Weather Alters NKU Spring Classic, Wolverines to Play Sunday, Monday

SCHEDULE UPDATE (3/8/24 3 p.m.): Impending weather has altered the Wolverines' NKU Spring Classic schedule this weekend. U-M will now play Bowling Green at 1 p.m. and host Northern Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday (March 10) and Illinois State at 1 p.m. on Monday (March 11). Michigan's second scheduled game against BGSU has been canceled.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (11-9) will stay closer to home this weekend, traveling to Highlands Heights, Ky., for the NKU Spring Classic -- U-M's first of consecutive weekends in the Blue Grass State. U-M will face Bowling Green at 10 a.m. and host Northern Kentucky at 3 p.m. on Saturday (March 9) before Bowling Green at 10 a.m. and Illinois State at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday (March 10) at Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field.

Notes

• Michigan will have a reunion of sorts at the NKU Spring Classic with three Wolverine alums coaching for opposing teams. NKU head coach Kathryn Gleason is a 1996 Michigan graduate and was a member and, as a senior, captain of the Wolverines' first two Women's College World Series teams. Lexie Blair, the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year and a 2022 and 2023 Michigan graduate, is in her first season as an NKU assistant, while 2022 U-M alum Kristina Burkhardt is in her first season at Illinois State.

• Michigan and Illinois State will play for the second time this season. U-M used a late-inning surge to defeat the RedBirds 5-3 in its season opener at the USF-Rawlings Tournament (Feb. 9-11). Junior outfielder Ellie Sieler went 3-for-3 to lead the Wolverines offensively, while junior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski struck out nine while allowing three runs on six hits.

• After a four-game hitting lull at last weekend's Judi Garman Classic (Feb. 29-March 2), Michigan broke out with a 10-2, five-inning win over No. 13 Florida in its tournament finale. It was U-M's second win over the Gators this season. The Wolverines recorded 10 total hits with three players posting multi-hit efforts. Sophomore/freshman Lilly Vallimont led U-M with two hits, two runs and two RBI.

• Freshman RHP Erin Hoehn earned the win against Florida from the circle, holding the Gators scoreless through four innings and ultimately allowing two runs on seven hits, a walk and two HBP with a pair of strikeouts. She also registered a three-run double in the third inning.

• Sophomore third baseman Maddie Erickson leads the Wolverines with a .351 batting average -- currently a 113-point improvement from her rookie-year average -- along with a .596 slugging percentage and .383 on-base percentage. She owns three homers and 10 RBI and delivered several clutch hits for U-M already this spring, with the game-tying homer in the seventh inning against Oregon State (Feb. 11) and the game-winning homer against in the sixth inning against Sacramento State (Feb. 24).

• Michigan belted seven home runs at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament after entering the weekend with just two on the season. U-M posted two multi-homer games, including three in its second slate against Sacramento State, while three Wolverines tallied their first collegiate home runs -- Vallimont, sophomore Avery Fantucci and freshman Ella Stephenson. Senior Keke Tholl recorded a pair of late-inning home runs, including a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth against Northern Colorado.

• Vallimont boasted a big breakthrough weekend at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament with her .429 (6-for-14) weekend average. Vallimont, who missed all last season with injury, posted three multi-hit games and knocked out a pair of two-run homers over a three-game stretch against Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. She also delivered Michigan's walk-off RBI single -- which would have been a double had it not ended the game -- against Oregon State -- for her first collegiate hit.

• Derkowski leads the Wolverines with a 1.64 ERA and 54 strikeouts. She pitched a complete-game, 10-winning win against No. 17 Florida on her 21st birthday after allowing just one run -- and none earned -- off six hits and three walks while striking out four Gator batters and, in the rematch, entered to get the final out, a three-pitch strikeout.