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Monday, May 19, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

FELDMAN
From page 11
Powers to pinch hit, she did some
preemptive damage control. The
Wolverines were bounced in the
first round of the Big Ten Tourna-
ment in part because they pan-
icked when they fell behind. In
the same vein, she didn't want to
see the team stray from her stay-
in-the-moment approach by get-
ting too excited.

"I told her that the crowd was
going to go wild," Hutchins said.
"And that we weren't up there
to hit home runs. We needed to
have a good at-bat and to see good
pitches and to attack them."
Powers worked a 2-1 count
before lining out to the shortstop.
Although mighty Marley lined
out, there was still joy in Ann
Arbor.
"I thought she had a great at-
bat," Hutchins said.
The Wolverines took the right

approach all weekend - stay
in their "process," as Hutchins
calls it, and the results will fol-
low. Michigan has plenty enough
talent that if it continues that
plan, the outcomes will be posi-
tive.
As strange as it seems, Powers's
out in a 2-for-3, two home run,
seven RBI weekend shows why
Michigan is succeeding.
- Dan Feldman can be reached
at danfeldrSumich.edu


SOFTBALL
From page 11
national championship. Like Tay-
lor and Shaw, Findlay and Giam-
paolo were consistent starters
during their rookie campaigns.
Experience was important to
the 2005 team, but it also had
two freshmen who could come
through in tough situations.
Taylor (30-3) replaced sopho-
mor# Nikki Nemitz after two-plus
innings in Friday's game against
Wright State and stayed in the cir-
cle through Sunday's final pitch.
Taylor shut down the Golden
Flashes with her curve ball and
changeup, allowing just one hit.
"We're led by who's ever on the
mound pitching for us," Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins said. "That's
very important because defense
starts on the mound."
Michigan (51-6) hit .449 in
its first two games. Facing a hot
offense, Kent State decided to
pitch around Michigan, resulting
in eight Wolverine walks.
Shaw's grand slam came after
Golden Flash pitcher Gabrielle
Burns loaded the bases with three
walks. The long ball was Shaw's
l0th of the season, and she is sec-
ond on the team in the category.
"We found a way to make things
go our way," Hutchins said. "We

took advantage of some walks
which I thought were some good
at-bats for us, and we finally got a
big hit."
And another freshman who
didn't start came through, too.
Hutchins called on pinch hitter
Marley Powers for timely hits this
weekend, and Powers delivered.In
three at-bats, Powers had a grand
slam and a three-run homer.
Despite outscoring opponents
26-5 this weekend, each game
was tight. The Wolverines rallied
from a 5-2 hole against Wright
State (33-26) and waited until the
fourth inning to score their first
runs against Notre Dame (38-22-1)
and Kent State (46-12). But instead
of panicking, Michigan simply
treated each inning separately.
"The best quality we had all
weekend was we were composed,
and we played one-inning soft-
ball," Hutchins said. "I'm proud of
where we're at right now."
Michigan's freshmen showed
their maturity in this weekend's
big-game situations. With a Vir-
ginia Tech team that knocked out
No. 14-seed Tennessee looming,
that mentality will be crucial.
"We're pretty excited to be
going to super regionals, and we're
even more excited to be hosting
them," Hutchins said. "With that
being said, it's not going to get any
easier."

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