The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 7
* 'M' will rematch with Cornell at MSG
Teams finalizing
deal to play at
Madison Square
Garden on Nov. 24
By MATT SLOVIN
Daily Sports Editor
To conquer the CCHA in its
33rd and final season in the
league, the Michigan hockey
team will need to go through
defending conference cham-
pion Ferris
State - four NOTEBOOK
times. A CCHA
source confirmed Monday that
the Bulldogs will be a part of
the Wolverines' "pod," or group
of CCHA teams that play four
times instead of the usual two.
Ferris State is coming off
unprecedented runs to the
CCHA regular-season crown
and the national title game. Bos-
ton College finally put a stop to
the best season in Ferris State
history on Saturday night with a
4-1 win in the NCAA champion-
ship game.
Michigan managed a sweep
of the Bulldogs in the two teams'
lone series during the 201-12
season. The October meetings
saw the Wolverines dominate
Ferris State, posting a 9-2 vic-
tory in the aggregate.
The defending national
runner-up won't be the only
difficult foe in the pod, how-
ever. Joining Ferris State will be
Western Michigan, Notre Dame
and perennial pod mate Michi-
gan State.
All but the Fighting Irish
finished in the league's top-five
teams this season, though that's
hardly to say Notre Dame wasn't
formidable. Michigan split the
series in South Bend, before
needing a double-overtime
thriller to help sweep the Irish
in the CCHA quarterfinals at
Josh Furman
suspended amid
legal trouble
Michigan safety
will go on trial on
April 23 with three
charges against him
By STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Editor
Josh Furman has been sus-
pended from the Michigan foot-
ball program after the coaching
staff learned of a trio of charges
being brought against the red-
shirt sophomore safety.
According to court records,
Furman has been charged with
three offenses - domestic vio-
lence, assault, and breaking and
entering - that occurred in the
football program.
The court records show the
location of the offenses as 600 E.
Madison Street - better known
as South Quad.
As first reported by Sam Webb
of GoBlueWolverine.com and
later elaborated on by the Detroit
Free Press, Furman was in a
dorm room with two women and
received a threatening text from
another male.
"Mr. Furman got up and they
thought he was going to try to
find the man so the two females
jumped on him," Furman's attor-
ney, Gerry Mason, told the Free
Press. "The only person injured
was Mr. Furman, who had a
dreadlock pulled out ofhishead."
Furman has since shaved his
head. And Mason expects that a
thick head of
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Freshman forward Alex Guptill crowds a Cornell forward in Michigan's first-round loss to the Big Red last month.
Yost Ice Arena.
Western Michigan and Mich-
igan State joined Michigan and
Ferris State in this year's NCAA
Tournament field of 16. How-
ever, both the Broncos and Spar-
tans were pitted against No. 1
seeds and suffered first-round
exits, just like the Wolverines
did despite their top seeding.
During the 2011-12 season,
the Wolverines were a combined
9-3-1 against the three teams
they will play four times in
their CCHA swan song. Michi-
gan will depart for the Big Ten
Hockey Conference following
next season.
The entirety of Michigan's
schedule has not yet been
released.
BIG RED REMATCH: Just
over two weeks after Cornell
knocked Michigan out of the
NCAA Tournament, the Cornell
athletic department is just a few
formalities short of announcing
another meeting.
Instead of a sparsely popu-
lated Resch Center in Green
Bay, Wisc., where the Big Red
ended the Wolverines'season in
March, the game is slated to be
played at New York City's Madi-
son Square Garden.
Though Cornell has yet to
sign a finalized agreement with
the venue, sources tell the Daily
that the game will likely be
played on Nov. 24, the Saturday
following Thanksgiving. The
game will potentially conflict
with the Michigan-Ohio State
football game, scheduled for the
same day in Columbus.
NOTE: Bowling Green offi-
cially released its 2012-13 sched-
ule on Monday. According to
BowlingGreen Sentinel-Tribune
writer Kevin Gordon's Twitter
account, Michigan will play two
midweek games against the Fal-
cons. One of the midweek affairs
will take place on Nov. 21, with
the second meeting scheduled
for Jan. 8, 2013.
The two teams were origi-
nally slated to play a series on
Thanksgiving weekend, but a
change was needed to accom-
modate the Wolverines' date
with Cornell at Madison Square
Garden.
early morning
hours of Feb.
11. Furman is
scheduled to
appear before
District Judge
Elizabeth Pol-
lard Hines on
April 23.
"Josh was
suspended
indefinitely
from team
activities as soon
aware of the repo
gan coach Brat
statement. "The
allegations. We
judicial process t
before making a f
tion on his statu
gram."
No timetable h
Furman's returnt
hair will be the
only price his
"Furm an got up client will have
to pay.
and ... was going Mason told
the Free Press
to try and find that the whole
the man." situation had
been blown out
of proportion.
Hoke will
speak with
as we became reporters on Tuesday during a
irt," said Michi- conference call, where the mat-
dy Hoke in a ter will be approached for the
se are serious first time since defensive coor-
will allow the dinator Greg Mattison averted
o run its course the question last week in a press
inal determina- conference.
s with the pro- Furman appeared in 12 games
last season and tallied 10 total
ias been set for tackles, though most of his action
to the Michigan was on special teams.
Maloney left with tough
decisions in midweek tilts
SIDNEY KRANDALL/Daly
Sophomoreleft fielder Nicole Sappingfield has been an integral part of Michigan's offensive explosion lately.
Michigan eyes Broncos
By ALEXA DETTELBACH
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan softball coach Carol
Hutchins will have no choice but
to smile if her team can repeat its
success from this past weekend,
when its swept Ohio State.
The 20th-
ranked Wol-
verines took WMU at
all three con- Michigan
tests against
the Buckeyes Matchup:
in Columbus, Mich gan 27
riding offen-
sive explo- When: Tues-
sions from day 6 P.M.
junior second Where:
baseman Ash- Alumni Field
ley Lane and TV/Radio:
sophomore left MGoBlue.com
fielder Nicole
Sappingfield.
In addition, the team had a sea-
son-high 16 hits in the second
game of the series.
"They came to play all week-
end," Hutchins said on Sunday.
"That third game got a little ugly
- too many errors, too many lit-
tle gifts. I thought in general we
were competing, we were play-
ing to win."
Michigan (8-1 Big Ten, 27-10
overall) hopes to continue its
offensive success when it returns
home to play Western Michigan
(4-2 MAC, 17-12) on Tuesday.
"Our offense is our strength
right now," said junior shortstop
Amy K
lineup
can hit
can ge
going t
If th
thing,i
the Wo
to Conti
Mic
at hot
includi
with
games
have th
inn.
we.
"We
selves,
one in
keep m
With
Tuesda
tinue 1
Hutchi
"We
our pa
said. "
ue."
At t
Knapp. "Everyone in our son, the Wolverines looked
can get a hit. Everyone uncomfortable when they were
someone in and everyone at the plate, but the team's new-
t on base. This success is found confidence has guided
o continue." them to wins in 10 of their last
its season has shown any- 11 games.
it's that Knapp is right - Before playing its first home
olverines' success is going game on March 21, Michigan
inue. had a .249 batting average, but is
higan is undefeated now at .292.
me through five games, "(Recently), I think we've
lng four mercy-rule wins. been pretty comfortable,"
three of their next four Hutchins said.
at home, the Wolverines "It's a team effort, (so) it takes
he recipe for success. all of us to win. We're not a
superstar team, (but) when our
whole team comes and plays for
each other, we're a very solid
We play one team."
In addition to the offensive
ing at a time, power, the pitching from fresh-
man left-hander Haylie Wag-
keep moving ner and freshman right-hander
Sara Driesenga has helped pull
forward." Michigan out of their midsea-
son slump.
The Wolverines will need to
rely on their pitching to handle
can't get ahead of our- the Broncos' offensive stars,
" Hutchins said. "We play senior pitcher Meredith Whit-
.ning at a time, (and) we ney and senior outfielder Court-
oving forward." ney Rousseau.
h the Broncos next up on over the past week, Rousseau
ay, Michigan will con- has been hitting well, batting
the one-pitch focus that .471 over the last six games.
ns has stressed all year. With offense a strong area for
did our best when we had both teams, Michigan hopes to
atient hitting," Hutchins see Wagner and Driesenga stifle
Hopefully it will contin- Western Michigan's momen-
tum in the 2011 NCAA Regional
he beginning of the sea- rematch.
j
By LIZ NAGLE
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan baseball coach Rich
Maloney likes to take it one step
at a time.
On Sunday, after posting two
conference wins and a 13-inning
loss in a week-
end series BGSU at
against Michi-
gan State, Michigan
Maloney didn't Matchup:
have any ideas BGSU 11-20;
for what steps Michigan 15-17
came next. When: Tues-
Michigan day 6:05 P.M.
(2-3 Big Ten,
15-17 overall) Where: tay
will host Bowl- Fse tdu
ing Green (2-7 TV/Radio:
MAC, 11-20 MGoBlue.com
overall) today
and Toledo (4-5,13-18) tomorrow,
both of which look like plausible
wins for the Wolverines. But the
outcome will depend on two of
Maloney's decisions.
Decision 1: Starting pitcher
The day before every midweek
contest, Maloney asks himself
who will start on the mound, and
there's rarely a definitive answer.
Consideringthe pitchingstaff's
lack of reliability, Maloney has
little to choose from. While some
of the young hurlers have begun
to step up recently, others have
fallen short of expectations.
Though junior right-hander
BenBallantine andredshirtjunior
left-hander Bobby Brosnahan
started the season with promising
production, they have stumbled to
find their footing as of late.
On March 21, pitching coach
Steve Merriman praised Brosna-
han, Ballantine and senior right-
hander Brandon Sinnery, butwith
a caveat. His words were foretell-
ing.
"Nothing has been etched in
stone," Merriman said. "Those
guys are competing, they're all
competing for that opportunity.
And you know what? That could
change two weeks into the Big
Ten season."
Brosnahan's inconsistency per-
suaded Maloney to start fresh-
man left-hander Trent Szkutnik
and replace him with sophomore
right-hander Alex Lakatos - two
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Junior pitcher Ben Ballantine will start against Toledo on Wednesday.
youngpitcherswho have emerged
from the struggling bullpen -
against Michigan State on Sat-
urday. Earlier this season, they
seemed like probable candidates
for midweek starts. But their
combined 142 pitches render
them unavailable for the upcom-
ing contests. In Ballantine's last
two starts against Minnesota and
Michigan State, he gave up five
earned runs, eight hits and four
walks in just 3.2 innings of work.
After pulling Ballantine off
the mound, Maloney had to
rotate through four relievers,
including freshman right-hand-
er Matt Ogden, who threw for
five innings. Last weekend put
a noticeable dent in the list of
prospective midweek pitchers.
So Maloney will start freshman
right-hander James Bourque
today against Bowling Green and
give Ballantine another opportu-
nity to redeem himself in tomor-
row's start against Toledo.
Bourque earned a 7-3 win last
week against Central Michigan
with three strikeouts in three
innings, giving up only one
earned run. But Ballantine has to
show Maloney he deserves anoth-
er chance.
Decision 2: Batting order
It seems that Maloney has
finally found something that
works - freshman shortstop
Dylan Delaney in the two-hole.
Delaney was always placed
in the eighth or ninth spot of
the batting order. But last week-
end, Maloney bumped him up in
the lineup, and he notched five
hits, three RBIs and a home run
against the Spartans.
Though Michigan lost sopho-
more right fielder Michael O'Neill
to a left-hand injury, a number of
unlikely players stepped up at the
right time. Maloney had to use
freshman Zach Zott, who entered
the Michigan State series with a
.179 batting average, in right field
to compensate for the loss in the
lineup. He went 3-for-9 with two
runs and three RBIs.
It is unclear if Maloney will
continue experimenting with the
batting order. But before he posts
the starting lineup, he'll need to
take a few things into account.
Bowling Green has eight play-
ers batting above .300, led by
outfielder Andrew Kubuski's
.389 average on 44 hits. But since
the Falcon pitching staff posts a
mediocre 4.63 ERA, the matchup
is bound to be an offensive show.
Toledo has just one consistent
starter batting above .300 and
lingers at the bottom of the MAC
in all facets of the game. Though
the Rockets appear to be an easy
win for the Wolverines, it will all
depend on Maloney's decisions.
"We just haveto make sure we
play to the same level that we play
higher teams," Delaney said. "We
can't take them lightly."
I