy for the Michigan women's
water polo team asit strives to con-
tinue an 18-game winning streak,
the longest in program history.
It's also the philosophy coach
Matt Anderson believes will keep
his team in contentio against
West Coast powerhouses when the
NCAA tournament rolls around in
early May. I
The Wolverines continued their
dominance to maintain the team's
"best in the east" title in Bloom-
ington, Ind., this weekend, sweep-
ing the Fluid Five Invitational with
victories over Wagner (12-6) and
No. 19 Santa Clara (6-5).
In the nightcap of the invita-
tional, the Wolverines again found
themselves head-to-head with
the same West Coast competition
that they struggled against at the
beginning of the season when they
lost six straight matches.
"I just told the girls that they
needed to adjust, and cater to
(Santa Clara's) West Coast style of
play," coach Matt Anderson said.
"They really responded well."
Junior Julie Hyrne scored twice
within two meters to open the
game for Michigan and give the
Wolverines some breathingroom.
Hyrne then registered the even-
tual game-winning score, her
47th goal of the season. She's
scored goals in eight of the last 10
games. Anderson and junior Car-
rie Frost both described Hyrne as
"a lethal weapon in the water."
Santa Clara attempted to
mount a comeback, scoring first
in the second period, but the Wol-
verines' defensive play proved to
be too much for the Broncos. Fol-
lowing a recent trend, Michigan's
defense again proved to be the
difference in the matchup
Anderson used Saturday's first
match against Wagner to give his
younger players more game expe-
rience.
"Our young players play just as
important of a role on this team
as our experienced veterans,"
Anderson said. "To win, everyone
needs to step up."
The freshmen played like sea-
soned veterans against Wagner,
scoring eight of Michigan's 12
goal. Lauren Orth led the fresh-
man corps with five goals on the
night.
"Lauren really stepped itup for
us," Anderson said. "It's clear she
has a bright future ahead of her."
Orth's great performance Sat-
urday came as no surprise after
she earned CWPA Player of the
Week honors earlier this month
following a 17-point effort at the
CWPALeague Games.
Anderson also gave sophomore
TerriBukofzer her second shot as
goalkeeper this season. Bukofzer
responded with a solid 10-save
effort in the victory against Wag-
ner.
"We've really grown as a
team," Frost said. "Especially on
defense, you can see how we've
learned to work together better
as the season's gone along."
And it shows. These Wolver-
ines are not the same players that
suffered crushing losses to pow-
erhouses UCLA and Southern Cal
in February.
With two recent victories
against ranked West Coast oppo-
nents, the 12th-ranked Wol-
verines (24-9) feel good about
potential matchups against the
same competitorswho dominated
them earlier this season.
"We just want to prove to
everyone that we can play with
the best in the west," Frost said.
a
Thursday, April 3, 2008
5-8 p.m.
I
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