i:. The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, February 22, 2013 - 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, February 22, 2013 - 7 S Illinois' Paul wants to put a ring on it PAUL SHEMA/Daily Sophomore forward Alex Guptill said the road series against Ohio State is a chance to "turn a page" in a season gone awry. Out of -opions, Berenson to dress Dwyer vs.OSU A final chance to capture some momentum on the road in Columbus By LIZ VUKELICH Daily Sports Editor There's bad news and good news for the Michigan hockey team in its upcoming series against Ohio State this weekend. The bad news is that the Wol- verines have to travel to Colum- bus, a daunting task considering that they've yet to put together Michigan at a good road Ohio $tate series. Michi- gan coach Red Matchup: Berenson has Mich.10-18-2; continually OSU 13-12-7 lamented the When: Friday fact that he 6:35 P.M., Sat- hasn't had a urday 7:05 P.M. team with such Where: Value a poor road City Arena record in years TV/Radio: - the Wolver- Big Ten Network ines are cur- rently 1-8-2 on the road this season. So what's the good news? At least the hostile environment will be a learning opportuni- ty, effectively Michigan's last chance to get some experience on the road under its belt before the inevitability of traveling for the CCHA Tournament in two weeks time. The Wolverines (7-15-2 CCHA, 10-18-2 overall) see the upcom- ing series as the perfect way to gain some last-minute momen- tum heading into the final four games of its regular season. "(The season's) been tough," said sophomore forward Alex Guptill. "It's going to be nice to turn a page ... kind of like a fresh start for us. I think it'll give us a little bit of energy." Michigan spent its recent bye week addressing a laundry list of problems that have plagued it all season. But its biggest concern as it approaches its matchup with the Buckeyes is its pitiful goals- against average - around 4.19 per game - which is good for last in the league. This is in stark contract to Ohio State (12-7-5, 13-12-7), which boasts one of the CCHA's best. "Offensively, we've gotenough confidence," Berenson said. "If we get the right situation, we can find a way to score a couple of goals. It doesn't do you any good if you're givingup four or five." It's no secret that part of the reason for the Wolverines' piti- ful goals-against average is that they have yet to find a consistent presence in net. Since none of the three usual starters - freshmen Steve Racine and Jared Rutledge and junior Adam Janecyk - have done much good in the crease, Berenson will be bringing along never-used redshirt sophomore Luke Dwyer for the trip this weekend. Berenson has held the name of the starting goalie close to his chest all week, and there's no indication that Dwyer will even see ice time in Columbus. But as the Wolverines' only unknown variable, Berenson felt Dwyer warranted an opportunity to travel this weekend. "We're taking him for a rea- son," Berenson said. "He's fine, not out of place. We didn't pay much attention to him early in the year (but) he's not just prac- ticing now, he's practicing to have a chance to start or play." Though every weekend the players and coaches say the upcoming series is a chance to redeem their previous missteps, the Wolverines looked truly refreshed coming out of this bye week, even taking time to laugh and joke around during practice. "There's a lot of good spirit in that locker room," Berenson said. "Our season's not over and we can be a better team. I think there's a little more confidence ... that we haven't seen enough of." By COLLEEN THOMAS Daily Sports Editor Under first-year head coach John Groce, Illinois got off to its best start in over 100 years when it went 12-0 in non-conference play. The Fighting Illini rose to No. 10 in the polls and were con- sidered to be a legitimate con- tender in the Big Ten. Now that . conference BEliN E play is wrap- ping up, though, it's a bit of a dif- ferent story. Illinois is currently 6-7 in league play with losses to Purdue and Northwest- ern, but has had signature wins over Indiana and Minnesota on the road. Senior guard Brandon Paul leads the team as part of the Illi- ni's duo of explosive guards. Paul averages 16.4 points per game - fourth best in the conference - and scored 43 points against Ohio State at home last season. The Daily got a chance to chat with Paul in October at Big Ten Media Day. The Michigan Daily: Do you feel re-energized by this season? Last season didn't end well, but there's a new coach, a new sys- tem - is there a new outlook with that as well? Brandon Paul: Yeah, I think we have a sense of a clean slate, everyone starting new. We have a new coaching staff, they're looking to do good things this year. We aren't looking to rebuild - we're looking to surprise peo- ple in the Big Ten this year. TMD: You and fellow senior D.J. Richardson are experienced guys, you have some guys left over from former coach's tenure. Do you think your experience will help the players transition under a newhead coach? BP: Sam McLaurin is a five- year guy, a transfer that came in for us, he's going to help us out. Me, D.J. and Tyler (Griffey) are seniors and our sophomores are all returning at a high level. Aside from that, we lost Mey- ers (Leonard) to the draft, but we pretty much have everyone returning. TMD: And as you two are the experienced players ofthe group, you and D.J. will be looked at as the leaders of the young team. How have you started leading the team? BP: I think since our freshman year, me and D.J. have took that role upon ourselves (and) we just stuck together. He's a great kid - he looks to help everybody on the team, and it's kind of rubbed off on me. I usually like to lead by example, but I've become more vocal over the past year. I think a lot of the guys look up to us. TMD: What is one main emphasis (John Groce has) given you so far this season? BP: Hestoppedusonepractice and told us to think back when. we were in high school - 'Oh yeah, you thought you were play- ing hard then, but think about when you got here as a freshman, you played so much harder.' He lets us know that every day we can play a little bit harder than the day we did before, and I take that into consideration every day at practice. TMD: You dropped 43 points against Ohio State last year, but do you think anybody in this league could do that again this year, considering the depth of the Big Ten? BP: I'm not even worried about that, I'm more focused about getting wins. I think obvi- ously it can be done, since I did it once before, but I'm not going to into any games looking to score 43 or 44 points. I let the games come to me, and if it does, I'll come through in the end. TMD: Though you and D.J. have been the leading scorers on the team, do you see more of a team focus coming into Big Ten season, like all five players on the floor having to step up to beat the better teams, like Indiana or Michigan? BP: All these teams are so good,they'regettingbetter every year. As ateam, if we're going to lose to somebody, they have to beat us, we can't beat ourselves. That's one of Coach Groce's phi- losophies as well, 'Don't beat ourselves, make a team play harder than us.' That's going to be hard to do, sometimes. TMD: Groce has some experi- ence in beating good teams dur- ing his tenure at Ohio, the most recent being a win over Michi- gan in the NCAA Tournament. Do you think that experience and the momentum will help your team this season? BP: Obviously he's had an impressive career. He took his team (to the NCAA Tournament) the past couple years, so it can be done. At the end of the season, I don't want to be worrying about if we're going to get in or not. I want to be in the tournament and competing for a title. First thing's first, I want to get a Big Ten ring - that's one thing I'm focused on and is my attention on this year. ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily Illinois guard Brandon Paul is fourth in the Big Ten in points per game with 16.4. 'M' to meet the Mets again after series with Fordham For third time in three weeks, Wolverines back to Florida After three walk-off losses, Wolverines look to regroup before exhibition By ALEX TAYLOR Daily Sports Writer Playing outside for one of the first times of the year, in a dif- ferent time zone, with a new coaching staff, the Michigan baseball team didn't start the season as they hoped. Despite all these facts, Michigan coach Erik Bakich refused to claim moral victories. Over the past weekend, Mich- igan (0-3) lost all three games of its weekend series against Cali- fornia (3-0) in walk-off fashion. Two of these losses occurred in extra innings with the other coming in the bottom of the ninth. Though there were no moral victories, the Wolverines had several positives to take away from their opening series. "For us to come out of the chute with three one-run games and two extra-inning games, that's only going to help us moving forward," Bakich said. "Although we didn't come up on top, we got to experience the atmosphere when the game is on the line, when every pitch, every swing, every play counts." Michigan committed lust two errors in three games and got quality starts out of its two pitchers, sophomore James Bourque and freshman Evan Hill. Offensivelyjunior outfield- er Michael O'Neill led the Wol- verines and started the season hitting at a torrid pace, going 6-of-13 with three doubles. Another force at the plate was Michigan vs. senior out- Fordham fielder Patrick Matchup: Biondi, who Fordham 0-0; picked up right Michigan 0-3 where he left off last year, 2hP.M.,riau going 4-for-9 day 11 a m. with two dou- Wh Tradi bles with three tWhere: rt bals wih the lion Field, Port walks in the St. Lucie, Fla. series. "I thought Live Slats: we did a lot of M otlue.com the little things that are going Michigan vs. to help us in New York the long run Mets(ex) pretty well," Biondi said. Matchup: "It's just a mat- Michigan 0-3; ter of driving Mets 0-0 in more runs When: Satur- and making day 4 P.M. the most of the Where: Tradi- opportunities tion Field we have." Live Stats: Though the MGoBlue.com Wolverines can point to several bright spots in their opening series, they didn't achieve their ultimate goal of winning the weekend. Luckily for Michigan, though, it will get another opportunity to garner its first victory as it travels to Florida this week- end. The Wolverines will play a three-game series against Fordham on Friday and Satur- day before playing an exhibition against the New York Mets on Sunday. "It's always fun when we can play the Mets," Biondi said. "We appreciate the opportunity and are looking forward to a good weekend of baseball." The slow start to their season has not dampened expectations for the Wolverines this upcom- ing weekend. "I expect we play better than last weekend," Bakich said. "I expect that our program and team is going to be bet- ter. We expect to win, just like we expected to win on opening weekend." Michigan will continue to field a very young roster with six underclassmen in the start- ing lineup, a fact not lost on the coaching staff. "We are going to continue to get better," Bakich said. "We have some inexperience out there and the more our team plays, the better we'll get." For Bakich and the rest of the Wolverines, though, the empha- sis for this upcoming weekend will be getting victories - the real kind, not the moral ones. ByALEJANDRO ZUNIGA DailySports Writer In the midst of an exhausting stretch that features multiple doubleheaders and thousands of travel miles every weekend, the Michigan softball teamwill head back down to Florida to play five games in three days at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The 15th- ranked Wol- NFCA Leadoff verines (6-2) will face Classic their stiff- Matchup: est test of LA-Lafayette 7-1; the week- Illinois State 5-5; end when UC Davis 5-5; Holstra 2-3; they open DePaul 4-6; the tourna- Michigan 6-2 ment against No. 12 When: Friday 1 P.M., 3:30 P.M.; Louisiana- Saturday 1 P.M., Lafayette 6 P.M., Sunday (8-1). Led by 12:30 P.M. pitcher Jor- Where: Eddie C. dan Wallace, Moore Complex, the Ragin' Clearwater, Fla. Cajuns have Live Stats: won seven MGoBlue.com consecutive games since droppinga close contest to Iowa. Wallace has thrown five com- plete games of the six contests that she's started, and the fresh- man has allowed a total of just three earned runs this season. Michigan will likely counter in the circle with sophomore pitcher Sara Driesenga, who has performed admirably while fill- ing in for sophomore ace Haylie Wagner. The right-handed pitch- er has already won seven games in the young season and is con- tributing from the plate as well with a .412 batting average. After winning Big Ten Pitch- er of the Year in 2012, Wagner hasn't appeared in a game this season for undisclosed rea- sons, and Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said that "we don't really like to talk about injuries." Hutchins doesn't expect Wagner to play this weekend. With doubleheaders on con- secutive days in the Clearwater, Fla. heat, the Wolverines' relief pitchers will be called upon more often this weekend. Both freshman Alice Fitzpatrick and senior Stephanie Speierman have pitched sparingly this sea- son, due in part to Driesenga's success. "We're going to worry about the first game," Hutchins said. "Obviously, if we can get our other pitchers in, I think both (Speierman) and Alice need to be ready to help us win." After the opening game Fri- day against Louisiana-Lafayette, Michigan will have just a few minutes to regroup before it faces Illinois State (5-5). Though the Redbirds' pitchinghas strug- gled this season, their offensive firepower will test the Wolver- ines. In its five victories this sea- son, Illinois State has scored 37 runs, led by catcher Elizabeth Kay's .387 batting average and three home runs. Saturday afternoon, the Wol- verines will play UC Davis (5-5) and Hofstra (2-3) before clos- ing out the tournament Sunday against DePaul (4-6). After start- ing the season with four wins in five contests, the Blue Demons have dropped five consecutive games. Tournaments like the NFCA Leadoff Classic put an extra burden on coaches, as they are tasked with preparing for five different opponents instead of a series against the same team. But Hutchins said that she's gotten used to the challenge. "The five games is part of the journey," she said. "We practice good habit. We're just trying to get better every day." The short practice weeks have made it difficult for Michigan to find a suitable replacement for recently graduated first baseman and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year Amanda Chidester. Last weekend, the Wolverines combined for six errors at the position, contributing heavily to the team's loss to then-winless LIU Brooklyn. Junior Caitlin Blanchard - a catcher - made her first career start at first base during the FAU Classic, and performed well enough to earn additional practice time at the position this week. "I put (Blanchard) over (at first) the last couple of days to give her some practice reps," Hutchins said. "The competition is on. We're trying to find who is going to play first base for us. The spot is still open."