Wolverines to Return to Road for Weekend Series at Northwestern

SCHEDULE UPDATE (4/5/24, 9:20 p.m.): Due to expected inclement weather in the Evanston area on Sunday, the Wolverines will play a doubleheader on Saturday. Game one is scheduled to begin at noon CST, with game two slated for 2:30 p.m. CST.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (24-11, 6-0 Big Ten) will return to the road this weekend, heading to Evanston, Ill., for a three-game series against Northwestern (19-8, 5-1 Big Ten) at Sharon Drysdale Field. The series kicks off at 5 p.m. CDT on Friday (April 5), resumes at 1 p.m. CDT on Saturday (April 6) and concludes with a noon CDT slate on Sunday (April 7). All three games will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan opened Big Ten play with back-to-back sweeps against Purdue and Indiana, and its 6-0 conference start is its best since opening the 2019 Big Ten schedule with an 11-0 record.

• Michigan's offense has been on a roll of late with a .353 team batting average, .673 slugging percentage and .433 on-base percentage over the last 10 games, coinciding with U-M's 10-game winning streak. The Wolverines have outscored their opposition 78-19 over the stretch. Six Wolverines have batted .360 or better, while sophomore Maddie Erickson (.444), junior Ellie Sieler (.438) and junior Ella McVey (.404) have all batted .400 or better over the last 10 games.

• The Wolverines have belted 21 home runs over their last 10 games, including five apiece from Erickson and senior Keke Tholl, who both tallied homers in the same four consecutive games last week. Seven different Wolverines have tallied homers over the stretch, including an inside-the-park home run from sophomore Indiana Langford. Erickson and Conway share the overall team lead with eight homers on the season.

• Tholl headlined the Wolverine offense last week with a .538 batting average, 1.308 slugging percentage and .625 on-base percentage in wins over Toledo and Indiana. She went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a second-inning leadoff homer in the series opener and homered and doubled to drive in the last two runs in the second game.

• Freshman outfielder Ella Stephenson earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Monday (April 1) after posting a .429 batting average (6-for-14) in U-M's wins against Toledo and Indiana, boasting two doubles, two runs and six RBI. She posted two RBI doubles in the Saturday game at Indiana and went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the Sunday finale. She is the second Wolverine freshman to earn the weekly distinction in three weeks, joining freshman Jenissa Conway.

• Sieler and Erickson share the team lead with a .366 batting average on the season. It is a career-high mark for both Wolverines -- a 131-point improvement for Erickson and a 79-point jump for Sieler.

• Freshman right-handed pitcher Erin Hoehn and junior RHP Lauren Derkowski have posted similar earned-run averages over the last 10 games, with Hoehn going 4-0 with a 1.58 ERA and Derkowski posting a 6-0 record with a 1.59 ERA. Derkowski ranks 49th nationally -- and third in the Big Ten -- with a 1.64 season ERA.

• Northwestern enters the weekend with a 19-8 overall record and is 5-1 in Big Ten play after claiming two of three games last weekend at Ohio State (March 29-31), winning the first two games 10-0 and 9-7 before dropping the series finale 6-0. The Wildcats carry a .280 team average with a .477 slugging percentage and .402 on-base percentage, while the pitching staff has a combined 2.24 ERA. Michigan is 80-39 in the all-time series against Northwestern and 6-4 over the last 10 meetings. The Wildcats claimed two of three games in Ann Arbor last season.