12 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 9, 2005
'M' Nine
unable
to stop
Purdue
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Writer
After Purdue third baseman John
Hunter lined out to sophomore Brad Rob-
lin to end the second game of yesterday's
doubleheader, the frustrations of the series'
first two games were finally lifted.
Overcoming the offensive woes from
those games, Michigan (9-11 Big Ten, 29-
14 overall) finally manufactured runs and
defeated Purdue 6-2.
The Wolverines now have sole posses-
sion of sixth place in the conference.
"We ran up a pretty good streak before
these past couple of games," senior A.J.
Scheidt said. "We knew we had it in us
- it just came down to making more
plays than they did. That's really what the
first two games came downto. We weren't
playing bad baseball - we just weren't
getting it done."
The Wolverines got off to ahot start by
scoring two runs in the first inning thanks
to freshman Derek VanBuskirk's single.
But Michigan couldn't blow the game
open and held a slim 3-2 lead going into
the sixth.
Scheidt led the inning off with a single,
and sophomore Leif Mahler moved him
over with a sacrifice bunt. After Roblin
popped out and sophomore Eric Rose was
N WOMEN'S GOLF
Broderick's solid
play is not enough
Senior Mike Penn gave up just two runs in seven inninngs in Sunday's loss to Purdue.
hit by a pitch, senior Matt Butler stepped
up to the plate. The Lombard, 111, native
smacked a three-run home run over the
right field fence and gave the Wolverines
the insurance they needed to finish off the
Boilermakers.
"We haven't been able to get the big
hit," Michigan coach Rich Maloney said.
"We've had runners on in a couple of the
games we've played, but we couldn't get
the big hit. We're starting to get a couple
of them now - VanBuskirk had a big hit,
and Matt Butler certainly did too."
The Wolverines had trouble cashing in
on opportunities in the first game of Sun-
day's doubleheader, a 2-1 loss to Purdue.
Michigan scored its lone run in the bot-
tom half of the inning but could have done
more damage.
Senior Jeff Kunkel led off the inning
with a double, and Scheidt followed with a
walk. Roblin tired to bunt the two runners
over but instead popped up to Boilermak-
er pitcher Mitch Pruemer, who made a
diving catch. During the next at-bat,
Kunkel was caught leaning at second and
was picked off for the second out. After
Mahler's walk, Pickens came through for
the Wolverines and hit a frozen rope into
right centerfield to score Scheidt from sec-
ond base. Sophomore Eric Rose ended the
inning with a pop out to right field.
The Wolverines also had runners on
first and second with one out in the fourth
and fifth innings, and the tying run on sec-
ond base with one out in the seventh but
couldn't break the game open.
"It's really important that the small
game is alive and well," Maloney said.
"Those little things in tight games will
haunt you. And they certainly did in that
game one."
Michigan's inability to drive in runs
with runners in scoring position was just
the continuation of a trend that started in
the series opener on Saturday night. Mich-
igan only managed to score just three runs
in the 7-3 loss to Purdue.
By Daniel Levy
Daily Sports Writer
Friday's nightmarish second round
proved to be too much for Michigan to
recover from at the NCAA Women's Golf
Central Regional in Lubbock, Texas. After
posting a score of 320 amidst gusting winds,
Michigan dropped to 15th place - nearly
20 strokes behind the first place team.
"I am disappointed with the way we
played (Friday)," Michigan coach Kathy
Teichert said. "The winds were up, and
we knew that was going to make scores go
up. But we did not get off to a good start,
and we did not finish well at all. All in all
it was a bad day for the Wolverines."
Michigan started the weekend well, shoot-
ing 301 in Thursday's opening round, which
put them II strokes out of first place. After
thier shaky performance on Friday, the Wol-
verines regrouped to shoot a solid 305 in
Saturday's final round to finish in 15th place.
Michigan missed qualifying for the NCAA
Championships by 1I shots, which were lost
in Friday's challenging conditions.
Wolverine sophomore Brianna Broderick
experienced bittersweet success of her own at
the regional tournament. Broderick fired a 74
in Thursday's opening round, putting her in a
tie for 27th place. Her consistent play in Fri-
day's windy conditions propelled her toward
the top of the leaderboard. Broderick shot a75
on the second day to move into a tie for sixth
place. Broderick followed heriimpressive sec-
ond round with another 75 on Saturday to fin-
ish the weekend in sixth place, giving her an
opportunity to qualify for an individual spot
at the NCAA Championships later that day.
Facing LSU's Brook Shelton in a play-
off hole, Broderick hooked her opening
shot into a bunker and had to scramble
to make bogey. Shelton took advantage
of her opportunity, hitting the green and
two-putting for the win.
"It was a great experience," Broderick
said. "I had a few mental mistakes thai
cost me. It just wasn't my time, so we'll
work on it next year."
Despite coming up short in her bid to
make the NCAA Championships, Broder-
ick recorded the highest individual finish of
any Wolverine in a postseason tournament.
"(Broderick) had a great regional,"
Teichert said. "She is going to be a playeA
to be reckoned with throughout her col-
legiate career."
Auburn ran away with the title on the
final day, beating Texas A&M by seven
strokes. Auburn's Diana Ramage finished
in first place, seven strokes ahead of Ari-
zona State's Louise Stahle.
This season marked the third time in
its history that Michigan qualified for
the NCAA Regionals. In 2001, the Wol-
verines finished in 12th place, while in
2002 they finished sixth and qualified for
the NCAA Championships, where they
finished 17th. Even though the Wolver-
ines didn't perform as well at this year's
regional, Teichert is very excited for the
future of women's golf at Michigan.
"This is still a young program, and it's
great to be in this position," Teichert said
"The more they are in it, the more comfort4
able you are going to be being out here in a
tournament like this. For us to be here isjust
another good sign for this program."
I