Michigan
UNC Wilmington
Putz’s Two Homers Power U-M Past UNCW to Complete Perfect Weekend
3/2/2025 12:22:00 PM | Softball
» Michigan posted four solo home runs in a 9-3 win over UNC Wilmington in The Raleigh Times finale.
» Lauren Putz went 3-for-3 with two homers, four runs and two RBI; Jenissa Conway and Ella Stephenson also posted homer runs.
» Lauren Derkowski allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with a strikeout in the win; Erin Hoehn tossed three effective relief innings, adding two outs and giving up just one walk and one ball.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The University of Michigan softball team knocked out four home runs, including two from freshman designated player Lauren Putz, to earn a 9-3 decision against UNC Wilmington and complete a perfect weekend at The Raleigh Times on Sunday morning (March 2) at NC State's Dail Softball Stadium.
Putz went 3-for-3 with four runs and two RBI to headline the Wolverines' offensive effort. Michigan posted four solo home runs in all; sophomore outfielders Jenissa Conway and Ella Stephenson also went yard in the first and third innings, respectively.
Senior RHP Lauren Derkowski (5-3) earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits and two outs with one strikeout through four innings, while sophomore RHP Erin Hoehn earned the final nine outs, entering in the fourth and adding two strikeouts while allowing one hit and one walk.
Conway provided the Wolverines with an early lead, hammering a no-doubt solo shot deep over the wall in left centerfield in just the second at-bat of the game. It was her second homer of the weekend and third this season.
Michigan tacked on two more in the second inning. Putz led off with a single down the rightfield line, advanced on a sac bunt and wild pitch and scored when Junior first baseman Madi Ramey drove a line-drive single past the UNCW pitcher's head. Erickson came home on a wild pitch. Junior third baseman Indiana Langford kept it going with two outs, laying down a bunt single to beat the shift. Junior third baseman Maddie Erickson advanced to third on the hit and scored in the next at-bat on a wild pitch wide and to the backstop.
The Wolverines jumped all over a new UNCW pitcher in the third with back-to-back home runs. Stephenson drove the first pitch of the inning high into the netting above the leftfield wall for her third long ball of the season, while Putz, in the next at-bat, snuck a deep ball just over the wall in right for her fourth of the season. Putz went yard again in the fifth, with her fifth and Michigan's fourth of the day, on a solo no-doubter over the scoreboard beyond the rightfield wall.
The Seahawks cut the lead in half in the home half of the fifth, using a leadoff solo homer of their own to get on the board then an RBI triple to the rightfield corner to chase Derkowski from the circle. UNCW added one more after the pitching change on a double steal and errant throw home before Hoehn set down the next three batters to end the inning.
Ramey helped the Wolverines with insurance in the top of the seventh, plating Putz from second base with a double to the left center gap before Michigan took advantage of a UNCW error to tack on two more. The Seahawk bobbled a routine grounder with two outs, allowing Erickson to score from third then Ramey got caught in a rundown and dodged the tag on the line to reestablish the six-run lead.
Michigan (13-6) will remain in the Tar Heel State for its annual spring break trip over the next week and take on North Carolina for its first of back-to-back midweek games on at 5 p.m. Tuesday (March 4) at UNC's Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
