The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thuraday, February 23, 2012 - 7A
Freshmen pitchers
dominate early on
Senior guard Zack Novak said John Shurna, Northwestern's all-time leading scorer, deserves an NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
Breaking down the Big Ten race
'M' registered four
shutouts in five
games in Florida
last weekend
By ALEXA DETTELBACH
Daily Sports Writer
It looked like it was going to
be a long weekend for the Mich-
igan women's softball team
when it was handed its first
loss of the season in a 7-3 game
against Maryland at the FAU
Kickoff Classic in Boca Raton,
Fla.
It didn't end the way it began.
The 11th-ranked Wolverines
(8-1) ended the tournament
with four straight shutouts,
including one over then-No. 22
Kentucky on Saturday.
After losing All-American
right-hander Jordan Taylor to
graduation last season, pitch-
ing was not supposed to be
a strength coming into the
season. But, led by the team's
freshmen pitching duo left-
hander Haylie Wagner and
right-hander Sara Driesenga,
Michigan's pitching could not
be stopped.
"The pitchers on this team
are' so different from each
other," Driesenga said. "They
lost Jordan lastyear - we aren't
Jordan, but together we are all a
little bit different and together
we can be effective."
Wagner led the way at the
FAU Kickoff Classic, going 2-0
on the weekend while pitching
14 scoreless innings. Against
LIU Brooklyn on Friday, she
notched her first shutout, allow-
ing just two hits while striking
out four. She followed up that
performance with an excellent
outing agains the more impres-
sive Wildcats.
On Monday, Wagner was
named Big Ten Pitcher and
Freshman of the Week.
"Our hope is (Wagner) keeps
getting better and keeps devel-
oping her pitches," said Michi-
gan coach Carol Hutchins.
"She's going to continue to get
opportunities to improve."
Wagner's award marked the
second consecutive week that a
member of the Wolverine pitch-
ing staff was honored by the
Big Ten. On Feb. 13, Driesenga
was awarded Co-Freshman of
the Week honors after her five-
inning no-hitter against then-
No.22 LSU.
Driesenga struggled. to pick
up where she left off from her
performance against the Tigers
and gave up 12 hits and seven
runs in a 7-3 loss to the Terra-
pins this past Friday. But she
found her groove on Saturday
against Florida Atlantic, giving
up just five hits and striking out
two without allowing a walk.
"(Wagner will)
continue to get
opportunities to
improve."
"In the first game, against
Maryland, I was just slow,"
Driesenga said. "I wasn't really
finishing up pitches as well as
I should have been and that's
what I fixed in the game on Sat-
urday."
Along with Driesenga and
Wagner, junior right-hander
Stephanie Speierman added to
the pitching staff's momentum
when she recorded her second-
career shutout in a 4-0 rout of
Wright State in the last game of
the tournament.
"We all have to step up," Dri-
esenga said. "We have to have a
one-pitch focus (because) every
pitch matters. If we make a mis-
take, it's going to come back and
bite us."
Who knows, maybe the Wol-
verines will earn their third
straight Big Ten pitching award
when the weekend's over.
By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
When Michigan State won a
share of the Big Ten football cham-
pionship two years ago, Michigan
fans were quick
to point out that NOTEBOOK
the Spartans
split the crown. Due to tiebreak-
ers, Michigan State was sent to
the Capitol One Bowl as the con-
ference's No. 3 team, behind Ohio
State and Wisconsin.
But in two weeks, Wolverine
fans may be on the other end of
the joke from Spartan fans thanks
to their school's basketball team.
Michigan currently sits in sec-
ond place in the Big Ten, tied with
the Buckeyes and a game behind
Michigan State.
Following the Wolverines' win
over Northwestern on Tuesday,
most analysts have tabbed Michi-
gan's remaining schedule the
easiest of the three frontrunners.
The team - which hosts Purdue
on Saturday, before road contests
at Illinois and Penn State - will
likely be favored in each of its final
games.
The Spartans and Buckeyes
will square off on March 4, mean-
ing one of them won't win out.
Michigan State will also be put to
the test on Feb. 28 at Indiana. Ohio
State still has tilts with the Bad-
gers and Wildcats before heading
to East Lansing.
In the event that the three
teams finish tied atop the stand-
ings, Michigan will automatically
lose the tiebreaker for the confer-
ence tournament's top seed to the
Spartans. Because the teams split
their two matchups, the next pro-
cedure states, "each tied team's
record shall be compared to the
team occupying the highest posi-
tion in the ... standings."
Wisconsin currently sits in
fourth place, and since the Spar-
tans swept the Badgers, they'd win
the tiebreaker. Even though Mich-
igan beat Wisconsin in the teams'
only matchup, Michigan State's
two wins would edge Michigan in
the follow-up tiebreaker.
If fifth-place Indiana finishes
the season ahead of the Badgers,
Michigan State will still win the
tiebreaker. Should the Spartans
beat the Hoosiers later this month,
they'll have swept Indiana, which
split its series with Michigan. If
Michigan State loses in Blooming-
ton, the next tiebreaker looks at
the comparison of the two teams
against the standings' next team,
Wisconsin, which the Spartans
hold the tiebreaker over.
For those reasons, if the Wol-
verines finish in a two-way tie
for first with Michigan State, the
Spartans would receive the No. 1
seed.
If a tie were to occur, Michi-
gan's best shot for the top seed
would be to finish tied with just
Ohio State. The Buckeyes also
split with Indiana, so the deciding
tiebreaker would come down to
the Ohio State's matchup with the
Badgers this Sunday.
If Ohio State wins, it would be
2-0 against Wisconsin - better
than Michigan's 1-0 record. If the
Badgers win, the Wolverines' per-
fect record would trump the split,
giving Michigan its first No.1seed
in program history.
Regardless of how things shake
out, the Wolverines are on pace
to at least match their highest
seeding ever, No. 3, which came
in 2003. And barring a complete
collapse, combined with vari-
ous other scenarios taking place,
Michigan will receive its second-
consecutive first-round bye.
BALL IN BURKE'S HAND: In
one of the most crucial moments
from Michigan's win on Tues-
day in Evanston, the final play of
regulation, freshman point guard
Trey Burke missed a would-be
game winner. It was one of the
only times all night when he made
a mistake.
That's because, as he's done all
season, Burke played with poise
and control - limiting his turn-
overs to just two.
The Wildcats and their com-
plex 1-3-1 defense have a propensi-
ty for forcing turnovers, especially
in recent home games. In its pre-
vious two games in Welsh-Ryan
Arena, Northwestern has forced,
on average, a staggering 18 turn-
overs. Though the rare defensive
formation doesn't stifle Michi-
gan like some others teams - the
Wolverines also employ the 1-3-1
- a freshman playing 45 minutes
in intimidating road conditions
would be expected to have more
than two turnovers.
But he didn't, and Michigan
turned the ball over just seven
times all game.
"A very good Minnesota team
came in and had 21 turnovers the
other day, and it was really the
key to that game," said Michigan
coach John Beilein, referencing
the Wildcats win over the Golden
Gophers. "You cannot turn the
ball over against this team, and
they're good at doing that against
some teams, so I liked our poise -
and Trey's obviously got the ball
most of the time.
"The seven turnovers is huge -
that we only had that many."
But even the stoic Burke came
up rattled on that final possession
of regulation.
With Michigan inbounding
with only a few seconds left in
regulation, Beilein said Burke
made the wrong read, forcing him
to heave up a long, desperation
3-point attempt at the buzzer.
"We wanted him to turn the
corner and make something hap-
pen," Beilein said. "He stopped.
He should've just continued to go
on to the other side, or throw back
to Zack when they double-teamed
him, and he missed both of them."
But Burke didn't dwell on the
error for long. The Columbus
native re-established himself
quickly, draining a three in the
opening minute of overtime. The
Wolverines never looked back.
NOVAK EMPATHIZES WITH
NORTHWESTERN: Even in the
thrill of victory, senior guard Zack
Novak expressed sympathy for the
Wildcats and their star forward
John Shurna.
"I was talking to John after-
wards and I just told him, 'We've
been in this spot before,' where
we had our backs against the wall
where they're at and strung off
a couple at the end and got in,"
Novak said. "That kid, he deserves
toplayinthe NCAA Tournament."
Northwestern has never made
an NCAA Tournament, and with
Shurna - the Wildcats' all-time
leading scorer - due to graduate,
this season may be the program's
best opportunity in the coming
years.
"Being a senior, playing against
him for four years, he does it the
right way - really nice kid,"
Novak said. "Personally, for them,
I hope they can go out and win the
next three and get in the tourna-
ment. I think they deserve that."
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Wolverines return to Florida for
third warm-weather tournament
Michigan faces
four teams it
shut out in last
matchup together
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
For the second consecutive
weekend, the Michigan softball
team will travel to Florida to play
five games.
After suffering its first loss
of the season against Maryland
last Friday, the 12th-ranked
Wolverines (8-1) reeled off four
consecutive shutout victories,
besting LIU Brooklyn, then-No.
22 Kentucky, Florida Atlantic
and Wright State on the backs of
a young pitching corps.
"The pitchers have a part,
their job is to contain the oppo-
nent's offense," said Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins.
The last time Michigan
recorded four consecutive shut-
outs was in 2008.
Competing it
straight NFCA L
the Wolverines b
sive 53-17 recor
the tournament
Clearwater, Fla.
usual location in
In addition tc
their opponent i
games, the
Wolverines
recorded shut-
outs in their
most recent
matchups
with each of
this weekend's
opponents:
Illinois State,
Massachu-
setts, Hofstra,
No. 17 Louisiana
Mississippi State.
Pitching has 1
Michigan's succ
son, with freshn
er Haylie Wag
right-hander Sa
and junior right-I
n their 16th
eadoff Classic,
oast an impres-
rd. This year,
will be held in
instead of its
Columbus, Ga.
o shutting out
n four straight
nie Speierman - it has kept the
team in several games while the
offense has been establishing
itself.
In their last four wins, the
Wolverines have averaged
slightly more than three runs per
game. A major reason for this has
been the lack of extra-base hits.
After hitting six home runs
and eight dou-
bles in its first
uff e~rv~ne four games,
everyone Michigan hit
does their part, just two extra-
base hits in last
we have a great week's five-
game tourna-
chance to win."
But
Hutchins sees
this issue as
-Lafayette and more than just a lack of extra-
base hits.
been a key to "More than anything,
ess this sea- I felt we didn't have qual-
man left-hand- ity at bats," Hutchins said.
ner, freshman "I feel like we got out of our pro-
ira Driesenga cess. If we get back into our pro-
hander Stepha- cess and quit trying to hit and
follow the process of hitting, I
think things will go a little bet-
ter for us. We have the ability to
hit for power."
The game that will draw the
most attention this weekend will
be the Wolverines' matchup with
No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette on
Saturday.
The Ragin' Cajuns are 7-0 and
are the highest-ranked team the
Wolverines will have played so
far this season.
Though Michigan is in its
35th season and has an all-time
record of 1,380-514-4 against 183
different opponents, Louisiana-
Lafayette is one of the 19 schools
that hold a winning record
against the Wolverines.
While the Ragin' Cajuns's
5-4 record against Michigan is a
noteworthy and remarkable fact,
Hutchins has other things on her
mind.
"We just want everybody to
do their part," Hutchins said.
"If everyone does their part,
we have a great chance to win
games."