Michigan
Illinois
Wolverines Enter Big Ten Tournament as No. 1 Seed
5/7/2019 4:57:00 PM | Softball
» Michigan is the No. 1 seed for the 2019 Big Ten Tournament and, after a first-round bye, will open play against Nebraska or Illinois at 1:30 p.m. on Friday (May 10) at Indiana's Andy Mohr Field.
» U-M, which posted near-perfect 22-1 conference record, is coming off its 11th Big Ten regular-season title in 12 years and 21st overall; the Wolverines repeated as outright conference champions.
» Michigan is in search of its 10th Big Ten Tournament title in program history and first since 2015; U-M owns a 41-17 all-time record in 21 appearances at the conference tournament.
Update (May 10, 5:25 p.m.): Due to the threat of severe weather Saturday afternoon and evening in Bloomington, Indiana, the start times for all three of Saturday's games have been moved ahead. The Wolverines' contest against Wisconsin, originally scheduled for noon, will be played at 9 a.m. The second semifinal game will begin 35 minutes after the conclusion of Michigan-Wisconsin contest and the Big Ten Tournament championship game will take place 35 minutes after the second semifinal.
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., May 10-11 -- Big Ten Tournament (Bloomington, Ind.)
Tournament Central | Bracket (PDF)
Friday, May 10 -- vs. Illinois, 1:30 p.m.
TV: BTN | Live Stats | Live Video | WCBN Audio
Saturday, May 11 -- vs. Wisconsin - Big Ten Semifinal, 9 a.m. (note new time)
TV: BTN | Live Stats | Live Video | WCBN Audio
Saturday, May 11 -- vs. TBD - Big Ten Final, approximately 2 p.m. (if advance) [note new time]
TV: BTN | Live Stats | Live Video | WCBN Audio
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
The No. 21-ranked University of Michigan softball team (40-11) will open postseason play at the Big Ten Conference Tournament this weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. With the No. 1 seed, the Wolverines earn a first-round bye and will open play in the quarterfinal round at 1:30 p.m. on Friday (May 10), facing No. 9 seed Illinois. All games will be held on Andy Mohr Field and aired live on the Big Ten Network.
• Michigan is the No. 1 seed in the B1G Tournament for the sixth time in seven seasons. U-M has won the league tournament nine of the 21 times it has been contested, posting a program record of 41-17 at the event. Michigan last captured a Big Ten Tournament title in 2015.
• U-M captured the outright Big Ten regular-season title with weekend sweep at Maryland last weekend. Michigan has captured 21 of the last 28 Big Ten regular-season crowns, including 11 of the last 12. The Wolverines posted a 22-1 league record, finishing one game ahead of second-place Northwestern. Michigan outscored its Big Ten opponents, 184-51.
• Freshman right-handed pitcher Alex Storako claimed her second straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolade after she did not allow a run through 10.2 innings pitched last weekend at Maryland. Storako tossed a complete-game shutout en route to a win on Saturday (May 4) and earned a save on Sunday (May 5), entering with bases loaded and no outs in the fifth and closed out the game without a run allowed. She totaled 15 strikeouts on the weekend.
• Michigan posted a .385 team batting average over its three-game Maryland series, including a season-high 18 hits in the Sunday finale. Five Wolverine players hit .400 or better, most notably senior second baseman Faith Canfield and senior catcher Katie Alexander, who batted .545 and .500, respectively. Senior center fielder Natalie Peters, who posted a .455 weekend average, led the team with seven RBI.
• Freshman outfielder Lexie Blair leads Michigan -- and ranks third in the Big Ten -- with a .431 batting average and owns team bests with 72 hits, 20 doubles and 49 RBI. Blair boasted a .507 average in Big Ten play. Three Wolverine freshmen have led the team in hitting since 1995 -- Sara Griffin (.432, 1995), Amanda Chidester (.350, 2009) and Sierra Romero (.379, 2013).
• The Wolverines have claimed 28 of their last 29 games since returning home from spring break and kicking off the home portion of their schedule against Kent State on March 14. Michigan was 12-10 entering that home weekend and after posting a 6-8 record over its first three weekends. U-M is hitting .366 over the last 29 games -- a 112-point improvement over its .254 average over the season's first 22 games.
• Michigan's seniors have made a major contribution to the second-half turnaround and own five of the top six spots among the team's hitting leaders over the stretch, with Canfield, Peters, first baseman Alex Sobczak, Alexander and designated player Mackenzie Nemitz all hitting .329 or better over the last 29 games. The class has combined for 127 runs and 129 RBI over the stretch.
• Among the Wolverine seniors, Sobczak and Nemitz are both having big breakout seasons in their final year at Michigan. Sobczak owns a career-best .356 batting average -- a 98-point improvement over her previous best average in 2016 -- and similarly owns career bests in runs (32), hits (42), home runs (9) and RBI (40). Nemitz, after only earning one hit and seven total plate appearances over her first three seasons -- she missed all of 2017 with injury -- owns a .305 batting average with 29 hits, five homers and 29 RBI.
