The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com h

Monday, April 14, 2008-- 3B

Wolverines earns second
place in West Regional

'M' stages weekend hit parade

Score high enough
to qualify team for
NCAA Championships
By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Writer
Chalk up the second-place finish to
"West Coast" scoring.
Or the 2,300 miles traveled, with a
four-hour layover in Seattle.
Orthe three-hour time difference.
But even with all those obstacles,
the Michigan women's gymnastics
team scored high enough at the West
Regional in Corvallis, Ore., on Satur-
day to earn an invitation to the NCAA
Championships in Athens, Ga., on
April24.
Michigan finished second inthe six-
team regional with a score of 196.375,
placing behind host No. 8 Oregon State.
The top two teams from each regional
automatically advance to Nationals.
While Michigan coach Bev Plocki
was quick to point out the importance
of earning the bid by finishing in the
top two, she said it was difficult for her
team to get energized for a meet sand-
wiched between the Big Ten Champi-
onships and the NCAAs.
"Nationals is Nationals and all that,
but regionals is just the rite of passage
to get to Nationals," Plocki said.
The fifth-ranked Wolverines were
led by fifth-year senior Lindsey Bruck
and sophomore Sarah Curti. The duo
finished second and third, respective-
ly, in the all-around competition.
Michigan began the competition
on bars with a team score of 49.050,
which tied the team's season low. Even
though junior Tatjana Thuener-Rego
fell off the high bar, the remaining
five routines were solid, and the team
felt its scores should have been higher
throughout the meet.
"I think the judging is definitely dif-
ferent out west," Bruck said. "I don't
think we were getting scores that we
deserve. We tried not to let that bother
us."
Michigan scored at or above 9.900
just once, with Bruck's 9.900 on beam.
The Wolverines had five scores at that
level in their last competition, the Big
Ten Championships.

The host Beavers earned six scores
above 9.900, including two near-flaw-
less 9.950 scores. Oregon State won all
four event titles, markingthe firsttime
in 12 years Michigan didn't have any
regional event champions.
"Was it frustrating to have the
scores be low and not necessarily com-
parable? Yeah," Curtis said. "But we
still qualified for Nationals, so it's a
good day."
The highlight for the Wolverines
was their floor exercise routines, as
they danced their way to a 49.300-
point team performance. But even
with that solid score, first place was
nearly out of reach by the last rotation,
vatlt. Oregon State had the meet in
hand with a dominatingl197.100 finish.
Coming in second to the Beavers
isn't too shabby. Oregon State, like
Michigan, is in the nation's top 10 in
every event.
In two weeks, Michigan might have
to face the nation's best with a slightly
different roster. Sophomore Kelsey
Knutson injured her knee during Sat-
urday's warmups. Knutson has played
a crucial role on the beam squad, win-
ning three event titles this season.
"If Kelsey's hurt, everybody else has
to step it up," Curtis said. "We have
each other's backs. If she can't do it,
someone certainly can step in and take
that role for her."
Sophomore Jordan Sexton replaced
Knutson in the third spot on the
beam lineup Saturday and turned in a
smooth routine for a 9.775 score. Flex-
ibility and a deep roster have been a
strength for the Wolverines, who have
had to adjust to season-ending and
minor injuries this year.
All season, Michigan's goal has been
to make it to Nationals and perform
well. Now, that's the only step left for
the Wolverines.
And even with available excuses
for not finishing first, like inconsis-
tent scoring, jet lag and shaky travel
arrangements, Michigan wouldn't use
them to explain its performance. The
Wolverines were content to leave with
a bid to Nationals in hand.
"We had landings we could have
fixed here and there," Curtis said. "But
we did come out of it doing what we
wanted to, which was to qualify for
Nationals."

Putnam notches
three home runs,
eight RBt against
Fighting Ilini
By JASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
CHAMPAIGN - One Michi-
gan batter after another stepped
to the plate in the first game of
Saturday's doubleheader against
Illinois, and one batter after
another
record- MICHIGAN 7
ed ahit. ILLINOIS 4
By
the time the onslaught was com-
plete, all 11 Michigan batters had
earned a hit in the 14-5 rout, part
of a four-game sweep at Illinois
Field.
"Hitting's contagious," junior
Zach Putnam said. "The guy in
front of you hits it hard, then the
next guy, and the next guy. It has
been happening all weekend."
Michigan (11-1 Big Ten, 22-8
Overall) recorded 49 hits and
a staggering 44 runs over the
weekend.
The Wolverines, who scored
just 11 runs in last weekend's
series at Penn State, welcomed
the offensive production.
"Coming into this season, we
felt that we would be one of the
better hitting teams in the coun-
try," Michigan coach Rich Malo-
ney said. "And we hadn't proved
that yet. "Fortunately for us now,
over the last four ballgames,
we've really hit the ball well."
Seven different Wolverines
belted nine home runs off the
Illini pitching staff, including
Putnam, who hit three and had
eight RBI during the series.
In Saturday's first game, Put-
nam drove in a career-high six
runs.
But it wasn't just the offense
that sparked Michigan. Despite
the frigid temperatures, junior
Chris Fetter and freshman Trav-
is Smith had solid performances
on the mound, allowing just five
runs in 13 combined innings of
play.
"It was colder than cold,"

RODRIGO GAYA/Da
Junior Zach Putnam takes a breather between offensive fireworks during the Wolverines' weekend sweep of Illinois. Put-
nar had six RBI in game one on Saturday.

Maloney said. "This is survival
mode. It's hard to pitch. It's hard
to play."
In Sunday's game, Smith held
Illinois (6-6, 18-12) scoreless
until the fifth inning, when he
walked crafty centerfielder Kyle
Hudson with the bases loaded.
The righty threw a first-pitch
strike to the first 11 batters he
faced.
Michigan's seven-run lead
was too great for the Fighting
Illini to overcome. All weekend,
the Wolverines took the lead
early and never looked back.

"It's hard to lose when your
team puts up that many runs,"
Putnam said.
Michigan has struggled so
far to patch together a solid hit-
ting and pitching performance.
In recent series against Iowa
and Penn State, the Wolverines
won games on the backs of their
pitching staff. But before Big Ten
play, the pitchers struggled when
the batters piled up hits.
"We were pretty close to being
pretty good without hitting full
stride," Maloney said. "We just
felt like if we kept playing, soon-

er or later, it'd get going."
The Wolverines hit full stride
at the right time and now sit atop
the Big Ten standings. Despite
the weekend sweep, Maloney
knows it won't be easy to win a
third-straight Big Ten title.
"Each of the last two years
we've won the Big Ten we won
it on the last weekend," Malo-
ney said. "It wasn't like we had
it running away. We're going to
have competition. It's going to
be a dogfight. But we're playing
good baseball, and that's all you
can ask."



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