Tuesday, May 29, 2007 | The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com sports@michigandailycom 734-764-8585 'M'-Nine backs into NCAA Tournament By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK Daily Sports Writer It was the sixth inning of the Michigan baseball team's must-win second game in PENN STATE 6 the Big MICHIGAN 5 Ten Tour- OHIOSTATE 4 nament, MICHIGAN 2 the Wol- verines less than 15 hours removed from a 4-2 first-game loss Thursday to sixth-seed Ohio State. With a man on second, Penn State's Gar- rett Field hit the ball to the right- field corner. Field headed toward second base but stumbled, his hel- met flying off as he hit the ground. He rolled twice on the dirt before getting up and continuing to run. But Michigan junior rightfielder DougPickens was still chasing after the ball. Field rounded second and r easily beat the throw to third - on a play where he tripped and fell. The Nittany Lions (30-25) couldn'tbe stopped, even whenthey were lying on the ground. With a 6- 5, ten-inning loss, the top-seeded Wolverines (39-16) went two-and- out in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 1996. "We all feel like a dagger just hit us," said Michigan coach Rich Maloney, struggling for words after the Wolverines' elimination. "We're ' very disheartened. We didn't get it done, and we're dis- appointed because we had many opportunities in two days but we just weren't able to get over the top. ... We just couldn't really get any momentum going." Michigan struggled to create momentum and earn victories for the past two weeks, losing six of its last nine games. But the Wolver- ines' recent slide, including the dis- appointment of this weekend's two losses, didn't endanger their cam- paign for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. On Monday, Michigan received its third-straight ticket to The Michigan baseball team enters the NCAA Tournament after going two-and-out in this weekend's BigTen Tournament. the NCAA Tournament and will derbilt (51-11) and fourth-seeded a bid. "When you win the Big Ten play in a regional in Nashville, Austin Peay (39-20). (regular-season title), you ought to Tenn. The Wolverines are seeded "We have a team that, statisti- be in. That's what you get for win- second in the four-team regional cally, warrants being in (the NCAA ning a big conference." and will play Memphis (36-25) on Tournament)," said Maloney when Michigan never led in a game this June 1. The other two teams in the asked after the Big Ten Tourna- weekend.TheWolverines'strongest regional are top-overall seed Van- ment about Michigan's chances for See BASEBALL, Page 15 Wolverines' season ends at Super Regional once again By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Daily Sports Writer WACO, Texas - It was some- thingnobody saw happening, quick and nearly invisible. BAYLOR 4 Yet, it MICHIGAN 0 was the BAYLOR 0 most cru- MICHIGAN 3 cialpartof MICHIGAN 0 Saturday's BAYLOR 9 sold-out softball doubleheader. Michigan and Baylor weren't on the field for the Waco Super Regional. The fans weren't in the stands watching the game and enjoying the luxurious confines of Getterman Stadium. What was it? The 30-minute layover between games. After losing the opener of the Super Regional (a best-of-three series) 9-0 to Baylor, the Wolver- ines bounced back in Saturday's rain-delayed opening game. Fresh- man Nikki Nemitz started her first NCAA Tournament game and gave up just two hits. Nemitz got the nod in favor of senior Lorilyn Wilson, who was shelled early and often Friday night. But the break after Michigan's series-tying 3-0 victory separated two games that felt as similar as a Michigan winter and the smolder- ing heat in Texas. "(Nemitz) came out and she was on fire (in the first game)," Baylor coach Glen Moore said. "(But) for- tunately I think she had thrown enough pitches to where that break stiffened her arm enough to where her speed came down a little bit because (her pitches) didn't seem to be as crisp." The Lady Bears came out com- pletely refocused after the layover. In its first two at bats, Baylor was all over Nemitz (who also started the second game). The Lady Bears matched their game-one hit total and put two runs on the board. Wilson replaced Nemitz after the leadoff hitter sent a deep shot over the left-field wall in the second inning. Any momentum Michigan gained from responding to its first run-rule defeat in more than four years instantly disappeared once the Wolverines went down 4-0, which proved to be the final score, after the first two innings. "They'd seen Nikki a lot, and Nikki doesn't have a lot of tools yet, doesn't have a lot of pitches," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "We were certainly con- cerned that that could happen. It happened right off the bat, unfor- tunately for us." The Wolverines' pitching put them in early holes in the first and final games of the series - their offense showed up for just the middle game. Michigan produced three runs and eight hits as a rare diamond in the rough 16 scoreless innings on the weekend. Baylor (50-14), which will be making its first Women's College World Series appearance, out- scored the Wolverines 13-3 over the weekend, thanks to four homeruns (eight runs). The closest Michigan came to a longball was flying out to the warning track. This after the Wolverines hit five homeruns (10 of 16 weekend runs) en route to winning the Ann Arbor Regional last weekend. Baylor also matched Michigan's three-run weekend total in two different innings. "In the second game (Saturday) I didn't feel we set a very good tone at the plate," Hutchins said. "We were down 2-0 and didn't have a real good at bat to start the game (Alessandra Giampaolo struck out swinging). And that's where we needed to have a good at bat, whether we got a hit or not. We weren't able to string it together. "You just have to give Baylor credit, because sometimes a team comes out and just beats you. And they beat us."