Wolverines Rally Past USF, Beat Kent State to Open South Florida Showdown

Friday, February 21

Tampa, Fla.

11:15 AM

Michigan

6-4

Kent State

3-8

Michigan

Kent State

Ella Stephenson (Michigan Photography)

Wolverines Rally Past USF, Beat Kent State to Open South Florida Showdown

2/21/2025 8:50:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan scored five unanswered runs to beat host USF 5-4 after rolling to an 8-3 win against Kent State in the weekend opener.
» Ella Stephenson plated the final three runs against USF, including a solo homer in the seventh, while Jenissa Conway boasted four hits and six RBI on the day.
» Erin Hoehn earned both wins from the circle, posting four shutout innings with just three hits allowed and two strikeouts against USF.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The University of Michigan softball team claimed its opening two games of the South Florida Showdown, cruising past Kent State 8-3 before rallying past host USF 5-4 on Friday (Feb. 21) in its return to USF Softball Stadium.

It was Michigan's second win this season against USF, which jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before the Wolverines scored five unanswered. Sophomore outfielder Ella Stephenson drove home Michigan's last three runs, including the game-winning solo homer in the top of the seventh inning.

Stephenson registered three hits and four RBI on the day, while fellow sophomore outfielder Jenissa Conway boasted two hits and three RBI in each game, including a two-run homer against Kent State.

Conway and Stephenson teamed up to knot the game in the fifth after Michigan loaded the bases with just one out. Conway yanked a two-run double down the right-field line and slid in for the tying run when Stephenson, just one pitch later, drilled a hard-grounded single past the USF shortstop and up the middle.

Michigan stranded two in scoring position in the sixth but came through in the final inning when Stephenson led off the seventh with her long ball to left-center that hit the top of the fence and bounced over. It was her second homer of the season.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Erin Hoehn (4-2) earned both wins from the circle and in a four-inning relief appearance against the host Bulls. She allowed no runs on three hits and a walk while striking out two. She retired USF in order in the bottom of the seventh, forcing two soft lineouts, including one back to the circle, and a flyout to right to close out the game.

Michigan jumped on Kent State early in the day's opener, earning a 2-0 lead just six pitches into the content. Ellie Sieler was hit by the game's first pitch and then scored when Conway roped a triple to the left-center gap -- her first three-bagger of the season. Conway came home two pitches later on a Stephenson single through the right side.

Sieler and Conway scored again in the fourth when the latter added her first homer of the season with a two-run rocket to right field.

The Golden Flashes strung together three hits with two outs to plate a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth before the teams traded a run apiece in the fifth. Michigan scored on junior/sophomore catcher Lilly Vallimont's RBI single, while KSU executed a double steal to again pull within two runs. Derkowski entered with no outs in the fifth and struck out three in a row.

Michigan used two singles and three walks to surge with three runs, all with two outs, in the sixth. The Wolverines worked the bases loaded, scored on a wild pitch then added two more on senior shortstop Ella McVey's looping two-run single to shallow left field. Junior second baseman Indiana Langford scored on the McVey hit after singling down the left-field line. She matched her career high with three hits in the game.

Kent State threatened with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth before Derkowski stranded all three with a clutch swinging strikeout and an unassisted groundout to first. KSU extended the seventh inning with a two-out single, but Derkowski still needed just nine pitches to close out the game.

Derkowski earned her first save of the season with five strikeouts, two hits and two walks allowed through three innings, while starter Hoehn recorded the victory after allowing two runs on five hits with a season-high seven strikeouts through four innings.

Michigan (7-4) will play two on Saturday (Feb. 22) to wrap up its appearance at the South Florida Showdown, taking on Louisville at 9 a.m. and Troy at 11:15 a.m. at USF Softball Stadium.