Wolverines to Face N.C. State, Notre Dame at ACC/Big Ten Challenge

THIS WEEK: ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE (Raleigh, N.C.)
Friday, Feb. 17 -- at N.C. State, 5 p.m.
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Saturday, Feb. 18 -- vs. Notre Dame, 10 a.m.
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Saturday, Feb. 18 -- at N.C. State, 3 p.m.
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Sunday, Feb. 19 -- vs. Notre Dame, 10 a.m.
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• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan softball team (3-2) will return to warm weather this weekend (Fri-Sun., Feb. 17-19), heading to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Dail Softball Stadium. The Wolverines will play two games apiece against host North Carolina State (2-3) and Notre Dame (3-2), kicking off play against the Wolfpack at 5 p.m. on Friday evening. Both NC State games will be streamed live on ESPN3.

• Michigan opened the season hitting .314 at the USF Wilson-Demarini Tournament with a .386 team slugging percentage and .402 on-base percentage. After a sluggish second day at the plate, the Wolverines pounded out 12 runs on 14 hits and four walks to earn their first run-rule decision of the season in the tournament finale vs. St. John's.

• Senior centerfielder Kelly Christner led Michigan with a .533 average over the first weekend, boasting a .611 on-base percentage and .733 slugging percentage. After tallying just one hit on opening day, she went 7-for-10 over the final three games, including 4-for-6 day with three doubles against No. 4 Florida and No. 24 USF. She also went 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and two stolen bases in the finale against St. John's.

• Michigan's sophomore class made its presence felt on opening day against Delaware and Illinois State as rightfielder Natalie Peters, catcher Alex Sobczak, leftfielder Courtney Richardson and second baseman Faith Canfield combined for 12 of U-M's 19 hits on the day and eight of its 10 RBI. Richardson belted a three-run homer in the Illinois State contest, while she and Peters tallied three hits apiece against Delaware.

• Michigan opened the season with a 1.80 ERA, 39 strikeouts and an opposing .220 average over five games at the USF Wilson-Demarini Tournament, holding four of its five opponents to two runs or less.

• Senior RHP Megan Betsa was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after posting a 0.41 ERA with 27 strikeouts over 17 innings pitched last weekend at the season-opening Wilson-Demarini Tournament. She threw a complete-game shutout in the opener against Delaware with 15 strikeouts -- just one shy of her single-game best -- before going the distance in a 10-inning marathon against No. 4 Florida, in which she threw 190 pitches, fanned 12 Gators and allowed just one earned run.

• Betsa currently ranks eighth nationally with 27 total strikeouts and lists 16th with 11.1 strikeouts per seven innings. She ranked third nationally in strikeouts per game in each of the last two seasons, posting 11 in 2015 and 10.5 in 2016.

• Betsa upped her career strikeout tally to 816 with her weekend effort and pulled within just 26 strikeouts of the fourth spot among U-M's all-time leaders in the category -- a position held by three-time All-American and current director of softball operations Nikki Nemitz (842, 2007-10).

• Junior RHP Tera Blanco posted a 2-1 record at the Wilson-Demarini Tournament, earning wins against Illinois State and St. John's, to already double her career win total. Blanco posted a couple career bests in the ISU game with eight strikeouts and three hits allowed through seven innings.

• Three Wolverine rookies made their collegiate debuts last weekend. Freshmen Madison Uden and Thais Gonzalez both recorded their first collegiate hits -- the latter with a two-run single against St. John's, while Haley Hoogenraad posted a stolen base and run scored.