Monday
May 16, 2005
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SPORTS
11 '
Merebant and'M' deliver again
By Katie Niemeyer
Daily Sports Writer
With two on and one out in the bottom of the second inning
at Alumni Field on Saturday, Iowa brought in its No. 1 pitcher,
Lisa Birocci to replace Ali Arnold, who had started the game.
After walking Michigan centerfielder Alessandra Giampaolo,
Birocci loaded the bases for the tournament MVP, short-
stop Jessica Merchant. Merchant stepped up to the plate and
cranked a hit down the third-base line for a double, driving in
two runs and bolstering Michigan's lead to 4-0. Merchant's
first, of two RBI held up as the game-winning run in the Wol-
verines 7-2 victory over No. 22 Iowa (12-6 Big Ten, 48-12
overall) - one of just two Big Ten teams No. 1 Michigan (15-
2 Big Ten, 55-4 overall) lost to this season - in the Big Ten
Championship.
"Jess Merchant had a great week, a great day," Michigan
pitcher Jennie Ritter said. "She deserves (the) MVP, no doubt
about it."
Merchant went 8-for-12 in the tournament with seven RBI.
"(Merchant) was all about winning this weekend, and when
she has that mindset, she's a great player," Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins said. "Now that her focus is right where it
needs to be, she is playing the best ball of her career."
Merchant was happy about being named tournament MVP,
but to her, the most important part of the weekend was that
Michigan came away with three wins and the championship.
Just an hour before the final, the Wolverines beat Wiscon-
sin 10-1 in the semifinals. They got into a groove in the third
- batting through the lineup and scoring four runs - and
never looked back.
Michigan started the tournament against Michigan State on
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Thursday in a repeat of last year's first-round match-up, when
Senior Jessica Merchant is hoisted by her teammates after Saturday's championship. the Wolverines were eliminated in a disappointing 5-1 loss.
Blue finishes in siaxt ce at -
the NCAA championships
But Michigan wasn't going to let history repeat itself and took
control early, scoring four runs in the first two innings and .
beating Michigan State, 6-2.
"(The most important thing for us was) pitching and
defense," Merchant said. "You can't say enough about what
Ritter and Lorilyn (Wilson) did for us on the mound. If we
keep the runners off base, we're going to give ourselves a great
chance (to win)."
Ritter - who pitched the final game - handed out 22
strikeouts and just allowed 3 earned runs in 14 innings of work
during the tournament.
Wilson gave up one run and four hits while striking out
seven batter in five innings of work against Wisconsin. The
game was called on a mercy rule.
"We do what we can," Ritter said. "With a seven-run lead,
you're not going to lose it - and there's no doubt about it -
(you are just) able to relax and throw your pitches."
Michigan was able to put110 runs on the board in the final
game because it received hitting from the entire lineup.
"I was especially pleased with how Rebekah Milian
stepped up," Hutchins said. "She gave us a big boost from
the No. 9 spot in (the) order, and that is key to the success of
any lineup. It also helps when your No. 7 hitter can step up
and drive the ball out of the park. We have a good balanced
lineup right now."
At the No. 7 spot, rightfielder Stephanie Bercaw hita homer
in the second inning against Wisconsin and made the All-
Tournament team along with teammates Giampaolo, Ritter,
first baseman Samantha Findlay, catcher Becky Marx and
third baseman Grace Leutele.
The Wolverines' win in the Big Ten Tournament gives *
them an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the
overall No. 1 seed. They'll host No. 4 seed Canisius at 7
p.m. at Alumni Field.
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Editor
Loyola Marymount sophomore
Katie Hicks fired the ball toward
the left side of the net. As the yel-
low sphere hurled towards the goal,
it skipped along the water's surface,
spraying water in all directions.
Senior goalie Betsey Armstrong
seemed to be all over it, initially get-
ting her right arm on the ball. But as
Armstrong turned around to make
the save, the ball slowly crossed the
goal line. All she could do was pick
it out of the net and throw it to the
official.
Six goals in five and a half minutes
during the second period - that's
how the last game of the season went
for the Michigan water polo team.
The Wolverines dropped their
final game of the NCAA champion-
ships 10-5 to the Lions. The loss gave
Michigan a 1-2 record for the tourna-
ment and a sixth-place finish out of
eight teams.
"For the first nine minutes of the
game, we were controlling it," Michi-
gan coach Matt Anderson said. "Then
for a span of about four minutes, our
-irls did not g' back as w a. tih
sh ad'ii Oa ot ti' U i
The trouble started when Hicks
and Loyola Marymount freshman
Rosanna Tomiuk tied the game at two,
scoring the goals a mere 20 seconds
apart. Hicks then set up the go-ahead
goal, passing the ball to teammate
Sarah Hamilton, who quickly batted
it into the right side of the net for a
quick one-time goal.
"We dominated the first period and
maybe got a little bit ahead of our-
selves," Armstrong said. "(Loyola
Marymount) ended up coming back
with a fire in them that we couldn't
react to until the end of the fourth
quarter."
Michigan held a 1-0 lead after the
first period thanks to a goal from
senior Meg Knudtsen that came a
minute and a half into the game. The
Wolverines's second goal was a result
of great back-and-forth ball move-
ment in the Lions's zone.
Sophomore Shana Welch passed
swiftly into the middle to junior Kris-
tin Hoogenboom, who fired a shot
from near point-blank range into the
net, giving Michigan a 2-0 lead. The
Wolverines didn't score again until
the 5:17 mark of the third period.
a strong opening period in its first
game of the tournament against No.
3 Stanford.
Michigan trailed by two after the
first period and by three going into
the second half. But the Cardinal out-
scored the Wolverines 4-2 in the final
two periods for the 7-2 win.
"(Stanford) threw a lot of different
things at us,"junior Megan Hausmann
said. "And they did a great job."
Michigan's only win in the tour-
nament came on Saturday against
Redlands. The Wolverines started
the game slowly, building a slim one-
goal lead over the Bulldogs after the
first half. Michigan dominated the
second half en route to a 13-7 win.
"The difference was that we had
better players like Betsey (Arm-
strong) and Shana (Welch)," Ander-
son said. "Our athletic ability took
over in the second half."
Despite the sub .500 record in the
tournament, the players and coaches
were able to take with them an expe-
rience they will never forget.
"To come and have competitive
games against the teams here," Arm-
strong said. "And to win a gare. It
reat st' ' s wats-r
hscom o inth ias fo yar"