a 16 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, May 2, 2006 'M' splits with Wildcats, remains in second place Ca By Scott Bell Daily Sports Editor Just hours after going from controlling its Big Ten destiny to having its title hopes become slim to none, the Michigan softball team faced a gutcheck. After coming close all day long, the Wolver- ines finally got over the hump, responding to the gutcheck and showing the fight that marked the team's OR EN 11 performance last season. M~u No. 12 Michigan (12-4 Big M2 Ten, 34-13 overall) kept its ____rwsrERN_ dwindling Big Ten title hopes alive after forcing a split with first-place Northwestern (14-3, 36-11). The Wol- verines' sixth-inning breakthrough in Sunday's second contest gave them the game's lone two runs in a 2-0 victory that snapped the Wildcats' 11-game winning streak. Just an inning after stranding runners on second and third, Michigan faced the same scenario in the sixth. The Wolverines wouldn't make the same mistake again. With senior Becky Marx on third and sopho- more Samantha Findlay on second following a double and a single, respectively, senior Grace Leutele stepped up to the plate. Despite going hitless in her first five plate appearances, Leutele remained confident, taking an Eileen Canney pitch and driving it in between third and short to plate Marx. Findlay soon followed Marx, scoring the next at-bat on a single by junior Tiffany Worthy. "You can't get down, you have to fight every pitch, and we did come back and fight that inning," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. The win salvaged what had become a som- ber afternoon for Michigan. With a sweep, the Wolverines would have retaken first place in the conference. But Northwestern wasn't ready to relinquish its spot atop the Big Ten, learning from last year's mistakes. This time, the 14th-ranked Wildcats' roar was heard early in the afternoon, as they scored two runs in the first inning of the opener. After watch- ing her three teammates load the bases in front of her, cleanup batter Jamie Dotson drove a fly ball that found the glove of Wolverine leftfielder Rebekah Milian. The junior threw home to try and double up tagging runner Katie Logan, but the ball caromed off Logan's leg at the plate and allowed Tammy Williams to also score all the way from second base. Those two runs proved to be enough, as Michigan was able to drive in just one of its seven baserunners for the game. Sophomore Alessandra Giampaolo scored following a Stephanie Bercaw bunt that was thrown away by Dotson in the second inning. For the day, Michigan left 12 runners on the basepads. It failed to get any RBI until the Leu- tele's single in the second game. "It's just how the year goes," Marx said. "Last year, everything fell in place for (us). This year, (we) have to fight for everything; nothing is fall- ing into place for (us). The bloopers aren't going in, the homers aren'tgoing over and plays like (the first inning play at the plate) happen. It's just a lot harder this season; things aren't on our side." The loss in the opener may have been charged to senior Jennie Ritter, but she followed a shaky first inning with 13 innings of near-perfection. The Dexter native allowed just one earned run and struck out 24 batters on the day, an afternoon in which she threw over 200 pitches. "Jennie Ritter gave us a chance to win both of those games, and we just didn't get it done," Hutchins said. Ritter's battery mate agreed. "She was determined," Marx said of Ritter. "She threw Friday and Saturday and then twice (on Sun- day). I mean, who can do that? You can't hang your head on that performance. Win or lose, you can't." Michigan still has a slight chance at its third-con- secutive Big Ten regular season title. The Wolver- 4 4 Senior Jennie Ritter bounced back from a tough loss to salvage a split with first-place Northwestern on Sunday. ines must sweep rival Michigan State next weekend and hope that Northwestern loses both games when it travels to take on Illinois. One Wildcat victory will give Northwestern the outright title. Michigan swept Illinois this weekend, topping the Illini 5-0 and 3-1 on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Ritter collected both wins, and her record now stands at 22-6. Ritter was one of the five seniors honored dur- ing the Senior-Day festivities in between the two games. She was honored along with teammates Stephanie Bercaw, Tiffany Haas, Leutele and Marx. Though the quintet will be forever remem- bered for their contributions to last season's nation- al championship run, Hutchins hopes their story at Michigan will be added with another strong finish this season. "They've had a fabulous career for us, fabu- lous," Hutchins said. "I just want them to go out with their best effort possible." . WATER POLO Hartwick proves to be too much for Michigan By Eileen Hengel The Hartwick team that threatened the Wolverines 11-8 on Sunday. 29-12 record. senior Megan Hausmann garnered first Daily Sports Writer to disband after Strub's sophomore The 12th-ranked Hawks defeated No. Tied after the first stanza, the Wolver- team All-Tournament honors. year rebounded just two years later 16 Michigan's water polo team to claim ines saw their defense fall apart in the last "We all knew that this was our last When senior Carly Strub transferred with a bevy of international talent to the Eastern Conference title. minute of the second quarteras Hartwick chance," Hausmann said. "It wasn't so from Hartwick College to Michigan compile one of the highest scoring To advance to the finals, the Wol- scored five goals to Michigan's two. much stepping up as it was a desire to not her junior year, she never imagined offenses in the nation and the highest verines downed Brown 6-5 and No. 20 "Everything was fine until a minute end the season." her final game as a Wolverine would in the Eastern Conference. Hartwick Princeton 8-5 on Saturday. left in the second," Michigan coach Matt Said Anderson, "I will tell you right be against her alma mater. also amassed enough talent to topple Michigan ended the season with a Anderson said. "For two plays, we didn't now that there was not a better player SUDOKU SN &%IN IL SHOfWDOVWNI first annual Sudoku tournament 7 s Come prove your Sudoku skills a 1 4 171 and win big prizes! 4 93 1 5 9 2 SAT, MAY 29 1 3 9 begins atl Pm 4 9 25 --- - Registration is free! email tbmarv@gmail com for more info stick to the gameplan and (Hartwick) pounced on us. If we'd gone into the half holding them five goals to three, we would have had a much better chance at winning the game" The defeat marks the last game of the season for the squad, as well as the end of a career for the four seniors. "I would have loved to spend two more weeks with these girls at NCAAs," senior Kristin Hoogenboom said. For Hoogenboom and her senior teammates, the game was the last they will play at the competitive level, and the emotion was evident. But the reali- ty of the situation didn't seem to affect their play. Hoogenboom led Michigan with seven goals on the weekend, including hat tricks in the games against Brown and Hartwick. Along with Hoogenboom, in this tournament then Megan Haus- mann." The Wolverines have experienced a very up-and-down season. After a strong start to the year, Michigan saw its offense fall apart with injuries and the overall stress of packing 42 games into justthree months. After the hand injury of sophomre goalkeeper Sally Stone, the Wolverines found themselves relying on the skill of the equally talented but less experienced sophomore Kristen Davis. Davis was an ample replacement, earn- ing first team All-Tournament honors. For Anderson, the loss marks an end of an era. The seniors graduating were the first class that he coached as a Wol- verine. But with the young core intact, Anderson noted that this was just the beginning for most.