Monday
May 10, 2004
sports.michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily.com
SPORTS
11'
'M' gets
revenge
on 'Noles
By Sam Olson
For the Daily
With the Big Ten Tournament on
the horizon, the Michigan softball
team prepared itself about as well as
any team can: by facing national
power Florida State.
The No. 7 Michigan softball team
wrapped up the regular season with a
sweep of the No. 2 Seminoles Satur-
day before 1,311McIA
fans at Alumni
Field. With the F '
wins, the Wolver-
toes are playing A
confidently head-
ing into the post-season.
Michigan took game two in a low-
scoring affair. Junior pitcher Nicole
Motykca dominated the Seminoles,
tossing a three-hit shutout.
Sophomore Stephanie Bercaw
scored the game's lone run on a sin-
gle by Angie Churchill in the bot-
tom of the second inning.
Florida State pitcher Jess van der
Linden provided offense and
defense for Florida State. Van der
Linden had two of the Seminoles'
three hits and gave up just four hits
to the Wolverines despite the loss.
"We had a much better approach
in the second game," Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins said. "All we
want our kids to do is have a good
approach in every game."
Saturday's first game featured
late-inning drama as the Wolverines
scored two runs in the bottom of the
seventh to beat the visiting Semi-
noles 2-1. Florida State committed
two costly errors in the inning, and
Seminole pitcher Casey Hunter
walked-in Michigan third baseman
M" NOTE
Olin ends season
with 17th-place finish
Junior Laura Olin ended her sea-
son with a 17th-place finish at the
NCAA Central Region Tournament.
Competing individually, Olin fired
rounds of 75 and 76 to put her in a
tie for 10th-place after the first two
rounds. Olin was in contention for
one of two spots for individuals to
advance to the NCAA Champi-
onship, but a third round 78 left her
on the outside looking in.
Olin capped off a successful jun-
ior season in which she captured two
individual titles and led the Wolver-
ines to two team titles.
Golfers card season-
low round to end year
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan men's golf team
saved its very best for last.
On the final day of the Big Ten
Tournament - Michigan's last round
of the spring season - the Wolver-
ines combined for a season-best two
under-par score of 282 to finish tied
for seventh-place overall. Michigan
eclipsed its lowest score for one round
on the season, a 290 at the Hoosier
Invitational in September.
"Shooting two-under is the best
we've played since I've been here,"
Michigan coach Andrew Sapp said.
"It's a great way to finish off the
tournament."
The Wolverines opened the tourna-
ment with rounds of 297 and 292,
placing them in tenth place entering
yesterday's final round.
"(Saturday) was a little disappointing
for us," Michigan sophomore Christian
Vozza said. "We came back real strong
(yesterday). Shooting two-under as a
team-that's our lowest score ever."
Michigan freshman Kevin Dore led
See BIG TENS, Page 12
a<. ">_
Michigan junior Jessica Merchant celebrates a double-header sweep of Florida
State on Saturday as the Wolverines avenged an early season loss to the Seminoles.
Grace Leutele with the bases loaded
to give the Wolverines the victory.
Sophomore pitcher Jennie Ritter
pitched seven efficient innings and
recorded the win.
"Obviously, we took advantage of
some opportunities," Hutchins said.
"We made things happen for us."
By defeating Florida State, the
Wolverines avenged an early season
1-0 loss to the Seminoles and
gained valuable experience for the
upcoming Big Ten tournament in the
process. Captain Meghan Doe
believed beating a top-ranked team
a week before the Big Ten tourna-
ment was an immeasurable confi-
dence builder.
"The only thing that can prepare
you for playing a good team is
playing another one," the senior
center fielder said. "It was huge,
and the fact that we were able to
figure out how to win was even
more important."
Hutchins also found the match-up
to be valuable in preparation for the
upcoming week.
"It's as good competition as you
could possibly get," Hutchins said.
"We were very fortunate that we got
(Florida State) to come up (to Ann
Arbor) tonight. It was a great soft-
ball atmosphere with two great soft-
ball teams."
Michigan, the Big Ten regular-sea-
son champs, will host the confer-
ence's tournament beginning
Thursday. Though the weekend vic-
tories provided a worthwhile tune-
up, the team still knows it must come
ready to play this upcoming week.
"We need to play our game, and
focus on us and be fearless,"
Hutchins said. "We just need to
play."
FOREST CASEY/
Senior Scott Carlton takes one of his final swings as a Wolverine on the 18th hole.
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