Wolverines Shut Out Minnesota in Five Innings to Even Weekend Series

Saturday, May 3

Minneapolis, Minn.

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

33-19, 10-11

Minnesota

20-29, 5-16

Michigan

Minnesota

Maddie Erickson (Michigan Photography)

Wolverines Shut Out Minnesota in Five Innings to Even Weekend Series

5/3/2025 5:02:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan scored runs in all but one inning en route to an 8-0, five-inning win against Minnesota.
» Maddie Erickson posted two-run hits in both the first and third innings; Ella Stephenson went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
» Lauren Derkowski earned her fifth complete-game shutout of the season with two strikeouts, five hits and one walk allowed.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Michigan softball team bounced back in a big way to even its weekend series with Minnesota, scoring in all but one inning en route to an 8-0, five-inning decision against the Golden Gophers on Saturday afternoon (May 3) at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.

Junior third baseman Maddie Erickson posted two hits and drove in four of Michigan's first five runs over the first and third innings; sophomore right fielder Ella Stephenson went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead the Wolverine offense.

Senior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski (13-12) struck out two and allowed five hits and one walk en route to her fifth complete-game shutout of the season.

Michigan (33-19, 10-11 Big Ten) scored three runs on three hits in the first inning -- quickly matching its hit total from the day before. The Wolverines twice loaded the bases, pushing across their first run on a sacrifice fly, then a laced two-run Erickson single to left-center with two outs.

Erickson came through with another two-run single with two outs in the fifth inning. Stephenson looped a single into shallow left, senior left fielder Ellie Sieler laced a two-out single past the Gopher pitcher and up the middle, and Erickson plated both with a gapper to right center.

The Wolverines scored two more in the fourth inning on RBI hits from sophomore center fielder Jenissa Conway, who hammered a double to the left-center-field wall, and Stephenson on a bloop single to shallow left-center. Junior first baseman Madi Ramey closed out scoring -- and pushed U-M to run-rule territory -- with a skied two-out solo homer to right-center in the top of the fifth. It was her sixth long ball of the season.

The Gophers' best scoring chance came in the fourth inning when they used a pair of singles and a throwing error to put runners on the corners with two outs. Derkowski responded with a four-pitch swinging strikeout to strand both.

Michigan also turned two double plays, including one to end the game in the fifth. The Gophers (20-29, 5-16 Big Ten) overturned the second out when a ball down the third-base line was ruled foul on review. The Minnesota batter instead flied out to left and, when the runner occupying first advanced to second without tagging up, Michigan easily doubled her off at first base.

The Wolverines will wrap up their regular season on Sunday (May 4) with a noon CT rubber game at Minnesota's Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The finale will be streamed live on B1G+.