Wolverines to Hit the Road for Four Games This Week

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (33-14, 14-3 Big Ten) will wrap up the road portion of its 2024 regular-season schedule with four games this week. The Wolverines will travel to Rochester, Mich., to face Oakland (21-13) at 3 p.m. on Tuesday (April 23) before hitting the road for a three-game weekend series at Penn State (32-12, 11-6 Big Ten) in State College, Pa. Michigan and PSU will play at 5 p.m. Friday (April 26), 1 p.m. on Saturday (April 27) and 2 p.m. on Sunday (April 28) at Nittany Lion Softball Park. All three games against PSU will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan lists second in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 14-3 record, just one game behind first-place Northwestern. The Wolverines opened conference play with six straight wins, the program's best Big Ten start since going 11-0 to kick off the 2019 Big Ten schedule. Michigan has swept four of its five weekend series this season as well as its home-and-home series against in-state rival Michigan State.

• Freshman outfielder Ella Stephenson was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday (April 22) -- for the third time in four weeks -- after leading the Wolverines with a .462 batting average (6-for-13) with a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage in wins against Michigan State and Nebraska last week. She posted three extra-base hits and seven RBI. She posted two hits and two RBI in the midweek win over MSU and tallied a career-high three hits and five RBI in the series finale against Nebraska with two triples and the game-ending homer in the sixth inning.

• With Stephenson's two-triple performance -- in consecutive at-bats in the third and fourth innings -- in the Nebraska series finale, she became the first Wolverine player to record two triples in a game since Traci Conrad against Texas A&M on Feb. 27, 1998.

• Junior outfielder Ellie Sieler batted .667 (6-for-9) in the Nebraska series with five runs scored and two RBI. She reached base all seven times she led off an inning over the series with three singles, a double, a home run, a hit-by-pitch and a walk -- the two extra-base hits came in the first inning. Sieler leads the team with a .374 batting average -- a 87-point improvement over her previous career high (.287). She already owns career highs in runs (40), hits (52) and RBI (17).

• Oakland is 21-13 on the season and has won six consecutive games, including a doubleheader sweep, 4-2 and 5-0, at home against IUPUI last Wednesday (April 17). The Golden Grizzlies carry a .274 team average with a .377 slugging percentage and .344 on-base percentage, while the pitching staff has a combined 3.42 earned-run average. Michigan is 10-0 in the all-time series against Oakland, including a 2-0 win earlier this season.

• In their previous season meeting, the Wolverines earned a 2-0 win over Oakland in their home opener on March 19, earning solo homers from freshmen Jenissa Conway and Ava Costales, while junior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski fanned seven in a three-hit shutout.

• Penn State owns a 32-12 on the season and is 11-6 in Big Ten play after winning two of three series games at Wisconsin (3-1, 3-17 [five innings], 10-2) last weekend. The Nittany Lions have a .295 team average with a .497 slugging percentage and .366 on-base percentage, while the pitching staff has a combined 3.37 ERA. Michigan is 75-9 all-time against PSU, but dropped the most recent meeting -- a 3-2 heartbreaker in the first round of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament after not playing during the regular season.