Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines to Open Postseason Play Against Ohio State in B1G Tournament
5/4/2026 2:10:00 PM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (33-19, 11-13 Big Ten) will open postseason play at the Big Ten Conference Tournament this weekend in College Park, Md. With the No. 9 seed, the Wolverines will face No. 8 seed Ohio State (26-26, 13-11 Big Ten) in the first round at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday (May 6). All games will be held at Maryland Softball Stadium and aired live on Big Ten Network.
Notes
• The two-time reigning Big Ten Tournament champion, the Wolverines have won the league tournament 12 of the 26 times it has been contested -- with a program record of 53-19 at the event. Michigan has reached the championship game in four of the last five years, also winning in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the event for two years and again reached the final in 2022, falling to Nebraska 3-1 in eight innings.
• In all, Michigan ranks first in Big Ten history in tournament titles (12), championship game appearances (18), overall wins (53) and win percentage (.736).
• Michigan captured its second straight Big Ten Tournament title in 2025 with a 4-0 record and as the No. 8 seed -- tied for the lowest seed to win in conference history. The Wolverines shut out a pair of top-10 opponents with a 5-0 win against No. 4-ranked Oregon in the quarterfinals and a 2-0 win over No. 9 UCLA in the championship game.
Michigan broke up a pitchers' duel in the sixth inning of the championship game when outfielders Jenissa Conway and Ella Stephenson posted back-to-back RBI hits. Right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski allowed just three hits and two walks over five innings, while RHP Erin Hoehn entered with one on and no outs and in the sixth and retired all six Bruins she faced.
• Michigan claimed the regular-season series against Ohio State this season, winning 10-8 and 11-2 (6 inn.) before falling 13-2 (5 inn.) in the finale. Conway hit a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh -- after OSU took the lead in the top half -- in the finale. Stephenson boasted three doubles and redshirt junior Lilly Vallimont knocked out a game-ending grand slam in the second game.
• The Wolverines closed out the regular season with a three-game series sweep at rival Michigan State -- U-M's first sweep in Big Ten play this season. Sophomore outfielder Lauren Putz and Conway both batted .556 (5-for-9) to lead the offense, while Hoehn and junior RHP Gabby Ellis combined for a 0.70 earned-run average, allowing just one run per game.
• Michigan belted five homers over the three-game MSU series last weekend. Ten Wolverines have posted at least one homer this season, and Michigan has totaled 73 homers 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 in the MSU series opener. Of Michigan's seven home run leaders, five have posted career highs.
• With her two-homer, four-RBI performance last Friday, Putz moved to third place 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 sixth in RBI per game (1.51), 10th in slugging percentage (1.020), 14th in on-base percentage (.563) and 15th with her .454 batting average -- a 68-point improvement on her rookie season average.
• Stephenson has batted .337 over the second half of the season, ranking second only to Putz with a .469 average over the same 26-game stretch -- and improved her season batting average by 91 points -- from .246 to .337.
• 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 .336 batting average and second with a .456 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot.
• Freshman shortstop Kiley Carr delivered a couple of big hits for the Wolverines the last two weekends, posting a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning to push Michigan past Indiana, 9-8, on April 25 and providing big insurance with a leadoff homer in the seventh inning in U-M's 3-1 win at Michigan State last Sunday. Carr has started 15 of the last 16 games at shortstop and batted .325 (13-for-40) over the stretch with six RBI.
• Junior RHP Gabby Ellis closed out the regular season with back-to-back complete-game wins at MSU last weekend, allowing just one earned run on three hits and six walks with five strikeouts over 13 total innings pitched.
