The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - 7A
'M' cruises in fall ball
BY LUKE PASCH ly cleared the grandstand in right
For the Daily field highlighted an eight-run second
inning for Michigan. Eastern Michi-
The Alumni Field announcer was gan never recovered from that blow,
sure to forewarn the crowd of the as the Eagles couldn't find a rhythm
relaxed nature of yesterday's Michi- at the plate.
gan softball team exhibition game The Wolverines tossed a no-hitter
against Eastern Michigan. in a combined effort from freshman
"This game will be played under Stephanie Speierman and junior Jor-
scrimmage rules, folks - which is, dan Taylor. Four innings of no-hit
pretty much anything goes," he said. ball and eight strikeouts sums up an
But fall ball doesn't mean relaxing excellent home debut for Speierman.
for the players. The Wolverines are "I felt good and comfortable out
looking to improve in all aspects of there," Speierman said. "Itfeltnice to
the game, especially after being upset finally pitch on Alumni Field."
by No. 8 Georgia in theWomen's Col- But Speierman's ability to baffle
lege World Series lastseason. the Eagles' hitters yesterday hasn't
"The goal for fall season is for given her false hopes about her role
everyone to get better and ulti- for the upcoming season.
mately play better than last spring," Michigan possesses a lethal one-
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. two punch in its pitching rotation
"Being good last season doesn't make between All-Americans Jordan Tay-
you good this time around -you still lor and Nikki Nemitz. They com-
need to earn it.Youneed to be hungry bined for 47 wins and 591 strikeouts
to do better." last year, including in Women's Col-
The team's preparation for the lege World Series play.
2010 spring season seems to be "Jordan and Nikkihave been great
going well. Pitching changes, ros- with showing me the ropes," Speier-
ter moves and pinch-runners were man said. "Ilook forward to learning
used at free will as the Wolver- alotandplayingbehindtwoexcellent
ines cruised to a 12-0 win over the pitchers this season."
Eagles. Michigan will be on the road this
Sophomore third baseman Maggie Saturday as the team wraps up fall
Viefhaus's two-run homer that near- play at Michigan State.
Wolverines look to
buck recent road woes
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
Fifth-year senior David Moosman has taken over at center while David Molk continues to rehab a broken foot.
Bigweek ahead for OL
BY ANDY REID game.
Daily Sports Editor Molk, whom Michigan coach
Rich Rodriguez called one of
Through the first three games, Michigan's best players, was an
the Michigan football team's integral part of the line. A bevy
offensive line was a testament to of players have played somewhere
what stability can do for a team. on the line in the last two games
A year after producing some of as the group tries to find a solid
the worst offensive numbers in solution until Molk can come back
program history, the Wolverines in a few weeks.
were riding high as the No.1 scor- "We didn't play our best up
ing offense in the Big Ten and the front, but there were a lot of
No. 4 rushing offense in the coun- (players) that didn't play their
try. position," Rodriguez said. "But
Two games later - thanks they still competed. I'm proud of
largely to a dismal 28-yard ground the guys. There was no panic, and
performance against Michigan we know we can play better. But
State - the offense looks a lot there are a lot of things we've got
more vulnerable. And on the line; to fix."
the team is struggling with some During Monday's press confer-
of the same issues it had last sea- ence, Ortmann was still unclear
son. as to why the Spartans dominated
"It's tough to get in a rhythm the line of scrimmage as much as
when you're changing so much they did.
on a certain side of the ball," left The fifth-year senior said he
tackle Mark Ortmann said. "You watched the game .three times
saw it last year with the guard on Sunday - taking both good
position. It's hard to build the and bad things from it and still
communication with someone couldn't pinpoint exactly what
when you don't know maybe what went wrong.
their abilities are." But one thing was for sure: the
Last season, the Wolverines Spartan defensive line was quick,
struggled to find a group that which gave it a huge jump off the
gelled enough to become a con- bat.
sistent line. This season, they "Once you do that to an offen-
had found it - until center David sive lineman, they're in panic
Molk went down with a broken mode," Ortmann said. "It's not by
foot during the Eastern Michigan any sense a strength thing, and
that's why I hesitated to say they
out-physicaled us. They just beat
us off the ball.
"Watching the film, Michigan
State timed it up well and they
beat us off the ball. They almost
put us in the defensive mode."
Having gone up against both
Molk and his replacement David
Moosman in practice, defensive
tackle Mike Martin said Molk was
quicker with his off-hand, which
could help keep the defense out
of the backfield. But he also said
Moosman was very good at get-
ting his body'in front of defenders
quickly.
Whatever the problem, the
Wolverines need to figure out a
solution quickly. This Saturday,
they are traveling to a raucous
Kinnick Stadium to play Iowa,
which has one of the best defen-
sive lines in the nation.
"This will be maybe the biggest
challenge our guys have faced so
far this year, with the front seven
of Iowa," Rodriguez said during
yesterday's teleconference. "The
linebackers are very good, but.
their front four is outstanding."
The Hawkeyes blitz rarely and
only during critical periods, but
the front four is good enough to
get pressure on the quarterback
without extra help.
That will make things espe-
cially difficult for freshman quar-
terback Tate Forcier, because not
only will he have to avoid strong
pressure in the pocket, but he'll
have to pick apart as many as
seven Hawkeyes in coverage.
"When they don't beat them-
selves, they'll control the game,"
Rodriguez said of Iowa.
And up front, the Hawkeyes
excel at exactly what put the Wol-
verines on their heels last week -
jumping the ball.
"They're just very good up front
and very aggressive," Rodriguez
said. "They jump the ball well.
They get off the ball pretty quick.
So it's a good challenge certainly
for our guys. We'll have to play a
lot better than we did this past
weekend."
Of course, Molk's presence
would help bolster the line
against the toughest defense the
Wolverines will face all year. But
Rodriguez and Co. aren't making
excuses.
Instead, they will continue to
try to find a combination up front
that will click and a game plan
that will take down the vaunted
Hawkeyes.
"As coaches, we've got to get
them in some other players maybe
to help, and we just weren't sharp,"
Rodriguez said. "And when you
play a pretty solid team and you're
not sharp on the road, it's going to
cost you."
BY ZAKPYZIK
For the Daily
Michigan women's soccer head
coach Greg Ryan has more on the
line than usual this Sunday. The'
Wolverines head to East Lansing to
challenge No.20 Michigan State, and
Ryan's undefeated intrastate record
falls into the hands - or feet - of his
players.
Since 1999, the home teamhas not
lostagameintheMichigan-Michigan
State rivalry. The two teams ended
last year's match ina stalemate.
"Lyst yeer, we played on the road,
and I really didn't think that it had
much of an impact," Ryan said. "It's
close enough that a lot of Michigan
fans can get there. Last year, I did not
feel that it was an away game."
The team says being on the road
will not change the game plan, even
though Michigan has recently had
difficulty in away games, the Wol-
verines will visit the Spartans with a
1-5 road record.In hopes of reversing
this trend, Michigan will have to shut
down two game-changing Spartans.
Michigan State senior forward
Lauren Hill and sophomore forward
Laura Heyboer are a threatening duo
who have accumulated seven assists
and 15 goals for the fast-paced Spar-
tan offense.
"We can't defend them individu-
ally," Ryan said. "It's goingto take our
whole backline to try and keep them
quiet."
But even if the Spartans appear
to have the advantage, they will still
have to finda way to control Wolver-
ine junior Amanda Bowery.
Bowery, who plays both defense
and forward, is the only current
Michigan player who has scored in
thelast425minutesofplay-andshe
did ittwice.
The Wolverines will have to click
offensivelyquicklyinordertocounter
Michigan State's aggressive offense.
Freshman forward Holly Hein,
who netted game-winning goals
against Miami and Oakland, will
have a big role in trying to get Michi-
gan's offense to click. As a young
player going into hostile rival terri-
tory, it willbe a difficult task.
"I'm just excited to play in a big
rivalry game," Hein said. "We have
been playingreally well, we just need
to go out there and playthe same that
we would, anywhere, any day. We
need to build the attack and get the
numbers up."
Michigan's offense will have to
unify on the field to compete. In the
lastthreegames,theWolverineshave
struggled to outscore their opponents
by morethan one point. The teamhas
scored more goals on set plays than
they have the run of play.
"Our offense needs to connect on
our passes, and we have to make sure
that our final ball is good," Bowery
said.
"Sometimes we get nervous and
just kick the ball away,but we need to
make sure that we are composed."
Though the Spartans are favored,
the Wolverines have had unexpected
success in this role this season. Mich-
igan defeated No. 21 Miami 1-0 and
lost a one goal contest against No. 17
Southern Cal.
"This is nothing new to us," Ryan
said. "We are used to playing as the
underdog."
DHunwick stands tall in net
, ; 6 g
'
__
BY MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan hockey coach Red
Berenson has made it clear that
junior backup goalie Shawn Hun-
wick is a "relief pitcher" this sea-
Like most relief pitchers, Hun-
wick wasn't told when he was
going to get into
the game in NOTEBOOK
Michigan's final
exhibition game against Wind-
sor. When he took over for junior
Bryan Hogan in the second period,
Sunday, it was his first appearance
since his freshman year.
"I knew before the game I was
going to get in at some point, but
I thought it would be later in the
game," Hunwick said. "Obviously
I was a little bit nervous. I wanted
to prove to the coaches and the
teammates what I could do for the
team. (The nerves) got out of there
pretty quick once I made my first
save."
'Hunwick's teammates didn't
give him the smoothest start.
Just four minutes after Hunwick
entered the game, an intercepted
pass led to a two-man break for
Windsor. Hunwick got a piece of
the ensuing one-timer, but eventu-
ally the puck got past him. After
another quick goal by the visi-
tors, Michigan found itself down
2-1 midway through the game to
a team it beat 12-1 in its previous
meeting.
Hunwick shut Windsor down
the rest of the way, making nine
saves in 40 minutes en route to his
first career win.
"He fought it in the beginning,"
Berenson said. "He got it together
and by the end of the game, I think
he was feeling back in his groove.
It's hard when you don't play any
games, but now at least we have
ro*4k -
?
4 /
SAIDALSALAH/Daily
Junior Shawn Hunwick saw his first playing time since his freshman year in last weekend's exhibition win over Windsor.
buy one beverage
get one HALF OFF[
lot equal or lesser value)
1741 Plymouth Rd * Ann Arbor
BIGGBY
for franchise info www.biggby.com COFFEE
Good at this location only. Notlgood with any other offer.
No copies of this coupon will be accepted. Offer expires 10/13/09.
.11-u, K
him ready when we need him."
After last season, when there
was uncertainty between the
pipes, Berenson has made it clear
that Hogan, who eventually won
the job last year, is his number
one goalie. Berenson also said he
doesn't know when or if Hunwick
will play again this season.
NEW GAME, NEW LINES: After
puttingsophomoreforward Robbie
Czarnik on the first line with Louie
Caporusso and David Wohlberg in
the season's two exhibition games,
junior Ben Winnett will step into
that role when the Wolverines
head to Alaska this weekend.
Winnett put up two assists on
the opening weekend, but he fig-
ures to be more of a role player
when playing with offensively tal-
ented players such as Wohlberg
and Caporusso.
"I think (Winnett will) be a
good complement on that line,"
Berenson said. "He'll make good,
subtle, plays and I think he's got
better offense than hisnumbers
have shown."
Freshman Chris Brown will
remain at right wing for the sec-
ond line, playing with juniors Carl
Hagelin and Matt Rust. Czarnik
will drop down to the third line
to play with freshman A.J. Treais
and senior Ben Lebler.
"(The lines) might last a game,
or a period, or a week or two,"
Berenson said. "Right now we're
just trying to put players together
and see who's playing well and
isn't, and what they could add,
and try to -get some experienced
players with freshman players."
NOTES: Michigan's two games
up in Alaska this weekend are
exempt from the maximum 34
games they are allowed to play.
This encourages more teams to
travel to Alaska. Michigan will
actually play 37 games this year,
with the outdoor game in Wiscon-
sin also exempt, the exemptions....
The only player on the roster not to
play in at least one of the preseason
games was third-string freshman
goalie Patrick Summers. ... A.J.
Treais was the only one of the six
freshmen to score a goal on open-
ing weekend.