The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, A pril 3, 2008 - 5A CENTRAL MICHIGAN 7, MICHIGAN 3 Unnspired play doo ms Poor pitching, lack of timely hitting lead to defeat By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sports Writer MOUNT PLEASANT - With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh inning, the Michigan baseball team had a great opportunity to erase a four- run deficit. Fittingly, senior slugger Nate Recknagel grounded into a double play. It was that kind of day for the Wolverines (14-7), who played poorly in all facets of a 7-3 loss to Central Michigan yesterday. "It felt like a lack of enthusiasm today," senior Leif Mahler said. "Everyone just seemed kind of dead. We didn't really come ready to play today and it showed out there." But things didn't start off so badly. In the second inning, Michigan took a 3-0 lead. With the bases loaded, Mahler started the scoring with a two-run single to left field. A Central Michigan wild pitch scored another run. "When we scored three there I thought we put ourselves in a good position," Michigan coach Rich Maloney said. "I thought we were going to play good baseball." But the Wolverines never did. The Chippewas (9-15) came right back in the bottom of the sec- ond, scoring five runs after a lead- off walk. Maloney pulled starting pitcher Matt Miller after the fresh- man gave up four runs (two earned) in 1.1 innings. The two other runs resulted from an error by sopho- more right fielder Alan Oaks, who misplayed a fly ball. "When you have three runs, then turn around and give up five, that's the kiss of death right there," Maloney said. "We gave them two freebies and allowed them back Michigan coach Red Berenson will return to practice today after attending to a family matter in Saskatchewan. Wolverines savor calm before storm RODRIGO GAYA/Daily Senior Nate Recknagel grounded into a bases-loaded double play in the seventh inning of yesterday's loss at Central Michigan. in the game. It changed the whole complex of the game in a matter of a few moments." After Central Michigan did its damage in the inning, Michigan never responded. The Wolver- ines had their best chance in the seventh, when Chippewa pitcher Chris Kupillas seemed to be run- ning out of gas. Freshman Ryan LaMarre, junior Kevin Cislo and senior Derek VanBuskirk started the inning with singles to load the bases in what looked like an oppor- tunity to get back in the game. But Recknagel hit a weak ground ball to third base that was convert- ed into a double play, ending the last Wolverine threat of the game. Perhaps the biggest concern for Maloney now is the lack of produc- tion at all levels of the game. The Wolverines gave up far too many "freebies" for his liking, giving up eight walks and committing three errors. "We had a lot of opportunities to score today, and we didn't doa lot of things," Mahler said. "We didn't play defense well and we gave up walks. We did all the things that we were trying to eliminate all year, all those mistakes." After Miller left the game, four other pitchers took the mound, none of whom managed to com- pletely shut down Central Michi- gan. The Chippewas put men on base in all but the first inning. "We beat ourselves - that'sk the thing that's hard to swallow," Maloney said. Team "upbeat" in relaxed practices before Frozen Four By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK Daily SportsEditor After six months with little free time, all but four college hockey teams now have plenty. And although their offseason hasn't yet begun, the Wolverines have finally earned a few days of rest. With the day off Monday and an optional skate Tuesday, some used their free time to catch up on schoolwork, play video games and go to the Michigan baseball home game this weekend. Michigan returned to the ice yesterday for its first organized practice since clinching a Frozen Four berth with a 2-0 win over Clarkson Saturday. Though every player skated, Michigan coach Red Berenson was in Saskatchewan attending to a family matter. He was not at prac- tice yesterday or Tuesday, leaving assistant coaches Mel Pearson and Billy Powers behind the bench. "With him not being here, guys, are a little more' ackadaisical, a" little more lazy, and so I guess it'll .,be nice to have him back," senior, Kevin Porter said Tuesday. But after three days without a full practice, Michigan looked re- energized yesterday afternoon. Powers said the team, usually rela- tively quiet during practice, has been exceptionally vocal -while skating this week. He refrained from referring to the practice as "loose," a term that has often had negative connotations for the Wol- verines this year, and instead called the team's attitude "upbeat." "The volume and the intensity and the chatter that was going on today were actually positive because the execution was excel- lent," Powers said. "I think they're still a little giddy." The Wolverines' friendly com- petition showed near the end of practice, when the team squared off in a 2-on-2 game spanning half the neutral zone. During a break in play, forward Travis Turnbull playfully flung a puck overthe glass and into the stands. When defen- seman Steve Kampfer scored the winning goal in the mini-game, he raised his arms and skated around while his teammates roared in cel- ebration. Some of the Wolverines are using this week to improve skills that aren't addressed during high- intensity practices. Freshmen Aaron Palushaj and Louie Capo- russo stayed on the ice after yes- terday's practice, as they and other freshmen often have this season, taking advantage of the extra time to practice slick stickhandling and fancy goals. And for freshman Matt Rust, who has been playing with a hair- line fracture in his fibula since the final weekend of the CCHA Tournament, the low-key practice schedule has meant extra time to continue to heal. He said it's still painful to put pressure on the leg, especiallywhile stopping and start- ing on the ice, but this week's prac- tice schedule has eased the pain of A battering weekend in Albany. With the Wolverines leaving Monday night for Denver, their intensity will escalate during the rest of the week. But for now, the low-key prac- tices have kept the young team's morale high and stress level low. "(Porter and Kolarik) have allowed (the freshmen) tobeyoung kids the rest of the week," Pow- ers said. "They goof around. They make mistakes. You can laugh at them for some of the things they do. Nobody's attempted to take away the newness or try to make them grow up too quickly." Wet field delays softball home opener Fans who showed up treated to practice, meet-and-greet By IAN KAY Daily Sports Writer A soggy outfield forced the post- ponement of the Michigan softball team's home opener yesterday, but that didn't prevent fans from get- ting a good look at the squad. Spectators watched the Wolver- ines take infield and hitting prac- tice, then mingled with players at the first-ever Michigan Softball Meet and Greet. Despite clear skies and a balmy - for Ann Arbor - game-time temperature of 47 degrees, the stadium's new drainage system didn't remove enough water from the outfield turf to make the field playable. "There was too big of a chance that someone could get hurt," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "And we could tear up (the field) so that we couldn't play on it in two days." The contest against Bowling Green was rescheduled for next Wednesday, but many fans were RODRIGOGAYA/Daily Michigan coach Carol Hutchins talks with fans at the Michigan softball team's first meet-and-greet in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse yesterday. onlookers. Players signed auto- graphs and posed for pictures with local highschool softball teams and young children. "You just have this really big sense of community," senior out- fielder Michelle Weatherdon said before pausing to sign her name on a young girl's poster. "You can tell a lot of our fans really care about our sport and about Michigan, so it's really exciting to have people come in and be able to talk to them." Mike Rozelle, who runs the soft- ball team's booster club, brought his granddaughter to the event so she could see the softball players up close. Rozelle said that these types of events matter because where football, basketball and hockey fans often overlook sports like softball. "We like to put some of these other teams in front of fans and get them out to support the team, so this is an opportunity to do that," he said. "Hopefully, the new stadi- um has a big impact this year." Hutchins was pleased with the event and hoped fans enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some of the team's student-athletes. "Michigan softball has a great community following, especially with a lot of young kids," Hutchins said. "Our players are great role models." unaware of the postponement and arrived at Alumni Field at 4 p.m. anyway. After learning the game would not be played, some stayed to watch the team's afternoon practice session while waiting for the meet-and-greet to begin., They were treated to a view of Michigan's training routine, as Wolverine players rehearsed field- ing bunts on the infield and took batting practice. Freshman first baseman Dorian Shaw took center stage by launching four homeruns, including a towering shot that landed on the roof of the Indoor Track Building. "It kind of made it seem game- like,"junior shortstop Teddi Ewing said of practicing in front of fans. "It was cool to see people sitting up in the new stands. It was a good practice day, and it's good to be out there on the field." After finishing its workout, the team moved inside to Oosterbaan Fieldhouse, where Hutchins intro- duced the team and recapped the non-conference portion of the 2008 season in front of several dozen At least in practice, Blue savors crack of the bat Softball team sees improvement using wooden baseball bats in practice By RUTH LINCOLN Daily Sports Writer Look into the Michigan softball team's practice batting cages, and you might find something unusu- al: wooden baseball bats. Since Spring Break, the fifth- ranked Wolverines have replaced their composite softball bats with wooden baseball bats during bat- ting practice. "They're part of our repertoire," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "I've used baseball bats off and on over the years but not reg- ularly. There are some drills we do regularly, and they're definitely going to be one of them." The Wolverines hope their distinctive batting practice tech- niques continue to pay off when they play Iowa Friday. Hutchins said some of her vet- eran players tend to throw their whole upper body out when they swing. Practicing with baseball bats encourages hitters to swing through with their hands and extend the bat's barrel out fur- ther. After correcting hitting tech- niques with heavier wooden bats, the players can smoothly transi- tion back to lighter composite bats during games. "Yeah, we're using baseball bats, but the same thing applies when you have a softball and a softball bat," freshman first base- man Dorian Shaw said. "Throwing your hands out, just those basics, really reinforce whenwe use them everyday in practice. Then you just get to the game without even thinking about it." And since Spring Break, Mich- igan's team batting average has increased. Holding a team average of .272 on March 1, the Wolverines (4-0 Big Ten, 28-3 overall) have improved at the plate each week- end. They now lead the Big Ten with their .294 average. "Our consistency with these drills and just sticking with them, not doing them one day in practice and then moving to something completely different, is really beneficial," Shaw said. "The fact that the coaches really emphasize that we do a good job of it in prac- tice really helps us to think about those things in the games." The Wolverines have seen con- sistent production from the entire lineup. In last weekend's four- game road trip, Michigan out- scored its opponents 29-2. And in a six-inning mercy-rule 8-0 win over conference foe Purdue, seven Wolverines registered hits. The Hawkeyes (1-1, 22-11) have two strong pitchers in sophomore Amanda Zust and junior Brittany Weil. The Iowa pitchers currently rank third and fourth in the con- ference in earned runs average (0.93 and 1.13, respectively). They trail only Michigan's pitching tandem of freshman Jor- dan Taylor and sophomore Nikki Nemitz (0.55 and 0.73 respective- ly). But if the hitting improvements are any indication, the Wolver- ines will put up a fight against the strong Hawkeye pitching. "We're swinging better," Hutchins said. "I'm really encour- aged by it." 5.