Monday May 16, 2005 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com able 1rhd igan uiI 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"