The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - 7 - Borges won't name starting back soon By TIM ROHAN ning style his offense covets Daily Sports Editor last Tuesday. "As you ask that question, I'm trying to put some A year ago, Michigan running of our better runs in my mind backs coach Fred Jackson boast- together. Cox has done it. Shaw ed about how he couldn't tell his came back the other day, he did backs apart. it. Stephen Hopkins is just that They were interchangeable in kind of runner, period." the offense and that's the way Then there's Fitz Toussaint, he liked it - for Rich Rodri- who was rarely healthy enough guez's offense it didn't matter, to see the field last season, but the running back wasn't in the whom Jackson has also com- spotlight. pared to former Michigan Now that Rodriguez is gone, running back Mike Hart. And that's a big problem - new don't forget Vincent Smith - a Michigan football coach Brady 5-foot-6, 180-pound tailback Hoke and offensive coordina- with quickness tailor-made for a tor Al Borges are searching for spread offense. a horse to which they can hitch The same guys were inthe mix their wagon. And since Hoke's last year. No one overwhelmed hiring, Jackson has repeatedly Rodriguez, though Smith and mentioned how excited he is Shaw were almost exclusively that the running back would Denard Robinson's wingmen in be a factor in the offense once the backfield in 2010. In the new again. offense, it's anyone's job to win The physicality Hoke wants once again. isn't lost on the running backs. "To say we have a frontline It's the position that might back, a guy we're saying, 'This epitomize the transition from guy's the guy' - we've had Rodriguez to Hoke this fall. flashes of excellence from all of During practice on April 5, them and that's not a decision coaches yelled at each runner we have to make today," Borges during the individual drills to said. "But I like those kids." finish his run even after he was Smith led all of the backs with down on the play. Each one had 601 rushing yards last season, to continue on a sprint up the but his numbers were dwarfed field after the play had ended. by Robinson's 1,700 yards on the Their job description has ground. Borges' goal is to keep been defined and expanded. But Robinson in games though and who will get the carries? avoid injury by reducing the 256 "At one time or another, every times the quarterback carried * back (has shown flashes)," the ball last season. That was Borges said of the downhill run- 120 more carries than Smith, who was the second-most used runner, got in the ground game. Of the running backs Borges mentioned, Smith was the only one who really inspired more than a few words. Borges called Smith a "true football player," adding that, despite his size, Smith could be an effective runner in the power offense, and that Smith is highly coach- able. Hoke called him a "tough little guy," during the Michigan coach's radio show on Monday. Last year, there were times Smith had to lead block for Rob- inson on running plays. And Borges has noted the Pahokee, Fla. native's willingness to do the dirty work. "Vince is going to be involved in any way you ask him to be involved," Borges said. "If you want him to run, he's broken a long run in scrimmage before. He has that to him. He has some speed. He has some quickness. "But what Vince (has) - he has good football awareness. I don't know how to explain it sometimes - we coaches call it football IQ. Vince has a good football IQ. You tell him some- thing and he understands what you're talking about and he can do it." Though Borges spoke highly of Smith, the offensive coor- dinator said he won't name a starter this spring. Borges almost took offense to the question of who would start, saying it was too early, just eight Junior running back Vincent Smith ran for 601 yards on 136 carries last season, leading all running backs. practices in, to declare a leader. After all 15 practices are com- pleted with the Spring Game on April 16, he will sit down each back and go through their indi- vidual evaluations. They've all had their own flashes. And the competition is simple, really. Impress Borges enough, and the job is yours. "He has to do more flashes," Borges said of what someone must do to earn the starting gig. "And be complete -block in pro- tection, run the football (and) be consistent. I think that's the deal, the guy who demonstrates the most consistency is going to play the most." Added Hoke: "At the end of the day, we'd like to settle on who that lead back will be. And we're not at ihat point yet." Michigan's big bats could carry it past in-state rivals this week By EMILY BONCHI Daily Sports Writer The No. 4 Michigan softball team is coming off an impres- sive weekend, having forced the mercy rule twice in a pair of blowouts against Pur- Westem due. Now, Michi- MiChigan at gan will take a Michigan break from Big Matchup: Ten competi- WMU 10-23; tion and host Michigan 35-3 two in-state rivals - West- When: Tues- e Mihgn day 6 P.M. ern Michigan on Tuesday Where: and Central Alumni Field Michigan on Wednesday. Though the games won't count toward the Wolverines' conference record, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins wants her team to use its weekend surge as fuel, while still taking the con- tests one game at a time. "We talk about putting every- thing behind you because yes- terday doesn't have anything to do with today," Hutchins said Sunday. Michigan (5-1 Big Ten, 35-3 overall) has had a solid defense this season as a whole, but the recent resurgence in the batter's box is what the Wolverines will need in order to stay ahead of their competition. Junior third baseman Aman- da Chidester ledthe way last weekend with a grand slam to earn this week's Big Ten Co- Player of the Week accolades. "It's the same approach every time," Chidester said. "We just have to see the ball, hit the ball, have fun. It's all about our ener- gy. When we have good energy out on the field and in the dug- out, it carries out to our hitting." Sophomore second base- man Ashley Lane and senior first baseman Dorian Shaw also made strides last weekend that the team can put to use. Lane knocked out her 13th home run of the season. She leads the Wolverines with 14 multi-RBI games. Shaw snapped a seven- game slump by earning her first RBI since the end of March. But games always seem more intense when the competition is local. The Broncos (4-4 MAC, 10-23 overall) had a rough start to their season after a 17-0 loss to No. 3 Arizona State - the same team Michigan edged 1-0 on March 17. Western Michigan enters Tuesday's matchup com- ing off an extra-inning loss to Buffalo to tally its fifth loss in April alone. The Chippewas (5-3, 20-12) will pose a greater challenge for the Wolverines on Wednesday. Central Michigan is on a six- game winning streak, having taken each game by eight runs or more. .J th games.will hedecided at the plate. "It's all about confidence," Chidester said of Michigan's hit- ting success. "So we can't look at anything different. We just have to go out there the same way every time." The Wolverine lineup cur- rently includes six players with batting averages of.300 or high- er. Though the Broncos have just two players batting over .300, the Chippewas' lineup includes six starters who hit over .300, and four more players who've chipped their way into that bracket as well. If Michigan doesn't stay con- sistent at the plate as it did last weekend and earlier in the sea- son, it could very well havea loss on its hands. But Hutchins is confident that if Michigan stays on its toes and takes its in-state foes seriously, the success will come. "The season is a journey and it's a long journey and you have to stay even-keeled," Hutchins said. "So I think we'll do a nice job and stay within ourselves and keep working." Redshirt junior Garrett Stephens's solo home run gave Michigan a lead over Purdue in the 10th inning on Sunday. Wolverines look to start turnaround against By NEAL ROTHSCHILD Daily Sports Writer Each time the Michigan base- ball team earned a big win this season, itfailedto followitupwith a winning streak. The Wolverines' inability to get into a 'rhythm Bowling this year can be attributed Gn at to these losses Michigan that followed Matchup: what otherwise Bowling Green could have been 11-16; Michi- momentum- gan 8-21 changingwins. When: Tues- But Michigan day 6:05 P.M. hopes to change its luck this here Stadum week when it hosts two Mid- American Conference opponents: Bowling Green and Toledo. The Wolverines (2-4 Big Ten, 8-21 overall) are coming off a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Purdue on Sunday. The Boiler- makers led 5-1 for the majority of the game, but Michigan scored four runs in the eighth inning before grabbing the lead in the 10th with redshirt junior Gar- rett Stephens's solo home run. Freshman Alex Lakatos staved off Purdue's rally to lock down Michigan's first win in more than a week. Michigan coach Rich Maloney will look to carry the momentum from the game into Ray Fisher Stadium. "We're feeling a lot better about ourselves," Maloney said after Sunday's win. "If we would have lost those three games, that would have been really hard. But what an opportunity. We've got to get some momentum. We've never had any the whole year, and it sure would be nice to win a couple ball- games." On Tuesday, Michigan will be squaring off against the Falcons (5-4 MAC, 11-16 overall), who have lost six of their last eight games. They are led by shortstop Jon Berti, who is hitting .385 this season with 11 stolen bases, and catcher Ryan Schlater, whose four home runs nearly rival the num- ber of home runs the entire Michi- gan team has. Meanwhile, Toledo (7-2, 16-15) is riding a nine-game winning streak and leads the MAC West- ern Division. The Rockets' top hit- ter is center fielder Ben Hammer, who is hitting .360 with 13 RBI. Maloney said sophomore Ben Ballantine will likely start on Tuesday, but will not throw many innings because he will be needed for the weekend series. Freshman Jake Engels is expected to take the mound on Wednesday. "Anytime you can knock off Michigan, it's huge for MAC teams," said Maloney, who coached Ball State for seven sea- sons. "They're going to come in here and they're going to have a good chance of beating us and we're going to have to play well to win."c Michigan will be looking to increase its production at the plate. The Wolverines crossed the five-run threshold for the first time in nearly a month on Sunday. Sophomore center fielder Patrick Biondi had the big bat in West Lafayette, going 7-for-13 in the series with five stolen bases. Biondi said he is starting to feel more comfortable at the plate. Lakatos, who was recently moved into the lineup for his offense, had recorded a hit in six straight games before Sunday. "I'm hopeful that our bats will carryintothis week andhopefully find a way to win and get some more confidence," Maloney said. Though the two wins would have negligible significance since they are not conference games, they could make all the difference in jump-starting Michigan's per- formance in the Big Ten season. Michigan is in a group of four teams who are 2-4 and a game out of the sixth spot - the final quali- fying seed for the Big Ten Tourna- ment. And in the next three week- ends, the Wolverines will be squaring off against Illinois, Iowa and Ohio State, who are all within a game of Michigan. "That nine-game stretch has a good chance of determining the fate of our season," Maloney said. "Hopefully, we'll play better this week and carry it over to the conference series with Illinois. Hopefully, we keep ourselves in the middle of the pack so we have a chance to make a playoff push." Senior first baseman Dorian Shaw recorded her first RBI since March during last weekend's series.