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Pair of freshmen give Wolverines a lift over weekend

In "My Cousin Vinny," Joe Pesci's character called them "the two utes." His New York accent did not do justice to the "youths" he was talking about, and the numbers from Michigan's weekend series against Northwestern don't do justice to the Wolverines' "utes."

Michigan played three games and had two heroes, neither of which had played college softball before this season.

Freshmen standouts Cathy Davie and Traci Conrad put on a hitting exhibition devastating the Wildcats with 12 hits, and five RBI, a total that surpassed Northwestern's output by three.

Davie, who starts in left field, came into the weekend hitting .310 on the season but has since turned it on in Big Ten play. She scorched Northwestern pitching for three singles, a double and a triple.

Davie's firepower has begun to manifest itself and now is making the Wolverines deep, as well as consistent. She has a knack for timely hitting, an asset in Saturday's first contest.

Davie came to the plate in the fourth inning with Michigan down two runs and searching for a spark.

The Wolverines had already stranded four runners, and Davie needed to make an impact to lead off the inning.

Her triple into the outfield sent her to second where she scored on Gleason sacrifice fly, getting Michigan on the board and restoring some of its lost confidence. When the Wolverines won by only a run, Davie's run proved the difference in the tight contest.

She didn't want to see yesterday's game come down to minor details and did her part to ensure a blowout. In the first inning, Davie gave a clinic on advancing runners when she poked a single up the middle allowing Sara Griffin to advance to third while scoring Traci Conrad.

She drove Wildcat starter Alison Ward from the mound in the third inning after damaging her with an opposite-field two-run single.

Davie's four RBI in her first three at-bats proved to be a career-high, and solidified her as one of Michigan's top hitters, despite her youth.

Minor adjustments resulted in the major results for Davie.

"I think the thing I was doing today was not thinking. I go up (to the plate) thinking too much but (this weekend) I just relaxed my body and focused on the ball."

Also making a case for freshman eligibility this weekend was Traci Conrad. Her well-rounded game makes for numerous contributions he can make to the squad.

Conrad plays first base and has been solid thus far in the field. Her fielding percentage is .944, and she has made only two errors, despite having the most opportunities of any position in the field.

She participated in all three Michigan rallies on Sunday, igniting two with her feisty hitting. Conrad's line for the weekend totaled seven hits, six of which were singles. Her job in the number two spot in the lineup is to get on base and that she did.

Her six singles put Northwestern on the defensive. But the fact that she was on the bases at all which scares opponents. Her seven stolen bases entering the series made her a threat to run and score. But a threat is not effective unless it is executed and in the first game in the first inning, Conrad swiped her eighth base of the season.

That made Northwestern coach Sharon Drysdale wary and she did everything she could to keep Conrad off the basepaths. The coach even complained (to no avail) that Conrad left the base too early.

As with any player, Conrad focused on her hitting following the 5-for-7 Saturday performance.

"I could kind of tell on the outside pitches that the defense moved, so I just went with it," she said.

It is these insights which demonstrate the maturity of these two hitters. It is easy to forget that they have only been in college for five months.

Davie and Conrad have a zest for the game which rubs off on the upperclassmen as well. This weekend, there was a difference in the play of the team.