Wolverines to Kick Off Homestand with Rivalry Series against Ohio State

Schedule Update: Friday's (April 22) game between Michigan and Ohio State has been moved to 2:30 p.m. (originally scheduled for 6 p.m.) due to the weather forecast.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan softball team (27-13, 7-6 Big Ten) will host rival Ohio State (27-10, 7-5 Big Ten) for a three-game weekend set at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. The teams will meet at 2:30 p.m. on Friday (April 22), at 2 p.m. on Saturday (April 23) and at noon on Sunday (April 24). The latter game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

• Graduate student Kristina Burkhardt ranks third nationally with 17 doubles and fifth with a 0.42 doubles-per-game average this season. She also lists 13th with five triples and 19th with 0.12 triples per game. Burkhardt's five triples are the most for a Wolverine player since Catherine Davie similarly hit five in 1997. Forty percent (22-of-55) of Burkhardt's hits this season have gone for extra bases. She continues to lead the Wolverines at the plate with a career-best .410 average and boasts 25 RBI. Burkhardt has recorded at least one hit in all but six games this season.

• Junior Audrey LeClair is enjoying a breakout year with a .333 batting average -- a 166-point improvement over her average last season -- and boasts career highs in every offensive category, including 18 runs, 23 hits and eight RBI. Primarily a pinch-runner over her first two seasons, LeClair has started 27 games in the outfield for Michigan. She's been especially hot of late with a team-best .407 average over the last 10 games.

• Graduate student Melina Livingston and fifth-year senior Taylor Bump have also been hot of late. Livingston owns a .387 average with six extra-base hits, 12 runs scored and 14 RBI over the last 10 games -- a stretch that coincides with her taking over starting second baseman duties. Bump has posted 10 hits -- six for extra bases -- and 12 RBI over the last 10 games. The duo teamed up for the game-winning run with Livingston scoring on a Bump squeeze bunt in the eighth inning last Friday against Maryland (April 13).

• Senior RHP Alex Storako took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in U-M's midweek win at Michigan State on Tuesday (April 19), settling for a stellar 13-strikeout, one-hit shutout. In two appearances against the Spartans this season, Storako fanned 25 and allowed just one run on four hits through 14 innings.

• Storako ranks 10th nationally in wins (18), fifth in complete-game shutouts (8), third in total strikeouts (238) and fourth in strikeouts per seven innings (12.0). She owns 12 double-digit strikeout games, including 13 against MSU earlier this week and 17 in her last home appearance against Penn State (April 10). Storako also led the nation last season with a 12.9 strikeout average, while the Michigan staff posted the nation's top team mark with a 10.76 strikeout average.

• Graduate student LHP Meghan Beaubien earned both of Michigan's wins in the Maryland series, posting a 1.50 ERA with 10 strikeouts and two hits allowed over 9.1 innings pitched. She won in relief in the second slate, tallying three strikeouts and one hit and one walk allowed over 2.1 innings, before going the distance in the finale with seven strikeouts and two runs allowed on four hits and a walk.

• Beaubien moved to sixth among the Wolverines' all-time wins leaders with the two weekend decisions. She owns a 93-26 career collegiate record from the circle and passed three-time All-American Nikki Nemitz (92, 2007-10). Beaubien needs five more wins to crack the top-five leaders; two-time All-American Jennie Ritter (98, 2003-06) currently holds the fifth spot.

• Freshman RHP Lauren Derkowski earned her first collegiate win against Central Michigan last Tuesday (April 12), allowing a run on four hits and three walks while striking out four over four innings, freshman RHP Annabelle Widra earned her first collegiate save with one hit allowed and two strikeouts over three shutout innings. Derkowski, despite a no-decision, tossed the bulk of the innings in U-M's Saturday win against Penn State, posting a career-high 5.1 innings pitched after coming in with the bases loaded and one out in the first and needing just five pitches to end the threat. She struck out six total Nittany Lions and allowed one run on three hits and no walks.

Up Next

Friday, April 29 -- vs. Minnesota (Wilpon Complex), 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 30 -- vs. Minnesota (Wilpon Complex), 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 1 -- vs. Minnesota (Wilpon Complex), Noon