2B -March06,2009
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:The Michigan Daily.- rnichigandailycom
2B - March16, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigaruJaily.cnir
Bidding Yost
Arena adieu
With bats dormant,'M' Nine
drops three straight to Arizona
'Freebies,' shaky
orgive me for being
sentimental, but it was
sad to leave Yost Ice
Arena after Michigan beat-West-
ern Michigan 6-1 on Saturday
night.
I've written about what a spe-
cial place Yost is before. It has a.
special blend of history, hockey
and hi rityv
memories.I will carry forever
have come from this season,
when I got to enjoy the best
sports arena on campus as a fan
rather than a reporter.'
Sitting in the student section,
doing the chants, singing "The
Victors" - those are things I
will cherish because I finally
got a chance to be part of the
that I haven't action instead of just observ-
found any- ing it.
where else on If you've had season tickets to
this campus. hockey for a few years, it might
Yost has be easy to miss how special the
played a key experience is. This weekend
role in my .x I talked to two students from
college expe- NATE other Big Ten schools who were
rience. Over SANDALS at Yost for the first time. They
the past three reminded me why it's such a spe-
years, I'm cial place.
pretty sure At the end of Saturday night's
I've spent more time in the old game one turned to me and said,
barn than anyone who isn't "This is amazing. It's 6-1 and no'
part of the Michigan hockey one has left." .
program or a member of the In fact, the student section
Yost staff. only got louder when the game
After two years of covering ended and the team skated over
the hockey team to the student,
for this paper on section and
a daily basis and band. When the
getting season Y s is about team salutes
tickets this year, p ri at g its fans at the
I've got a slew of p c end of the sea-
memories from * ,4 son, you know .
Yost. instead O there's some-
I remember observin . thing special
the captain's obabout that fan
practices Kevin . base.
Porter and Chad The student
Kolarik ran section has taken
before-last season. Expectations a lot of heat this year. Certainly,.
hadn't been lower in a long time, the "C-Ya" chant angers a lot of
but you could see from the very people. And the "F.Y.S." chant
beginning that team was-intent during the Michigan State game
on proving expectations wrong. in January may have seemed like
I remember when Red Beren- a blemish on the University's
son gave me permission to reputation.
watch practice from the bench But the Yost experience isn't
for just one practice. First, he all about cursing and calling,
made sure I knew that I had visiting fans derogatory names.
better pay attention, and that if Watching a game at Yost is about
I ended up getting hurt some- participating instead of observ-
how that I couldn't blame the ing.
hockey team. I nodded in agree- I've said it before and I will
ment. (Anyone who has ever say it again: Yost puts every
met Berenson knows that when other venue at this school'to
he tells you-something, there's shame, whether you're a hockey
no point arguing.) fan or-not.
I remember the team com- If you're a senior and you
ing back to Yost for a final team never made it to Yost, I'm sorry .
photo last year, the week after no one dragged you there before
Notre Dame knocked the Wol- it was too late.
verines out of the Frozen Four. And if you have more time on
That was wheo Kolarik told me this campus, don't let it run out -
he had just signed his profes- without atrip to Yost;.I bet you'
sional contract and Porter was can't go just once.
about to. That's when I knew my
time covering.the hockey team - Sandals got hit with a puck
was actually done. . . once and he still loves Yost. He can
But many of the best Yost be reached at nsandals@umich.edu.
pitching key to.
Michigan's collapse
in desert series
By TIM ROHAN
Daily Sports Writer
Last weekend, the Michigan
baseball team was played the New
York Mets,'a professional team. This
weekend against 'Arizona, it just
seemed that way.
The Wolverines (10-5), who
hadn't been shut out since May 16 vs.
Northwestern, were held scoreless
twice over the weekend en roite
to being swept in a three-game
weekend series at Arizona (11-7).
Michigan kept Friday and ,Satur-
day's games close, when Michigan
losing 2-0 and 9-7, romped Arizona
romped in-a14-0 win on Sunday.
Michigan coach Rich Maloney
said he expected th6 offense to
struggle coming into the season and
the pitchiig and defense to carry
the Wolverines. But that. has not
been the case, as the offense. has
been a great surprise.
The 25th-ranked Wplverines are
batting .316 as. a team so far this
season - a point below last season's
final average. Michigan's defense
had struggled before this weekend
with 17 errors on the season, but
didn't have a single one against
Arizona. But the usually effective
pitching staff allowed 43 baserun-
ners.
Michigan didn't have many pleas-
ant surprises over the weekend.
"(I'm) very, very disappointed,"
Maloney said. "We don'tlike losing.
I don't care who we're playing. Lose
three games and ... quite frankly,
they embarrassed us, they played.so
well. We don't like. taking a whup-
pin' like that. So we'll work real hard-
so that doesn't happen again."
The series was a chance for
Michigan to seek revenge. A 4-3
.defeat to the Wildcats was one of
the two losses that eliminated the
Wolverines from -last year's NCAA
Regional. .
The team has changed consid-
erably since then. In .that.game,
then-freshman centerfielder Ryan
LaMarre was batting in the ninth
position. This season, he is batting
third, and his 10-game hittingstreak
was snapped on Sunday.
$enior Chris Fetter started the
opening game of the series and
pitched into the eighth inning, giv-
ing up just two runs, one of which
came on a passed ball in the fifth
0
i
a
* LE PHTO
Sophomore Ryan LaMarre's 10-game hitting streak ended yesterday as the Wolverines were swept in Arizona.
m
inning.. Arizona catcher Dwight
Childs tripled to right field with one
out, putting the pressure on Fetter
to make sure the Wildcats didn't
bring home the run.
OnFriday, Michigan got on base
in everyinning exceptfor the eighth,
and stranded 11 men. It just couldn't
manufacture runs, a weakness that
plagued the team all weekend.
In Saturday's game, Michigan's
offense -scrambled to an early five-
run lead. But in the bottom of the
third, Arizona exploded for six runs,
* for a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
"(In the third inning), we gave
too many of what we call freebies,"
Maloney said. "Walks, wild pitches,
things like that and it really, really
hurt us.. And it gave. Arizona the
opportibity to get the big inning.
And if you get the big inning, you
usually win the game.... And it cost
us." was just one of those - days where
Maloney said Michigan's .ability they got on us and we just couldn't
to limit the "freebies" was one of getanything going. We just played
the reasons it entered ,the Arizona " bad."
series with a 10-2 record. Maloney The series ended the team's long,
said Arizona had.fewer ppportuni- season-opening road fTrip. - Michi-
ties to score than Michigan, but the gan now returns to Ann Arbor -and
Wildcats cashed in on their chances the friendly confines of the Wilpon
and the Wolverines didn't. Baseball Complex, where the 'Wol-
Maloney attributed some of the verines were 22-4 last season. Its
issues to the absence of junior catch- home opener is Friday against Indi
er Chris Berset, who will be out for ana University-Purdue' University
what Maloney said will be "quite a Fort Wayne (IPFW).
while;' Berset has already missed And Michigan is ready to forget
six games due.to injury. its misfortunes in the desert.
The mishaps on offense and "(Arizona) won all three;"'Malo-
defense culminated in the 14-0 ney said. "And we're not used to that
blowout on' Sunday, in which Ari- in our program. And we'll go back
zona. had 20 hits. By' contrast, and we'll work extremely hard. And
Michigan had 28 in.all three games I'll do a.better job, our team will do.
combined. - a better jobAnd we'll do everything'
"(Sunday's game> .was just a we can to figure it out because we
snowball effect," Maloney said. "It don't like losing."
Three Wolverines shine at NCAA Indoor Championships
By ROGER SAUERHAFT So his fourth-place finish in the
Daily Sports Writer .60-meter dash Saturday in College
Station,. Texas - which made him
Even before this weekend's the first Wolverine runner to ever
NCAA Indoor Championships, achieve All-America status twice
men's track and field senior Adam as an individual - was a bonus.
Harris said.he had already accom-. Michigan coach Fred LaPlante
plished all of his indoor career' stressed the significance of the
goals. fourth-place finish, saying that
Harris's competition was thje best.
he saw all season.
"When you get here, you realize
how many good people there are,'
LaPlante said through the Michi-
gan Athletic Department. "So for
him to make the final and then get
fourth was a good performance.
... He had' an okay start but he ran
really well. When he got to top-
end speed, he closed it up. It was
a-good race:"
The Wolverines concluded
their indoor season with seven ished fourth. He was fresh off his
teamo points at the NCAA Cham- besttime of this season, set Feb..
pionship, good for 32nd place. Five 21. at the Silverston Invitational,
points came courtesy of. Harris's when he ran a 6.60.
6.62 second time in the 60-meter . Fellow senior Justin Switzer
dash. - als6 gained two points and .All-
It was a step up from Michigan's America status after he finished
44th-place showing last season.. seventh in the mile runwith a time
Harris was responsible for -all five of 4:02.99: It was the second-All-.
of the team's points in that meet. America honor of his career. Two
Harris's 'time was the exacI years ago, he was on the distance
same- as last year's time in the medley relay team that finished
60-meter dash, where he also fin- seventh at nationals.
"He led the race for the first
three laps," LaPlante said. "He
was in a pack of guys at the end.
He finished seventh, but there was
only about a second between -sec-
ond and seventh so he was right up
there..It was his first NCAA final
and he did great."
New Mexico senior Lee Eman-
uel finiished first in the mile with a
time of 4:00.36, less than two see:
onds ahead of Switzer.
Redshirt junior thrower Sean-
Pruitt came into the meet as the
eighth seed in the weight throw,:
but had a disappointing showing
at nationals. He threw the weight
64.5-feet, nearly five feet shorter
than his 69.4-foot throw that won
his event on Jan. 31 at the Indiana
Relays. ..
Michigan now has:two weeks
off before they begin their outdoor
season March 27th at. the Rice
Bayou Classic, .held in ' Houston,
Texas.
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