Wolverines to Open NCAA Tournament Play at Lexington Regional

» Michigan will make its 24th straight -- and 26th overall -- NCAA Tournament appearance, opening NCAA Regional play against Notre Dame at noon on Friday (May 18) at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
» U-M owns a 20-6 advantage in the all-time series against Notre Dame, including an 11-1 advantage in NCAA Regional matchups; the two teams split a pair of meetings earlier this season.
» With 201 career runs batted in, Tera Blanco is one RBI shy of sole ownership of the third spot among U-M's all-time leaders in the category.

THIS WEEK
NCAA REGIONAL (Tournament Central)
Friday, May 18 -- vs. Notre Dame (Lexington, Ky.), Noon
Live Stats | TV: ESPN2 | WatchESPN | NCAA Tournament Bracket (PDF)

• Complete Game Notes

The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan softball team (43-11) will head to Lexington, Kentucky, to kick off NCAA Tournament play this weekend (Fri-Sun., May 18-20) at the University of Kentucky's John Cropp Stadium. The Wolverines will open play against Notre Dame at noon on Friday, live on ESPN2.

• Michigan is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance (1992-93, '95-2018) and has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament every season since 1995. It is just the sixth time in program history that U-M will play a regional round on the road. The Wolverines are 81-15 all-time in the NCAA Regional round and have won 18 regional titles.

• The winner of the Lexington Regional will move on to a super regional against the winner of the regional being hosted by Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. That regional consists of No. 1 overall seed Oregon, BYU, Drake and Albany.

• The Wolverines will look to bounce back after suffering an early exit from the Big Ten Tournament, where they fell to in-state rival Michigan State, 7-0, in the quarterfinal round. Michigan owns a 4-4 record after losses this season and has not lost more than two games in a row.

• Michigan and Notre Dame have squared off in the NCAA Regional round 12 times since 1995, with the Wolverines holding an 11-1 advantage in those meetings. Overall, U-M owns a 20-6 record in the all-time series against the Fighting Irish. The team split a pair of contests at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge earlier this season, with U-M claiming a 6-0 decision -- with a combined three-hit shutout -- before Notre Dame won, 4-3, on a sixth-inning hit-by-pitch in the second slate.

• The Wolverines also have some NCAA Tournament history with Kentucky, with three previous regional matchups between the teams. UK ended Michigan's season with two wins -- 7-6 and 2-1 -- in the 2011 Ann Arbor Regional, but the Wolverines claimed the most recent regional meeting, a 3-2 first-round win in 2012.

• Michigan won its lone NCAA Regional meeting against UIC -- and in the last game between the programs -- with a 3-1 decision in the 2000 Ann Arbor Regional.

• U-M captured the outright Big Ten regular-season title with an 18-3 conference record. Michigan, which reclaimed the league's top spot after a one-year hiatus, has captured 20 of the last 27 Big Ten regular-season crowns and 10 of the last 11. The Wolverines posted an 18-3 league record, finishing one game ahead of second-place Minnesota. Michigan outscored its Big Ten opponents, 134-31.

• Freshman left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien leads the nation with 32 wins -- four more than four players in second place. She also ranks top 15 nationally in earned-run average (1.09, 12th), hits allowed per game (3.13, fourth) and shutouts (12, fourth). Beaubien leads the Big Ten in every pitching category.

• Beaubien's 32 wins were the most ever by a Wolverine pitcher in the regular season. It is the 11th time in Michigan program history that a pitcher recorded 30 wins in a season, and she is the third freshman to accomplish the feat. Beaubien shares the fifth spot among the program's single-season wins leaders -- with Haylie Wagner (2012) -- and sits just six behind the school record, held by Jennie Ritter (38, 2005).

• Senior first baseman Tera Blanco shares the third spot among U-M's all-time leaders in runs batted in with 201 over her four seasons at Michigan. She is tied with two-time All-American Sierra Lawrence (2013-16) and is 18 shy of the second spot, held by Samantha Findlay (219, 2005-08). Sierra Romero (2013-16) owns the program record with 305.

• Michigan also ranks second nationally with a team .985 fielding percentage -- just .004 behind first-place Oklahoma. Six U-M starters own fielding percentages of .990, including senior first baseman Tera Blanco (1.000) and junior second baseman Faith Canfield (.994). Last season, Michigan also ranked second in the nation with a .981 fielding percentage.