Michigan
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Western Michigan
Wolverines Set for Two Midweek Slates With In-State Foes
5/1/2018 1:19:00 PM | Softball
» No. 14 Michigan opens a five-game week with midweek slates against Western Michigan (6 p.m., Tuesday, May 1) at home and Michigan State (4 p.m., Wednesday, May 2) on the road.
» With a 15-2 conference record, Michigan enters the final week of the regular season with a half-game lead atop the Big Ten standings.
» Michigan is 12-0 at Alumni Field this season and has outscored its opposition, 92-5, in those home contests.
THIS WEEK
Tuesday, May 1 -- vs. Western Michigan (Wilpon Complex), 6 p.m.
Tickets | Live Stats | BTN Plus
Wednesday, May 2 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 4 p.m.
Live Stats | TV: Big Ten Network | BTN2Go
The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan softball team (40-8, 15-2 Big Ten) will kick off a busy five-game week with a pair of midweek slates against in-state foes. The Wolverines will host Western Michigan (25-21) in their final non-conference matchup at 6 p.m. on Tuesday (May 1) at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. U-M will head to East Lansing, Michigan, the next day (Wednesday, May 2) for a 4 p.m. game against Michigan State (21-24, 7-11 Big Ten) at the Spartans' Secchia Stadium.
• Michigan claimed a 1-0 decision in the first half of the home-and-home with MSU on April 11 at Alumni Field. Sophomore pinch-runner Thais Gonzalez scored the game's lone run on a play at the plate off junior catcher Katie Alexander's RBI fielder's choice. Freshman left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien tossed a two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to earn the win in the circle.
• U-M is 12-0 in home games this season after its series sweep against Maryland (April 20-22). The Wolverines have outscored their home opposition, 92-5. Michigan posted a 17-0 record at Alumni Field during the regular season in 2017 but fell in their last appearance, a 5-4 upset loss to Michigan State in their Big Ten Tournament opener. U-M is 560-134-1 all-time at Alumni Field.
• With its 15-2 conference record, Michigan owns a narrow half-game advantage atop the Big Ten standings -- ahead of 15-3 Minnesota. The Wolverines took the series, 2-1, over previous second-place Indiana last weekend, pushing the Hoosiers to third with a 16-4 league record. U-M has four Big Ten games remaining, while Minnesota and Indiana both have three.
• Michigan saw its 15-game win streak halted with its 5-4 loss in nine innings against Indiana last Saturday (April 28). U-M struggled offensively in the series, hitting .229 as a team over the weekend with 34 runners left on base.
• Sophomore third baseman Madison Uden posted a two-run double in the top of the ninth inning to help Michigan secure the rubber-match win at Indiana on Sunday (April 29) -- just a day after her older sister, Taylor, knocked out a walk-off homer in the ninth to win Saturday's slate for the Hoosiers. IU had intentionally walked senior right-handed pitcher/first baseman Tera Blanco -- her fourth walk of the game -- to get to Uden.
• Junior center fielder Natalie Peters was solid in the Indiana series and for the second straight weekend. Over the last six games, Peters has posted a .400 batting average with 10 hits and eight RBI. She registered her first collegiate triple -- which cleared the bases -- in the second Maryland slate (April 21) as part of a career-best four-RBI effort.
• Freshman LHP Meghan Beaubien leads the nation with 29 wins -- three more than North Carolina's Brittany Pickett in second place -- as well her 10 shutout wins. She became the sixth freshman pitcher in program history to hit the 20-win milestone, doing so in just 28 total appearances.
• Michigan leads the nation with a 1.09 staff ERA, while Beaubien ranks top 10 nationally in several individual categories, most notably ERA (0.90, fifth) and hits allowed per game (3.06, third). Beaubien leads the Big Ten in every pitching category, while she, senior RHP Tera Blanco and freshman RHP Sarah Schaefer rank 1-2-3 in the Big Ten in both individual ERA and hits allowed per seven innings.
• Michigan also ranks second nationally with a team .989 fielding percentage -- just .02 behind first-place Oklahoma. Four U-M starters own 1.000 fielding percentages, including junior second baseman Faith Canfield and senior first baseman Tera Blanco. Last season, Michigan also ranked second in the nation with a .981 fielding percentage.
• The Wolverines have allowed just two unearned runs this season -- one on a passed ball against Notre Dame (Feb. 18) and one off the international tiebreaker in the eighth inning against Virginia Tech (Feb. 24). Michigan has not allowed a run off any of its 15 errors on the season.
• After going 6-6 through its first 12 games of the season, Michigan has since won 34 of its last 36. U-M batted .225, averaged 2.9 runs per game and combined for a 1.24 ERA over the first 12 games. Over the last 36 games, the Wolverines have posted a .343 batting average, averaged 6.7 runs per game and posted a 1.04 team ERA.
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