Michigan to Close Regular Season With Three-Game Set at Minnesota

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (31-18, 9-10 Big Ten) will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for its final regular-season series this weekend at Minnesota (19-28, 4-15 Big Ten). The teams will square off at 6 p.m. CT on Friday (May 2), 1 p.m. CT on Saturday (May 3) and noon CT on Sunday (May 4) at U.S. Bank Stadium. All three games will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Junior second baseman Indiana Langford leads the Wolverines with a career-high .407 batting average, a 78-point jump from her 2023 average (.329) when she earned All-Big Ten second-team honors. Over the Wolverines' last 10 games, she owns a team-best .455 and .538 on-base percentage. Langford has batted leadoff over the last 36 games and has reached base more than half the time when leading off an inning (.541, 33-for-61).

• Freshman designated player Lauren Putz ranks second on the team with a .401 batting average and leads with a .486 on-base percentage. After a brief lull in her offensive numbers, Putz has posted multiple hits in four of the last seven games, including a 3-for-4, three-RBI effort in the finale against UCLA. Putz also belted her first homer in 17 games in the UCLA finale; she ranks second on the team with 12 long balls.

• Putz was among the top 25 for the 2025 NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year. Wolverine alum Lexie Blair was named a top-10 finalist in 2019, while Meghan Beaubien made the final top-three cut in 2018. Putz ranks among the top 15 nationally in numerous freshman offensive statistics and leads all Big Ten freshmen in runs per game (.94), total hits (59) and doubles (14).

• Michigan earned home runs from four players in its UCLA finale. Twelve Wolverines have posted at least one homer this season, and Michigan has totaled 59 homers over the season -- just four shy of its 2024 total (63), which was the most hit in a season since 2016 (86). Sophomore outfielder Jenissa Conway leads U-M with a career-high 16 homers and boasts three multi-homer games.

• Conway has been lights out over the second half of the season, boasting a .507 batting average, 1.029 slugging percentage -- on seven doubles, a triple and nine homers -- and a .541 on-base percentage over the last 20 games. With the surge, she has improved her season batting average to .379, a 143-point improvement over her rookie-season average (.236).

• Senior outfielder Ellie Sieler led the Wolverines over the three-game UCLA series, batting .500 (4-for-8) with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in her final home games at Alumni Field.

• Sophomore right-handed pitcher Erin Hoehn (16-2) ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 39th nationally with a career-high 16 wins, surpassing her 2024 total of 15. She earned her 16th win in U-M's 11-3 (6 inn.) run-rule decision over Rutgers (April 14), allowing three runs on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 5.1 innings.

• Michigan ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 26th nationally with 11 shutout wins. Senior RHP Lauren Derkowski owns four complete-game shutouts, ranking third in the conference and 31st in the country, and has combined for three more. Derkowski also boasts a career-high five saves this season to share the conference lead.

• Derkowski earned five strikeouts over two outings against UCLA to up her total to 629 over four seasons. She recently surpassed Sara Griffin (602, 1995-98) to move into the ninth spot among U-M's all-time leaders in the category and is 85 shy of the eighth spot, currently held by Lorilyn Wilson (714 in 2004-07). Jordan Taylor (2008-11) holds Michigan's program record with 1,220 strikeouts.

• Senior RHP Emerson Aiken has appeared in three of the Wolverines' last four games and earned her first collegiate win against Oakland last Tuesday (April 22) with three strikeouts, one hit and one walk allowed through two scoreless relief innings. She also threw three innings across two relief appearances against UCLA.