Wolverines Rally, Power Past Wisconsin into B1G Championship Game

Friday, May 10

Iowa City, Iowa

6:30 PM CT

Michigan

40-16

Wisconsin

21-31

Wisconsin

Michigan

U-M following Friday night’s win (Joseph Cress / Big Ten Conference)

Wolverines Rally, Power Past Wisconsin into B1G Championship Game

5/10/2024 11:59:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan rallied from an early deficit and held on late to earn a 6-4 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
» Maddie Erickson and Keke Tholl each posted a home run and a double; Tholl led U-M with four RBI.
» RHP Lauren Derkowski allowed four runs on four hits and seven walks and struck out 11 Badgers.

IOWA CITY, IOWA -- The University of Michigan softball team used a pair of home runs to rally from an initial deficit and defeat Wisconsin, 6-4, in the Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday evening (May 10) at Iowa's Bob Pearl Field.

Michigan (40-16) will face No. 8 seed Indiana in the tournament championship game tomorrow (Saturday, May 11). The final is slated for a 3 p.m. CT start at Pearl Field. U-M is seeking its 11th tournament title in program history and first since 2019.

The Badgers took the first lead on a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, but Michigan responded in kind in the home half as sophomore third baseman Maddie Erickson followed a one-out walk with a two-run bomb of her own to exact same location to centerfield. Erickson went 2-for-3 in the game; it was her 11th home run of the season.

Erickson roped a leadoff double off the rightfield wall to key the Wolverines' next scoring inning in the fourth, and senior first baseman Keke Tholl followed suit with a double hard off the centerfield wall to push across the go-ahead run.

Tholl added some big insurance late with her 15th home run of the season in the fifth, taking advantage of back-to-back walks to lead off the inning -- then rallying after consecutive strikeouts -- with a towering three-run blast deep to leftfield. Tholl, like Erickson, posted a double and a home run and led the Wolverines with four RBI.

Wisconsin narrowed the final score with a pair of two-out runs in the top of the seventh, scoring on RBI singles to left center and right center before a popout to first base stranded two, including the game-tying run on first. The Badgers stranded six total in the game.

Junior RHP Lauren Derkowski (18-8) was solid from the circle but struggled with walks, allowing four runs on four hits and seven walks while striking out 11 Badger batters -- her third game this season with double-digit strikeouts. It was Derkowski's second complete-game win of the tournament.