Michigan to Square Off with Kansas in Norman Regional Opener

Friday, May 15

Norman, Okla.

5:00 PM CT

Michigan

Kansas

(Michigan Photography)

Michigan to Square Off with Kansas in Norman Regional Opener

5/12/2026 4:51:00 PM | Softball

By: Leah Howard

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (34-20) will travel to Norman, Okla., to kick off NCAA Tournament play this weekend (Fri-Sun., May 15-17) at Oklahoma's Love's Field. The Wolverines will open play against Kansas (35-19) at 5 p.m. CT on Friday (May 15), live on ESPNU.

Notes

• Michigan is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance (1992-93, '95-2019, '21-22, '24-26) and returns this season for the third straight year. The Wolverines are 91-26 all-time in the NCAA Regional round and have won 18 regional titles.

• The winner of the Norman Regional will move on to a super regional against the winner of the regional being hosted by Oregon in Eugene. That regional consists of No. 14 overall seed Oregon, Mississippi State, Saint Mary's and Idaho State.

• Michigan faced off against Kansas earlier this season, rallying to a 4-2 win over the Jayhawks at the season-opening USF Invitational on Feb. 8. The Wolverines scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take their first lead in the contest. Sophomore right fielder Lauren Putz led off the frame with a game-tying solo shot before junior designated player Erin Hoehn lined an RBI single to shallow right field for the go-ahead run. Junior right-handed pitcher Gabby Ellis earned the victory in relief, entering with the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth and allowing no hits and just one baserunner -- on a seventh-inning walk -- over the final three innings.

• Putz was named a unanimous selection -- one of eight -- to the All-Big Ten first team. She batted .446 in conference play with a .851 slugging percentage and .564 on-base percentage and recorded 16 extra-base hits, including six homers, 29 runs and 30 RBI to rank among the Big Ten leaders in every offense category. She is the second member of her family to earn All-Big Ten honors, joining her mother Kelsey (Kollen) Putz, who was named to the first team three times -- in 1999, 2001 and 2002.

• Lauren Putz ranks third among Michigan's all-time single-season leaders in both home runs and RBI. She upped her home run tally to 21, just two shy of Sierra Romero's 2013 mark of 23, and with 74 RBI needs six more to reach Romero (83, 2015).

• Putz ranks among the nation's leaders in several offensive categories, listing 10th in RBI per game (1.43), 12th in slugging percentage (.987), 19th in on-base percentage (.554) and 35th with her .442 batting average -- a 56-point improvement on her rookie season average.

• Ellis has started each of the last four games for the Maize and Blue, posting a 3-1 record over the stretch with three complete games, a 1.62 earned-run average and a .190 average against. She earned her first complete-game shutout of the season in U-M's Big Ten Tournament opener against Ohio State with five hits and one walk allowed and a pair of strikeouts.

• Ten Wolverines have posted at least one homer this season, and Michigan has totaled 74 over the season -- the program's most in a season since 2016 (86). Putz leads U-M with a career-high 21 homers and boasts three multi-homer games, including two long balls in the Michigan State series opener. Of Michigan's seven home run leaders, five have posted career highs.

• Senior second baseman Janelle Ilacqua is enjoying a career year as a senior, boasting a .322 batting average with 26 runs and 15 RBI from the No. 9 spot in the order. Her average is a 52-point improvement on her previous career high (.270), which she recorded as a freshman. Ilacqua served primarily as a defensive specialist over the last two seasons, combining for just 30 total at-bats in 2024 and 2025. She posted three hits and two RBI in the Big Ten Tournament opener against Ohio State.

• Junior outfielder Ella Stephenson has batted .352 over the second half of the season, ranking second only to Putz with a .440 average over the same 27-game stretch -- after hitting .236 through the first 27 games of the season. Stephenson was U-M's top performer against Nebraska at the Big Ten Tournament, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI.

• Senior Indiana Langford has successfully reached base in all but one game since returning to the Wolverines' lineup at the start of the Wolverines' spring break trip after her early-season finger injury. Langford ranks fourth on the team with a .341 batting average and second with a .465 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot.