Monday May 9, 2005 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 11- Late comeback 1ifts 'M' to title------------ By Kevin Wright kDaily Sports Writer As the ball jumped off Northwestern's Garland Cooper's bat and slowly rolled to Michigan shortstop Jessica Merchant, the crowd at Alumni Field rose to its feet. Mer- chant smoothly fielded the ball, switched it to her throwing hand and snapped the ball Ito freshman Samantha Findlay to capture the final out in yesterday's Big Ten title- clinching win against Northwestern 8-7. Entering the weekend series against the Wildcats, the Wolverines (15-2 Big Ten, 52-4 overall) needed a sweep to win the regular-season Big Ten title. The No. 1 Michigan softball team came back to beat Northwestern yesterday after earn- ing a 3-0 shutout Saturday to become the Big Ten regular-season champions. "I really wanted to win," freshman Alessandra Giampaolo said. "I thought this team could win the championship, and we pulled it out. We all worked together, and the whole team did it." In the first inning, the Wildcats (15- 3, 37-14) scored off junior pitcher Jen- nie Ritter. After a passed ball advanced Northwestern's base runners to second land third, the Wildcats' Jamie Dotson hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Stephanie Churchill. Northwestern added another run in the second inning, but the Michigan bats came to life in third inning. Giampaolo hit a two-run homer to right centerfield, tying the game at two. The Wildcats responded in the bot- tom of the inning when Churchill singled and then Cooper doubled off the base of the wall in left centerfield. With run- ners on second and third, Dotson drove in Churchill with a single through the left side of the infield. Then Kristen Salamon skied a sacrifice fly into rightfield, scoring Cooper and regaining a two-run lead. After allowing four runs in three innings, Ritter was replaced by sopho- more Lorilyn Wilson in the fourth inning. Wilson gave the Wolverines a sorely needed spark, and she retired the next six Wildcats in a row. "Lorilyn came up with two huge shut- out innings," Merchant said. "North- western had scored in every inning until Lorilyn came in. She did great today." In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Wolverines scored six runs with two outs to pull ahead of Northwestern. After junior Grace Leutele ground- ed out, junior Stephanie Bercaw walked. Following junior Becky Marx's strikeout, sophomore Rebekah Milian started the Michigan rally with an infield single. With runners on first and second, junior Tiffany Haas stepped to the plate - already 0-3 on the day. Haas didn't Senior Jessica Merchant celebrates Michigan's 8-7 win over Northwestern yesterday, which clinched the regular-sea wait long to break out of her slump. She shot the first pitch that she saw to the base of the wall in left centerfield. The triple drove in Bercaw and Milian to tie the game at four. Michigan added four more runs before Leutele struck out. Although she was armed with an 8-4 lead, Wilson struggled in the bot- tom of the sixth inning. Northwestern narrowed the Wolverines' lead to one when Shelia McCorkle hit a three-run homer that reached the pine trees in left centerfield. Not waiting to see if Wilson could bounce back from the home run, Michi- gan coach Carol Hutchins reinserted Ritter to finish the game. In the finaltwoinnings, Ritterregained the dominating form that she has dis- played throughout the season. The junior didn't allow a hit while striking out three of the final six Wildcat batters. "Jennie was outstanding again," Hutchins said. "It's tough to come back into a game and pitch to the top of North- western's lineup in the seventh inning." Michigan won its 10th regular-sea- son Big Ten Championship in the past 14 years, but Hutchins believes this year's team will be able to carry its momentum into the postseason. "I couldn't be prouder of them," Hutchins said. "I just don't want them to relax on this. The seniors kept this team focused all year, and I don't believe the (Big Ten regular-season title) will phase them." The Wolverines will host the Big Ten Tournament starting on Thursday. 'Blue shines in lone home meet By Ian Robinson Daily Sports Writer There's no place like home. The men's track team's perfor- mance at last weekend's non-scoring Len Paddock Invitational embodied the spirit of this phrase. Michigan athletes won five events in the team's only opportunity to compete at Ferry Field this season. Junior Andrew Ellerton showed how he benefits from the home envi- ronment by winning the 800-meter run for the second year in a row with a time of 1:48.25. Ellerton set the Ferry Field record in the 800 during last year's Len Paddock with a time of 1:46.56. "It's always fun to have a home meet," Ellerton said. "It's nice to have more fans than just your teammates." After leading through one lap, jllerton dropped to third place as he headed down the home stretch. But then he kicked into a higher gear and passed Kent State's Mike Inge and the Irish Milers Club's Thomas Channey in the final 100 meters to earn the victory. "When he got passed, I thought, 'Well, he's just not feeling well. We've been training hard, and he must be feeling rough,' " Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "Then I look up, and here he comes again." Ellerton felt that his performance in the team's final regular season meet is a good sign of how he will run in the upcoming meets. "I think that race gave me a bet- ter indication of where I'm at rather than just basing it off workouts," Ellerton said. "I think I'll be right up there at the front at Big Tens and be set for the rest of regionals and nationals." Senior Rondell Ruff set a per- sonal record in the 800 by breaking 1:50 for the first time in his career, running 1:49.99. Senior Tom Greenless put to rest questions regarding his status with his win in the 3,000-meter run. His time of 8:25.75 came in the final home appearance of his career. Greenless had not yet competed during the outdoor season and, his performance in this event would determine whether or not he would run in next weekend's Big Ten Championships. "I just didn't want to open and close (the season) on the same day," Greenless said. "I'm glad the season will last a little longer." An Achilles injury had prevent- ed the senior from competing, but, after watching the race, Warhurst decided Greenless would be in Columbus. "I told him to pack his bags (for Columbus)," Warhurst said. One of the most dominating per- formances of the weekend came in the 400-meter hurdles on Friday evening. The Wolverines swept the top-five positions and posted two NCAA regional qualifying times. Freshman Chris Stowe won the event and set a new personal best with a time of 52.29 - five hun- dredths of a second faster than his previous best time. Both Stowe and senior Seth Waits earned their second NCAA regional qualifying times of the season. The Wolverines begin their post- season next weekend at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. Banking Wondering what youll doing after Graduation? We're currently looking for candidates that exemplify the best of the best to-join our RETAIL SALES MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM at various branch locations throughout Chicagoland. For more information about this exciting opportunity, please apply online INDICATING REQ# 04-0283, at: www.fbopcorporation-careers.com OE M/F/D/V Mermber FDIC