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'M' softball looks to defend Big Ten crown on home turf

Defending what title?

To the Michigan softball team, this weekend's Big Ten tournament is not about defending the title it won last year. It's about winning this year's conference crown.

"We don't feel we're defending the title - we're trying to win the 1996 title," Wolverine coach Carol Hutchins said.

"Our whole philosophy is to go out and win (this year's title)."

Ninth-ranked Michigan (20-4 Big Ten, 43-12 overall) heads into the conference tourney on a roll, having won two of last weekend's three-game series at Minnesota (17-6, 42-14). The Wolverines were able to clinch the title with a win in the first game of that series, slamming the door on the second-place Gophers' title hopes with a 3-0 victory.

Three victories in as many tries against Ohio State the previous weekend had put the Wolverines in a spot to lock down the regular-season title, and neither team nor coach was ready to let that opportunity slip away.

"Winning the first game was key," Hutchins said. "We didn't want to keep them in the hunt.

"The longer they were in it, the more the momentum would shift their way," she said.

Sophomore pitcher Sara Griffin was the key to the weekend for Michigan. Not only did she blank No. 14 Minnesota on two hits in the first contest, but she then followed up that performance with a no-hitter in the final game of the series. That game - which turned into the rubber match of the series after the Gophers won the second contest - saw the Wolverines pound out ten hits on the way to a 7-0 victory.

Griffin helped out her own cause in that game, garnering two hits in four trips to the plate.

Senior third baseman Tracy Carr also went 2-for-4, knocking in a pair of runs. Over the course of the series, Carr became Michigan's career RBI leader, bringing her total to 127.

Not coincidentally, Carr is also the Wolverines' all-time doubles leader. A two-base hit in the final match of the Minnesota series increased her mark to 39.

Hutchins said the confidence her squad showed on the field was, for her, the highlight of the weekend.

"(The team) was just totally poised and confident," she said. "It's a great feeling to watch your team and have all that confidence in them."

Michigan will now be rewarded for its regular season efforts as it hosts the conference tournament this weekend.

"To be at home is huge," Hutchins said. "It's one of the prizes of winning the regular season."

The Wolverines will be the top seed in the four-team tournament, followed by Minnesota, Iowa (17-7, 43-15) and Indiana (16-7, 36-19). The tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA National Softball Tournament.