Wolverines to Head to Seattle for NCAA Regional Play

» Michigan will make its 26th straight -- and 28th overall -- NCAA Tournament appearance, opening NCAA Regional play against Seattle University at 5 p.m. PDT on Friday (May 21) at Husky Softball Stadium in Seattle, Wash.
» Michigan captured its third straight Big Ten title with a 36-6 conference-only record this season; U-M has won 22 of the last 29 league crowns.
» U-M leads the nation with a 1.10 team ERA, while Alex Storako leads the nation with a 13.0 strikeout-per-seven-innings average.

THIS WEEK
NCAA Regional (Tournament Central | Bracket)
Friday, May 21 -- vs. Seattle (Seattle, Wash.), 5 p.m. PDT
TV: ESPN2 | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, May 22 -- vs. #6 Washington (Seattle, Wash.), 3 p.m. PDT
TV: ESPN2 | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, May 23 -- vs. #6 Washington (Seattle, Wash.), 5 p.m. PDT
TV: ESPN2 | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, May 23 -- vs. #6 Washington (Seattle, Wash.), 7:30 p.m. PDT (if necessary)
TV: ESPN3 | Live Stats | Live Video

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan softball team (36-6) will head to Seattle, Wash., to kick off NCAA Tournament play this weekend (Fri-Sun., May 21-23) at the University of Washington's Husky Softball Stadium. The Wolverines will open play against Seattle University at 5 p.m. PDT on Friday, live on ESPN2.

• Michigan is making its 28th NCAA Tournament appearance (1992-93, '95-2019, '21) and has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament every season since 1995. It is just the seventh time in program history that U-M will play a regional round on the road. The Wolverines are 84-19 all-time in the NCAA Regional round and have won 18 regional titles.

• The winner of the Seattle Regional will move on to a best-of-three super regional against the winner of the regional being hosted by Oklahoma in Norman. That regional consists of No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Wichita State and Morgan State.

• Friday will mark the first ever meeting between Michigan and Seattle University.

• U-M clinched its third straight Big Ten championship with its doubleheader sweep, 10-4 and 3-1, at Minnesota two weekends ago (May 8). Michigan posted a 36-6 record in its conference-only regular season, finishing eight wins better than the second-place Golden Gophers (28-12) in the final conference standings. Michigan has captured 22 of the last 29 Big Ten crowns, including 12 of the last 13.

• Junior outfielder Lexie Blair was named the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year after posting a .411 batting average, .660 slugging percentage and .465 on-base percentage through the regular season. She tallied 15 doubles, a triple, six homers and 24 runs batted in during the regular season. Blair, who also earned All-Big Ten first team honors as a freshman (2019), is the 20th Big Ten Player of the Year award winner in Michigan program history, becoming the 14th different Wolverine to claim the honor and first since Sierra Romero won her third in 2016.

• Junior left-handed pitcher Alex Storako was named the unanimous selection as the 2021 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year after posting a 21-3 record with a 0.88 earned-run average, seven shutouts, 252 strikeouts and a .128 opponent batting average over the regular season. Storako is the 16th Michigan pitcher to win the honor and the sixth different Wolverine to do so since 2009.

• Head coach Carol Hutchins was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the 18th time in her career. She has claimed the league's top coach honor in nine of the last 13 seasons. Hutchins has compiled a 1,667-531-5 record over her 38 overall seasons as an NCAA head coach and ranks as the second-winningest coach in NCAA softball behind Arizona's Mike Candrea (1,669-435-2). 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.

• Michigan boasted six total All-Big Ten selections, including five first-team picks. Blair and Storako were unanimous choices, senior left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien earned her third first-team recognition, while seniors Lou Allan and Taylor Bump both garnered All-Big Ten honors for the first time in their careers. Sophomore Julia Jimenez rounded out U-M's all-conference honorees with a second-team nod.

• Michigan leads the nation with a 1.10 team earned-run average. Individually, junior right-handed pitchers Alex Storako ranks sixth nationally with a 0.88 ERA, while senior left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien is 14th with a 1.14 ERA. The Wolverines have earned shutouts in 18 of their 42 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 tops the nation with a 13.0 strikeouts-per-seven-innings average, while Beaubien is 25th with a 9.6 average.

• Beaubien was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week after posting a 2-0 record with a 0.00 earned-run average in the Rutgers series last weekend at home. She tallied a pair of complete-game shutouts, including a five-inning perfect game in the Saturday (May 15) nightcap. She recorded nine strikeouts and allowed just two hits and no walks over 12 total innings.

• Michigan's offense has made significant strides since its first couple weeks of the season. After hitting .279 as a team over the two Florida weekends -- a 12-game stretch -- the Wolverines have collectively batted .316 over the 30 games since. Nobody has been hotter over the second half of the season than Allan and Bump, who are batting .448 and .393, respectively, over the last 20 games.

• Allan and Bump are enjoying breakout success as seniors this season. They share the team lead with 10 home runs, while Allan, who missed large portions of her first two seasons at Michigan with injury, also leads the team with 42 RBI. Allan owns a career-best .384 batting average -- a 122-point improvement in her previous best (.263, 2019). Bump's batting average (.325) is a 118-point improvement on her previous best (.207, 2019).