Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines to Host Rival Ohio State for Final Regular-Season Weekend
5/1/2024 4:23:00 PM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (37-14, 17-3 Big Ten) will close out the 2024 regular season this weekend when it hosts rival Ohio State (29-18, 10-10 Big Ten) for a three-game set at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium. The teams will square off at 6 p.m. on Friday (May 3), 2 p.m. on Saturday (May 4) and 1 p.m. on Sunday (May 5). Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on B1G+, while Sunday's game will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
Notes
• Michigan lists second in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 17-3 record, just a half game behind first-place Northwestern (17-2), which only got two of three games in at Nebraska last weekend. 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 five of its six weekend series this season as well as its home-and-home series against in-state rival Michigan State.
• The Wolverines are 13-0 at home this season, including Big Ten sweeps against Purdue, Iowa and Nebraska. U-M is batting .334 at home so far this season -- with 23 home runs -- with a 2.33 earned-run average, outscoring its opposition 92-39 over the 13 games.
• Junior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski was named both the D1Softball National and Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week after posting a 2-0 record last week with a 0.88 ERA, 21 strikeouts and just eight hits allowed over 16 innings pitched against Penn State (April 26-28). She tossed a three-hit shutout in the series opener with nine strikeouts and closed the weekend with a season-high 12 strikeouts and five hits allowed over a complete-game, nine-inning win in the series finale.
• Graduate student RHP Hannah George earned Michigan's other win at PSU in relief, entering in the second inning and allowing just one run on three hits and a walk over the final 4.2 innings. George has earned wins in six of the Wolverines' last 11 games -- the first of her Michigan career and all in relief. She claimed two wins apiece in U-M's home series against Iowa and Nebraska. Over the last 11 games and in addition to her six wins, George boasts a 1.02 ERA and nine strikeouts over 20.2 innings.
• Freshman outfielder Ella Stephenson was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week -- for the fourth time in five weeks -- after leading the Wolverines with a .429 batting average with three runs, three extra-base hits and six RBI last week with four wins over Oakland and Penn State. She posted three hits and four RBI in the midweek matchup at Oakland and posted two doubles and two RBI in the second PSU slate.
• Over the last five weeks, a stretch of 19 games dating back to the Indiana series (March 29-31), Stephenson boasts a team-best .409 batting average (27-for-66) with 13 extra-base hits, including nine doubles and three triples, and 24 RBI. Stephenson opened her rookie campaign with a .167 average (9-for-54) over the first 22 games of the season.
• Sophomore third baseman Maddie Erickson owns a career high with a .363 batting average -- a 128-point improvement on her average last season -- and owns a .619 slugging percentage (13 doubles, 10 home runs) and a team-best 61 hits and 40 RBI. She knocked out a pair of solo homers last weekend at Penn State.
• Junior outfielder Ellie Sieler went 5-for-7 over the Wolverines' two midweek games last week with a home run, double and four RBI. She ranks second on the team with a .364 batting average -- a 77-point improvement over her previous career high (.287). She already owns career highs in runs (42), hits (56) and RBI (18) from the leadoff spot. She has reached base nine of the 13 times she led off an inning over the last seven games, including a 7-for-7 effort in the Nebraska series.
• The Wolverines posted five home runs in the Penn State series, including three in Saturday's run-rule win, and with 54 total homers on the season, Michigan already owns its most since belting 56 in 2019. Ten different Wolverine players have homered this season, most notably senior first baseman Keke Tholl, who leads the team with a career-best 13 long balls, including three at Michigan State (April 9) to tie U-M's single-game record.
• Ohio State is 29-18 on the season and 10-10 in Big Ten play after claiming two of three games at home against Illinois last weekend (April 26-28). Its 11-6 loss in the series finale snapped a nine-game OSU winning streak. The Buckeyes carry a .305 team batting average with a .510 slugging percentage and .392 on-base percentage, while the pitching staff has a combined 3.94 ERA. Michigan leads the all-time series against Ohio State, 103-27, dating back to 1979, but the Buckeyes won two of three games in last season's series in Columbus.
