Wolverines to Wrap Early Tournament Slate at Mizzou Invitational

SCHEDULE UPDATE: Due to inclement weather in the Columbia area, Friday night's (March 14) game against Missouri was postponed. It has been rescheduled for Saturday (March 15) at 9 a.m. CT.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (18-7) will wrap up its early-season tournament slate this weekend (Fri-Sat., March 14-15) at the Mizzou Invitational in Columbia, Mo. The Wolverines will face Princeton (4-9) at 12:30 p.m. CT and host Missouri (11-13) at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday before taking on South Dakota State (10-13) at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. All three games will be played at the Tigers' Mizzou Softball Stadium, with Friday's game against Missouri streaming live on SEC Network+.

Notes

• The Wolverines will reunite this weekend with recent graduate Keke Tholl, who is in her first year as Missouri's graduate assistant. Tholl is pursuing an MBA degree from Missouri. She was a 2024 All-Big Ten first-team selection and twice named to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region teams.

• Michigan batted .308 as a team over its 12-game spring break trip and outscored its opposition 77-16. The Wolverines boasted 31 extra-base hits, including 18 home runs, for a team .532 slugging percentage. Six players registered batting averages of .320 or better.

• Freshman designated player Lauren Putz led Michigan with a .469 batting average over its 12-game spring break trip, boasting a .969 slugging percentage and .553 on-base percentage. She posted four doubles and double homers and 13 RBI.

• Putz also leads Michigan with a .391 batting average on the season as well as her .797 slugging percentage (five doubles, one triple, seven homers) and a .500 on-base percentage. She has posted three multi-homer games this season and six multi-RBI games, including two games with five RBI, and ranks eighth in the conference -- 47th in the country -- with 26 runs scored.

• Michigan knocked out 12 homers over its four games at UNC Greensboro last weekend, including three apiece from junior third baseman Maddie Erickson and sophomore outfielder Ella Stephenson. U-M posted six homers in its second game against North Carolina Central, the program's most in a game since similarly tallying six last season against Toledo. Michigan now owns 26 total homers on the season. Putz leads the Wolverines with seven, while Stephenson boasts six.

• Michigan's pitchers combined for a 1.04 earned-run average over spring break last week, allowing 16 runs -- and just 11 earned -- over 74 total innings pitched and with 65 strikeouts and a .170 average against.

• Sophomore right-handed pitcher Erin Hoehn posted a 4-0 mark over spring break with a 0.51 ERA, 26 strikeouts and a .174 average against over 27.1 innings pitched. She contributed to two shutouts and closed out the trip with 15.2 scoreless innings.

• Freshman RHP Kat Meyers retired 15 straight batters against North Carolina Central to earn the ninth perfect game in Michigan program history in her first collegiate start. She posted six strikeouts over five innings, including two apiece in the second, third and fifth innings, with back-to-back swinging strikeouts to close out the game. It was Michigan's first since Sarah Schaefer in 2018. Meghan Beaubien also tossed a no-hitter in her first collegiate start in 2018, throwing an 11-strikeout, six-inning no-no against Georgia State.

• Michigan leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally with nine shutout wins on the season. Senior RHP Lauren Derkowski owns three of them, ranking second in the conference and 11th in the country, and has combined for three more.

• Derkowski also ranks eighth among the nation's leaders with eight complete games this season and 23rd with 75.1 innings pitched. Hoehn ranks seventh nationally with 10 wins already this season. She posted 15 wins as a rookie last season.