Michigan
Northwestern
Michigan to Host Northwestern for Four-Game Series to Wrap Homestand
4/21/2021 12:10:00 PM | Softball
UPDATE (4/23/21, 4:15 p.m.): Due to inclement weather expected in Ann Arbor, Saturday's doubleheader games vs. Northwestern -- originally scheduled at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. -- will begin at noon and 2 p.m.
» No. 20 Michigan will host Northwestern at 6 p.m. on Friday (April 23), a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (April 24) and noon on Sunday (April 25) at Alumni Field inside the Wilpon Complex.
» U-M is 5-0 at home after sweeping its weekend series against Maryland; the Wolverines own a combined .339 batting average and 0.64 ERA over the home stretch.
» Michigan leads the nation with a 0.85 team ERA, while starting pitchers Alex Storako and Meghan Beaubien both list top 25 with strikeout-per-game averages of 13.0 and 10.4, respectively.
THIS WEEK
Friday, April 23 -- vs. Northwestern (Wilpon Complex), 6 p.m.
TV: ESPNU | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, April 24 -- vs. Northwestern (Wilpon Complex), 1 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, April 24 -- vs. Northwestern (Wilpon Complex), 3 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, April 25 -- vs. Northwestern (Wilpon Complex), Noon
TV: Big Ten Network | Live Stats | Live Video
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan softball team (21-4, 21-4 Big Ten) will resume its homestand with a four-game set against Northwestern (21-7, 21-7 Big Ten) this weekend at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. The series kicks off with a 6 p.m. slate on Friday (April 23), followed by a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (April 24) and a noon series finale on Sunday (April 25).
• Michigan is 5-0 at home after defeating in-state rival Michigan State, 6-1, in a rescheduled midweek slate on Wednesday (April 14) and sweeping its four-game weekend series against Maryland. The MSU game was the Wolverines' first home game in 695 days. U-M boasts a stellar 584-138-1 all-time record in home games at Alumni Field.
• Michigan leads the nation with a 0.85 team earned-run average. Individually, junior RHP Alex Storako ranks second nationally with a 0.41 ERA, while senior LHP Meghan Beaubien is 22nd with a 1.11 ERA. The Wolverines have earned shutouts in 11 of their 25 games this season. U-M previously led the nation in 2008 when All-Americans Nikki Nemitz and Jordan Taylor combined for a 0.88 ERA.
• Storako and Beaubien also rank among the nation's top strikeout pitchers. Storako leads the country with a 13.0 strikeouts-per-seven-innings average, while Beaubien is 22nd with a 10.4 average.
• Storako was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week after posting a perfect 3-0 record with 29 strikeouts and no walks over 15 innings pitched over U-M's five home games last week. She tossed a complete-game shutout in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader against Maryland (April 17) and fanned nine in four innings apiece against Michigan State and Maryland (April 18).
• The Wolverines have batted .339 over their five home games with seven home runs and a team .620 slugging percentage. The Wolverines have recorded at least one home run in 11 of their last 13 games, including multiple homers in five games -- three in the series finale against Maryland.
• Senior third baseman Taylor Bump batted .417 over the Maryland series and knocked out home runs in three of the four games. Bump used a two-run homer and an RBI double to drive in U-M's go-ahead runs in the second inning in the series' first two games and hit another solo homer to post the tying run in the third inning of the third slate. She wrapped the weekend with a 2-for-2, three-RBI effort in the series finale.
• Senior first baseman Lou Allan leads the Wolverines with career highs in home runs (six) and RBI (21). Allan, who missed large portions of two seasons with injury, also owns a career-best .319 batting average -- including a .348 average over the last nine games. She knocked out a home run on each day of the Ohio State series -- in three of four games -- two weeks ago and posted two homers in the series finale against Maryland.
• Junior outfielder Lexie Blair leads the Wolverines with a career-high .464 batting average (39-for-84) on the season. She saw her 21-game hit streak ended in the series opener against Maryland but responded with a hit in each subsequent game, including a 3-for-4 effort in Saturday's nightcap. Blair previously led U-M with a .406 batting average as a freshman (2019).
• Michigan is playing a conference-only schedule in 2021 and, for the first time under the current 14-team field, will face every Big Ten team this season. until the start of this season, U-M did not play a conference opponent since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which prematurely ended last season after just 23 games. As such, Michigan remains the reigning Big Ten and conference 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 1,652-529-5 record over her 38 overall seasons as an NCAA head coach. Hutchins ranks as the second-winningest coach in NCAA softball behind Arizona's Mike Candrea (1,660-430-2). 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.
Up Next
Fri-Sun., April 30-May 2 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.)
