Michigan
Penn State
Michigan to Return to Road for Four-Game Series at Penn State
4/28/2021 1:51:00 PM | Softball
» No. 19 Michigan will travel to State College, Pa., for four games against Penn State this weekend; the team will play at 5 p.m. on Friday (April 30), a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (May 1) and noon on Sunday (May 2) at Beard Field.
» Taylor Bump posted a .435 batting average over the Wolverines' nine-game homestand and has homered in six of the last 10 games.
» Michigan leads the nation with a 1.01 team ERA, while starting pitchers Alex Storako and Meghan Beaubien both list top 25 with strikeout-per-game averages of 12.4 and 10.1, respectively.
THIS WEEK
Friday, April 30 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 5 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, May 1 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 1 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, May 1 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 3 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, May 2 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), Noon
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan softball team (24-5, 24-5 Big Ten) hits the road this weekend for a four-game set against Penn State (5-22, 5-22 Big Ten) at Beard Field in State College, Pa. The series kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday (April 30), continues with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (May 2) and wraps with a noon slate on Sunday (May 2). All four games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+.
• Michigan leads the nation with a 1.01 team earned-run average. Individually, junior RHP Alex Storako ranks second nationally with a 0.49 ERA, while senior LHP Meghan Beaubien is 40th with a 1.41 ERA. The Wolverines have earned shutouts in 12 of their 29 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 ranks third nationally with a 12.4 strikeouts-per-seven-innings average, while Beaubien is 25th with a 10.1 average.
• Storako was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week -- for the third straight week -- on Tuesday (April 27) after posting a 2-0 record in Michigan's series win against Northwestern last weekend, boasting 17 strikeouts over 14 innings and a .152 batting average against. She fanned 10 Wildcat batters in a four-hit complete-game shutout in the series finale.
• Michigan bounced back from a 4-1 loss in the Northwestern series opener last Friday (April 23) to claim the final three games of the series. Among the victories, U-M rallied from a two-run deficit, scoring five unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh frames to claim the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader, 6-3. Senior first baseman Lou Allan knocked out a three-run walk-off homer in the seventh -- it was U-M's first walk-off of the season.
• Allan leads the Wolverines with career highs in home runs (seven) and RBI (25). Allan, who missed large portions of two seasons with injury, also owns a career-best .341 batting average, including a .385 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 -- and posted two homers in the series finale against Maryland.
• Sophomore Chandler Dennis earned her first collegiate hit in a big way in U-M's comeback win against Northwestern, entering to pinch hit with two outs and posting a first-pitch two-run double to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.
• Senior third baseman Taylor Bump also has been hot of late, boasting a team-best .435 average over the nine-game homestand. She has knocked out home runs in six of the last 10 games, including a two-run homer to plate the lone runs in U-M's 2-0 win in the series finale against Northwestern.
• 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 1,655-530-5 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 (1,664-430-2). 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.
