4 8A - Thursday, April 16, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Michigan shoots for the Super Six By COLT ROSENSWEIG Daily Sports Writer Michigan assistant men's gym- nastics coach Derek Croad has coined a new catchphrase for the No. 4 Michigan men's gymnastics team in the postseason. Get in the CAR. The letters of "CAR" represent the Wolverines' new attitude that helped lead them to their first Big NCAA Ten title since 2000: Confi- Champion- dent. Aggressive. Relaxed. This afternoon, When:1 P.M. the Wolverines Where: will see if"getting Minnesota in the CAR"works Sports Pavilion at the NCAA Live Blog: Championships in thegame. the University of blogs.michi- Minnesota Sports gandaily.com Pavilion. "This is what guys work for throughout the whole summer, the whole season, for this one time," Michigan assistant coach Scott Vetere said. "You get to these meets and you put a little added pres- sure on yourself. It shows - whether you're going in last place or going in first place -it's about handling situa- tions thatnyou're not accustomed to." The new outlook has paid huge dividends for gymnasts like sopho- more Chris Cameron, who finished second in the Big Ten all-around and floor-exercise competitions. Cameron's energetic performances at the Big Ten Championships and Michigan's huge victory in Colum- bus pushed him to a No. 3 rank- ing in the country on the pommel horse and a No. 4 ranking in the all- around. Last Monday, Michigan coach Kurt Golder posed an interesting questiontohisteam. Could the Wol- verines handle being in first place? The Wolverines didn't seem entirely ready to take first place at Big Tens. After building a comfort- able lead in the first four events, Michigan tightened up in the final two rotations, almost letting the title slip away. "We've never really experienced (a lead like that) before," senior Ralph Rosso said. "I think if that does occur (again), we'll be ready for it. But no matter what, if you hear those announcements, you have to learn to keep your focus, ignore it and just keep doing what you've been doing throughout the whole competition." Today, Michigan's task is simple: qualify forteam finals, known as the Super Six. The top three teams from on Thursday at 1 p.m., but on Friday night, with host Minnesota possibly in the team finals, the arena will likelybe packed. Michigan's seniors and juniors, who competed twice at Minnesota in 2007, remember well how dif- ficult it can be to compete at the Sports Pavilion. "I hate Minnesota," said senior Joe Catrambone, who claimed the Big Ten high-bar championship. "I personally had terrible meets every time I (went) there. I think this is going to be the toughest (NCAAs) we've everbeen to, in the qualifying and Super Six." Defending champion No. 2 Okla- homa and co-Big Ten champion No. 3 Illinois are near-locks to make Super Six from the second session. Even against the most talented field they've ever faced, the Wol- verines feel they are ready to turn heads at NCAAs. "As long as we hit our routines and do our thing, that's all we can really ask for," said sophomore Thomas Kelley, the Big Ten all- around championand No.1 high-bar competitor in the nation. "We're the underdogs - it's been said before by my teammates. By the same token, we're a talented team, and we can make some noise at NCAA Champi- onships." Sophomore Thomas Kelley earned the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year award after winning the All-Around conference title. each of today's two six-team quali- fying sessions advance to the Super Six on Friday night. Michigan will face two top-five teams in Stanford and California, who are likely to advance. No. 8 Penn State might make a push, but two of the Nittany Lions' key com- petitors are injured, one out for the season. l The Wolverines were pleased to draw the afternoon session - they have an excellent shot at making team finals and will have several more hours of rest before the Super Six competition than the teams competing in the evening session. And they'll get parallel bars - their weakest event at Big Tens - out of the way first, finishing the session on vault. "If you look at all the NCAA champions the past three years I've been here, they've ended on vault or rings," said senior co-captain Phil Goldberg, who won the Big Ten still rings title. "Usually rings and vault are high scorers in big meets." If it makes the Super Six, though, Michigan expects a dogfight in the intense, hostile atmosphere of the Sports Pavilion. A big crowd proba- bly won't turn out for a competition Wolverines split doubleheader in the battle for Washtenaw County I I By CHANTEL JENNINGS Daily Sports Writer After the first game of yes- terday's doubleheader against Eastern Michigan, Michigan baseball coach Rich Maloney was optimistic. Sophomore centerfielder Ryan LaMarre had just made a spectacular diving catch to rob the Eagles of EASTERN MICH. 11 a scoring MICHIGAN 5 chance in the EASTERN MICH. 2 sixth MICHIGAN 4 inning. Junior first baseman Mike Dufek smashed a two-run home run so deep that it hit the Indoor Track and Field Build- ing and gave Michigan a 4-3 victory. "It was a moment," Maloney said. "It's been a while since we've had something like that at the right time." Then, less than one inning into the second game, Maloney's entire outlook changed as he watched his team quickly fall behind 4-0. "It was batting practice (for the Eagles) in that second game," Maloney said. "That's what it was." In the nightcap, the Eagles dominated Michigan with four longballs en route to their 11-5 victory. The Wolverines struggled at the plate all day. In the first game, they batted 5-for-21, and in the second game they batted a slightly improved 8-for-30. Michigan was no better from the mound. Maloney emptied his bullpen as the Wolverines again struggled with inconsistent pitching with two devastating innings in the second game where the Eagles scored four and five runs. Junior Jeff DeCarlo got the start for Michigan, but after allowing four runs in one-third innings, he was replaced by sophomore Travis Smith. Smith pitched 2.2 innings before Maloney sent in freshman Kevin Vangheluwe. Vangheluwe, with similar results, gave up five runs in less than an inning. Finally, Michi- gan found some stability with red- shirt sophomore Matt Gerbe, who only gave up one run in the final three innings. "The bottom line is that if we don't pitch better, then we don't stand much of a chance," Maloney said. "But we can, I just believe we can. I'm not giving up." Michigan has struggled all year with spotty pitching and defensive difficulties. In the past five losses, the Wolverines have given up at least 10 runs and made a combined 10 errors. "I did not expect this many games where we would give up that many runs," Maloney said. "I just didn't see it coming. I'm still hopeful, as crazy as it may sound, despite watching this myself. I just know these guys are better than that." Maloney finds his confidence from the glimmers of hope he sees in each game. In yesterday's games, junior catcher Chris Ber- set and sophomore pitcher Tyler Burgoon both returned to the field after suffering injuries earlier this season. Maloney trusted Burgoon to pitch the final four outs of the first game - including a span that saw a scoring threat that LaMarre diffused late in the sixth inning - but Burgoon was able to pull through. For the Wolverines to win their intrastate battle with the Michigan State this weekend, a leader will have to emerge each game and set a model for the rest of the team as it tries to find consistency on a game-to-game basis. "Sooner or later, you're just waiting for someone to step up and rise up to the occasion and right now we're not doing that and we'll keep trying, we'll keep battling," Maloney said. 0 4 0 A