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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 7A

Blue brings home hardware from LSU

By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
After the Michigan softball
team lost ace Jordan Taylor
to graduation, the Wolverines
looked to their bullpen to find a
replacement for the record-set-
ting pitcher.
Last weekend, they just may
have found her.
Freshman pitcher Sara Dries-
enga earned her first two wins at
the LSU Tiger Classic in Baton
Rouge, La., pitching against Lou-
isiana Tech and No. 22 LSU.
On Friday, the right-hander
gave up two runs on two hits
in four innings, but Driesenga
came back Saturday and pitched
her first complete game, tallying
two strikeouts against the Tigers
- not to mention carrying a no-
hitter through five innings.
Her performance garnered
her co-Big Ten Freshman of the
Week honors, which she shared
with Iowa shortstop Megan
Blank, as well as a spot on the
All-Tournament team with three
other Wolverines.
Having to fill the large shoes
of Taylor - a current member of
USA Softball - is a tough task,
* but the seniors on the team have
faith in the freshman.
"I think (Driesenga is) really
confident in herself, which is
something pitchers have to be
in order to be successful," said
senior centerfielder Bree Evans.
"She's doing a really good job on
moving the ball and hitting the

Becca Garfinkel. Sweet trades
time with sophomore Caitlin
Blanchard and started against
Louisiana Tech and LSU last
weekend.
"Lauren (is) just awesome
to be around," Chidester said.
"(She's) a hard worker and she
competes. She's very athletic and
it's great to have that confidence
behind the plate."
Garfinkel joined the team as a
walk-on. Though she hasn't seen
much game action, Garfinkel has
an important role warming up
Michigan's pitchers as the bull-
pen catcher.
STAYING CLASSY: On
Wednesday, Evans was named
one of 30 candidates for the
Lowe's Senior CLASS.Award.
Her selection for the Senior
CLASS Award comes after Evans
was named to the Watch List for
USA Softball Player of the Year
before the season.
In order to qualify for the
award, "a student-athlete must
be classified as an NCAA Divi-
sion I senior and have notable
achievements in four areas of
excellence - community, class-
room, character and competi-
tion," according to the Senior
CLASS Award website.
Evans was a 2011 Academic
All-Big Ten selection and has
raised over $140,000 for breast
cancer research and awareness,
in addition to her consistent on-
field production.
The finalists will be narrowed
down to 10 later in the season.

Senior centerfielder Bree Evans was one of 30 athletes named to the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award qualifying list this week. She was a 2011 Academic All -ig Te npick.

corners. She's letting the defense
help her and she's doing her part
on the team."
Senior third-baseman Aman-
da Chidester, who was also
named to the All-Tournament
team,agreed with Evans.
"I can't wait to see her get bet-
ter and better every game," she
said. "You can tell she loves the
game, (and) I definitely think
(she can put us over the top) if

she continues to improve. She
can definitely have an impact on
our team."
Driesenga has already made
her mark on the team in her very
first week of varsity action and
has a promising career ahead of
her.
She and the rest of the squad
will be back in action this week-
end when they travel to Boca
Raton, Fla. to play in the Florida

Atlantic Kickoff Classic.
MORE FRESH MEAT: In addi-
tion to Driesenga, the Wolver-
ines have three other freshmen
on the squad, including another
freshman pitcher who has shown
similar potential to Driesenga.
Lefty Haylie Wagner also
saw action this past weekend,
relieving Driesenga in the match
against Louisiana Tech.
She also made her first start

against Penn State, recording
11 strikeouts in the five-inning
game.
Chidester sees the same
potential in Wagner that she
does in Driesenga.
"I think her and'*Sara will
work well with each other," she
said. "She's just got to keep com-
ing out (and) working hard."
The two other rookies are
catchers Lauren Sweet and

Wolverines look to
start strong in 2012

Rough start for 'M' in Puerto Rico

By LIZ NAGLE
Daily Sports Writer
Bo Schembechler's famous
words, "Those who stay will be
champions," linger. But Schem-
bechler never acknowledged
what happens next. It's those
who stay after they claim their
prize that remain champions.
Michigan coach Rich Maloney
and his current fifth-year seniors
were the Big Ten champions in
2008. But last season, they fin-
ished dead last, with a 17-37 over-
all record.
Still, they stayed, and they're
back this reason, ready to "Flip
It." Maloney introduced the team
motto at the Junge Family Cham-
pions Center during Wednesday's
Meet the Wolverines Night. It
came in the form of a coin, rep-
resenting the 180-degree turn-
around it hopes to achieve.
"From last to first," said senior
catcher Coley Crank. "We don't
really want to dwell on last year."
The Wolverines start out with
a blank slate. But their fresh start
began as soon as the last pitch
was thrown in last May. It signi-
fied the end of misfortune and
the beginning of rehabilitation.
Maloney and the team picked
themselves up, remaining confi-
dent in "the system."
The Wolverines made a few
minor changes to their program,
hut continued to follow Malo-
ney's mantra, "Keep it simple,
stupid."
During his years at Western
Michigan University, Maloney
found himself, so to speak, "In
Search of Excellence," both liter-
ally and in literature. Struggling
with the book's concepts, he took
away only one sentence and it
became his philosophy.
He took that phrase and dis-
sected it into two parts: funda-
mentals and greatness.
With the first, he recognizes
the importance of mastering the
basics.
"Make the routine play rou-
tinely," Maloney said, quoting
former Wolverine Barry Larkin.
He then elaborated on the sec-
ond half, describing greatness as
the "'Work hard and then some'
mentality."
So, to maintain simplicity,
Maloney prepared for a new year
and brought back a familiar face.
Pitching coach Steve Merriman
returned to Michigan's coaching
staff after spending much of his
career in the major leagues.
Merriman came to Michigan
for single-season appearances in

1995 and 2002. The Wolverines
hope that he's here to stay.
Sophomore outfielder Michael
O'Neill has a personal rela-
tionship with Merriman, who
scouted O'Neill when he was a
high-school player. O'Neill feels
that the coach's professional atti-
tude will onlybenefit the team.
O'Neill, along with junior out-
fielder Patrick Biondi and senior
right-hander Brandon Sinnery,
was recently named the Big Ten
Conference's Baseball Players
to Watch list. They earned their
spotsbecause of their strong indi-
vidual performances last season,
even though they were for a los-
ing team.
In his rookie year, O'Neill
recorded a .301 batting average
while starting all 54 games for
the Wolverines. More notably, he
also led the league with 30 sto-
len bases, which broke Biondi's
freshman record. Michigan had
the one-two punch in that catego-
ry, with Biondi trailing by three.
But Biondi is not concerned with
the numbers or ranks - he's just
anxious to get on base.
And he'll have his first oppor-
tunity to do so, at the Big Ten-
Big East Challenge against
Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and West
Virginia this weekend. All of
those teams rank significantly
higher than Michigan.
But the Wolverines will take
the chip on their shoulders south
to Florida with the confidence
and expectation to sweep.
"If you don't go in with that
expectation, you're probably
going to lose them all," Sinnery
said.
The right-handed pitcher post-
ed an ERA of 2.91 over 68 innings
last season. He took the mound
as the team's ace, after seniors
Kolby Wood and Travis Smith
were injured in the first week of
spring action. That leadership
translated into his recent election
as one of the four team captains.
"I serve as just another life-
line," Sinnery said. "But with that
honor comes a lot of responsibil-
ity."
Wood was renamed co-cap-
tain, though he and Smith are
still finishing their recover-
ies. Maloney said they're nearly
healthy and pitching in the low
90-mph range.
There are a lot of factors that
played a part in last season's trou-
bles. But Michigan is ready for
redemption.
"(We want) to prove people
wrong," said O'Neill. "(We want)
to show people it was a fluke."

Play
namen
the Mi
got off
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By ALEX LEVINE Bauer stood out for the second events1
Daily Sports Writer time this season, as she won the The Wol
Lady Northern Intercollegiate in twice an
ing in its first scored tour- October. Sophomore Yugene Lee last thre
t since early November, was the only other Wolverine while1
chigan women's golf team placing in the top 50. 13th ant
to a slow start in Puerto Stacy was pleased with Bau- events.
after finishing 12th out of er's three-day
ms in the three-day Lady total of 222
Rico Classic, which con- (73-73-76),
Tuesday, the Wolverines attributing "(Bauer) doe!
e looking to improve as Bauer's suc-
play continues. cess to how get into a k
rn asked what Michigan she is "always
Cheryl Stacy was asked so steady of trouble o
he thought of their perfor- (because) she
, she replied that she was doesn't get the tee."
ointed. into a lot of
hought we'd play better," trouble off the
aid. tee."
r 54 holes in the three- Starting off with back-to- between
urnament, the Wolverines back 73s in the first two rounds, have tor
got things rolling - they Bauer slipped on Tuesday with ly. But t
ied for 12th following day a four-over-par round. But that to spee
d 13th after day two. wasn't a surprise, as the team edly goi
positive was the play has struggled with three-day back to
ior Meagan Bauer, who tournaments. playing,
11th, the best individu- Comparatively, Michigan has coming,
formance for Michigan. faired much better at 54-hole trips tol

played over two days.
Iverines finished in third
td in second once in their
ee two-day tournaments,
they finished fourth,
d now 12th in three-day
Such incon-
sistency is cer-
tainly not ideal
sn't for the Wol-
verines, and
)t Stacy men-
tioned how
ff she hopes the
team can begin
playing better
in all events.
With
five days in
events, Michigan will
make adjustments quick-
the team is accustomed
dy turnarounds, repeat-
ng to tournaments then
school and then back to
again. There's no respite
either - between a few
Florida and a trip to Ari-

zona, they'll constantlybe on the
move until the Big Ten Champi-
onships in late April. Such travel
can have an impact on the stu-
dent-athletes' academic respon-
sibilities, which is something the
women's golf team handles well.
"(They're) pretty good about
studying when they have time,"
Stacy said.
While away from home, the
Wolverines do get a chance to
enjoy slightly better weather
than they'd experience in Ann
Arbor. But as enjoyable as their
downtime was, they hope disap-
pointment will not become the
standard reaction for Stacy.
With the Central District
Classic (Feb. 20-21) and the Hur-
ricane Invitational (March 5-6)
coming up, Michigan is looking
forward to another pair of strong
showings like they've had in
prior two-day events. The Wol-
verines are hoping that Puerto
Rico was just a bump in the road
now that the spring half of their
season is underway.

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