Michigan to Return to Florida for Series against Nebraska, Wisconsin

» No. 23 Michigan will head back to Leesburg, Fla., for its second Big Ten "bubble" weekend with three-game series set against Nebraska and Wisconsin.
» Michigan's starting pitchers -- Meghan Beaubien and Alex Storako -- carry a combined 0.52 ERA with 78 strikeouts and a .129 batting average against through six games this season.
» Lexie Blair boasts a .400 batting average and has posted at least one hit and one run in every game this spring.

THIS WEEK
Thursday, March 11 -- vs. Nebraska (Leesburg, Fla.), 4:15 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Thursday, March 11 -- vs. Nebraska (Leesburg, Fla.), 6:45 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Friday, March 12 -- vs. Nebraska (Leesburg, Fla.), 1:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, March 13 -- vs. Wisconsin (Leesburg, Fla.), 10:20 a.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, March 13 -- vs. Wisconsin (Leesburg, Fla.), 1:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, March 14 -- vs. Wisconsin (Leesburg, Fla.), 9:20 a.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan softball team (4-2, 4-2 Big Ten) will return to Leesburg, Fla., for its second and final Big Ten "bubble" weekend at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. Michigan will open with a three-game series against Nebraska (3-3, 3-3 Big Ten), playing a 4:30 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday (March 11) and a 1:30 slate on Friday (March 12), before wrapping against Wisconsin (3-3, 3-3 Big Ten) with a 10:20 a.m. doubleheader Saturday (March 13) and a 9:20 a.m. game on Sunday (March 14). All games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.

• The Michigan starting pitcher duo of senior left-hander Meghan Beaubien and junior righty Alex Storako owns a combined 0.52 earned-run average with 78 strikeouts and a .129 batting average against. Both Beaubien and Storako have posted double-digit strikeouts in each of their three starts.

• Beaubien tied Michigan's single-game program record with 19 in a one-hit shutout against Purdue in the season opener (Feb. 26). Beaubien's tally tied fellow Wolverine All-American Jennie Ritter, who fanned 19 in eight innings against Oklahoma in the 2006 NCAA Regional final. It was the sixth-most strikeouts recorded by a Big Ten pitcher and tied the conference's record for most strikeouts in a seven-inning game, sharing the spot with Indiana's Amy Unterbrink (March 17, 1986 vs. UT Arlington).

• Storako tied her career best with 16 strikeouts in the second Purdue game. She previously fanned 16 in the season opener last year against Georgia State (Feb. 7, 2020). Storako ranked third nationally with a 13.2 strikeouts-per-game average last season.

• Michigan leads the nation with an 11.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while Beaubien ranks second (20.50) in the category and Storako ranks sixth (18.50). Both Wolverines also rank top 10 in strikeouts per seven innings -- Beaubien lists fourth (13.7) and Storako is seventh (13.2).

• Junior outfielder Lexie Blair led the Wolverines with a .400 batting average (8-for-20) over the opening weekend. She posted at least one hit and one run scored in each of the six games and knocked out a three-run homer in the second slate against Iowa (Feb. 27) to account for the bulk of her five RBI on the weekend. She also drove in the first and game-winning runs in the openers against Purdue and Iowa.

• Blair, after a slow start last year, ended the 2020 season on a tear, batting .457 (16-for-35) with seven doubles over the Wolverines' last 10 games. She matched a career best with a four hits against Texas Tech at the Judi Garman Classic. Blair, who led U-M offensively with a .406 batting average as a rookie, had only hit .175 over the first 13 games of the season.

• Three of four Michigan newcomers made their collegiate debuts over the opening weekend. Freshmen Sierra Kersten started all six games at second base and posted four hits, including a pair of doubles. Freshman Keke Tholl also collected her first collegiate hit -- a double against Iowa -- with one start behind the plate. Freshman Kaylee Rodriguez appeared in five games as a pinch runner and scored a run against the Hawkeyes.

• Michigan will play a conference-only schedule in 2021 and, for the first time under the current 14-team field, will face every Big Ten team. U-M did not play a conference opponent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which prematurely ended last season after just 23 non-conference games. As such, Michigan remains the reigning Big Ten regular-season and tournament champion. In sweeping the 2019 titles, the Wolverines earned their second straight outright championship -- and 21st overall -- with a near-perfect 22-1 regular-season record and added its first Big Ten Tournament title since similarly sweeping the conference crowns in 2015.

• Head coach Carol Hutchins is in her 37th season at the helm of the Wolverines. She has compiled a 1,635-527-5 record over her 38 overall seasons as an NCAA head coach. Hutchins currently ranks as the second-winningest coach in NCAA softball behind Arizona's Mike Candrea (1,645-422-2). She previously became NCAA softball's all-time coaching wins leader when she earned her 1,458th with an 8-0, five-inning win at Indiana on April 2, 2016, and, more recently, became the first to reach 1,600 wins with a 6-2 decision at Ohio State on April 13, 2019.