Tuesday, May 27, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com PITCHED OUT 11 A bad day doesn't spoil duo's future CLIF REDER/Daily Sophomore Nikki Nemitz and Michigan dropped two heartbreaking games Sunday, eliminating them from the NCAA Tournament Hokie hurler shuts own M' icigan softball coach Carol Hutchins sat at the end of the Wolverine dugout, associ- ate head coach Bonnie Tholl and assistant coach Jennifer Brundage to her right. But she looked alone. Her players DAN had already FELDMAN retreated to the locker room. Across the diamond, ESPN was interviewing Virginia Tech coach Scot Thomas as the Hokie players celebrated in the background. As she nearly admitted in the postgame press conference, Hutchins was rethinking every deci- sion, especially how she handled her pitching staff. How she brought in sophomore Nikki Nemitz to pitch the final inning of the series's second game, even though starter Jordan Taylor hadn't allowed an earned run. The move surprised Thomas, who said seeing Nemitz for that inning may have helped his team adjust to her. How she started Nemitz in game three but pulled her after she gave up just two hits in two-plus innings. And how she left Taylor in after the freshman walked three of the first four batters she faced, just to give up a two-run double tothe next. . Hutchins brought Nemitz back in after the next hitter knocked in a run, but Michigan trailed 4-0, an in insurmountable deficit against Vir- ginia Tech ace Angela Tincher. What went wrong? Taylor and Nemitz combined for the nation's best ERA (0.82 entering Sunday). Not only did Taylor, a crafty righty with a great change-up, and Nemitz, a riseball-throwing lefty, comple- ment each other in the circle, they seemed to work well together on a mental level. Nemitz split innings last year with then-senior Lorilyn Wilson, but they never seemed to gel. Wilson could be distant with teammates, but nobody complained publicly or to Nicole Motycka, who played for Michigan (2002-05) and talked with players on last year's team. But there still could've been an issue. "With our team, you're always pretty guarded with anything that's maybe not going so well," Motycka said. When Hutchins pulled Wilson in a poor outing, Wilson, naturally disappointed with her performance, sulked, which seemed to bring the team down. But when Hutchins pulled Nemitz this year, Nemitz kept her spirits up because she stayed in the lineup as the designated player. Taylor faced a similar situation as a - See FELDMAN, Page 12 By RUTH LINCOLN Daily Sports Writer When Michigan coach Carol Hutchins walked into the postgame presscon- ference follow- See a photo ing the gallery with Wolver- this article ines' 1-0 ww w.michigndaily,.com and 6-1 NCAA super regional losses to Vir- ginia Tech on Sunday, not a single player accompanied her. "Just me," Hutchins said calmly before she took her seat at the table, which she had shared with her play- ers at every other postgame press conference this postseason. It was just Hutchins there to answer questions about why her team lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Only the winningest coach in Michigan history was there to rea- son the decision to pull sophomore pitcher Nikki Nemitz in the final game and replace her with fresh- man Jordan Taylor in the third, just to bring back Nemitz one out and four Virginia Tech runs later. And why after taking game one 1-0 on Saturday in a tight pitchers' duel between Taylor and Virginia Tech's All-American senior Angela Tincher, the Wolverine defense fal- tered and looked the sloppiest it had See SOFTBALL, Page 12 Powers saves Big Ten Championship, wins Most Outstanding Player By JASON KOHLER Daily Sports Writer The Michigan baseball players all sprinted to the pitching mound, arms outstretched to embrace junior relief pitcher Michael Powers. Moments before, Powers struck out Purdue second baseman Ben Wolgamot on a slider to win the Big Ten Tournament. Powers was named the tourna- ment's Most Outstanding Player after Michigan's 3-2 win over Pur- due in the championship game Saturday. He earned a save in all three of the Wolverines' games. He pitched six scoreless innings, struck out nine and allowed four hits. "Mike wants the ball every day and never gets it enough according to him," Michigan coach Rich Malo- ney said. "It's amazing to pitch like he did for three straight days.". The win gave the Wolverines an automatic bid to the NCAA Tourna- ment. Sunday night, Michigan was selected to host a regional for the first time since 1986. The Wolver- ines will host No.23 Arizona, No.24 Kentucky and Eastern Michigan. After dominating the Big Ten all season, Michigan (26-5 Big Ten, 45- 12 overall) will be the lone confer- ence team in the big dance. The Wolverines lived up to their No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tourna- ment, going undefeated for the weekend. They beat Illinois 5-2 in the first game and defeated No. 2 seed Purdue twice to take the title. "To come in the tournament and win three straight, it's about as dom- inating of a performance as you can have," Maloney said. "You have to give them a lot of credit. Everybody was gunning for them, and they still found a way to have a marvelous regular season." For most of the season, Michigan and Purdue (21-10, 32-26) were first and second in the Big Ten but didn't play one another until now. They settled any questions this weekend. Although Michigan proved its superiority, Purdue proved it deserved tobe in the title game. "Webattled through that Big Ten and kind of gave Michigan a run for its money," Purdue coach Doug Scheiber said. "We hung in there." In every tournament game, the Wolverines gave up early leads and were forced to come from behind. In the final game, the Boilermak- ers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Wolverines tied the game in the sixth inning on fresh- man Ryan LaMarre's second home run of the year. LaMarre recently replaced Alan Oaks in right field. An inning later, junior Kevin Cislo scored the winning run after Purdue pitcher Andy Loomis threw a wild pitch. "It's not like they had any big ral- lies," Scheiber said. "Youhateto lose on a play like that." Powers entered in the eighth inning and dominated, but not before a fewtense moments. Jon Mooreled offthe ninthinning for Purdue and slugged a ball 380- feet to center field. But Cislo made a falling grab to prevent the hit. On the final out, with the crowd on its feet, Powers tossed a slider under Wolgamot's bat, sending the Wolverines storming the field and into the NCAA Tournament.