Michigan
UCLA
Wolverines Kick Off Spring-Break Swing at Judi Garman Classic
2/27/2019 3:17:00 PM | Softball
» Michigan will make its 15th straight appearance at the Judi Garman Classic this week in Fullerton, California, where it will face No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 20 Oregon, No. 5 Washington and Cal State Northridge.
» The Wolverines are 50-19 all-time at the Judi Garman Classic, formerly the Kia Classic, and posted a perfect 5-0 mark at the event last season.
» Michigan showed marked improvement over its final three games of last weekend's LSU Invitational, raising its team batting average by 119 points while lowering its ERA by four runs compared to the tournament's first two games.
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun. March 1-3 -- at Judi Garman Classic (Fullerton, Calif.) | Tournament Central
Friday, March 1 -- vs. UCLA, 1:30 p.m. PST
Live Stats | FloSoftball
Saturday, March 2 -- vs. Tennessee, 2:30 p.m. PST
Live Stats | FloSoftball
Saturday, March 2 -- vs. Oregon, 5 p.m. PST
Live Stats | FloSoftball
Sunday, March 3 -- vs. Washington, 9 a.m. PST
Live Stats | FloSoftball
Sunday, March 3 -- vs. Cal State Northridge, 2 p.m. PST
Live Stats | FloSoftball
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Update: Due to anticipated rain this weekend in Fullerton, Michigan's Friday game vs. UCLA has been moved from noon to 1:30 p.m. PST. Saturday and Sunday's schedules remain unchanged, but are subject to change.
The University of Michigan softball team (6-8) will kick off its spring-break trip at the annual Judi Garman Classic this weekend in Fullerton, California. The Wolverines will open up against No. 2 UCLA (14-0) at 1:30 p.m. PST on Friday (March 1) then continue with games against No. 7 Tennessee (13-2) at 2:30 p.m. and No. 20 Oregon (11-4) at 5 p.m. PST on Saturday (March 2). Michigan will wrap up with games against No. 5 Washington (14-1) and Cal State Northridge (4-9) on Sunday (March 3). U-M will play its first four games on Field 1 at Anderson Family Field, while its finale against CSUN will be on Field 2.
• The Wolverines will make their 15th straight appearance at the Judi Garman Classic, formerly the Kia Classic. As a regular participant since 2005, Michigan has accumulated a 50-19 record over the stretch. U-M has posted perfect records only three times, going 6-0 in its 2005 appearance -- a feat that propelled the Wolverines to their first No. 1 ranking -- and 5-0 in 2016 and 2018. Among its victories at last season's Judi Garman appearance were back-to-back decisions against No. 8 Baylor (6-3) and No. 18 Louisiana Lafayette (3-1).
• The Wolverines will face four nationally-ranked opponents at this weekend's Judi Garman. After the tournament appearance, Michigan will have faced six top-10 opponents in No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 Washington, then-No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Tennessee, then-No. 7 Arizona and then-No. 9 LSU. Adding next weekend's slate at Arizona State, U-M will face five teams from the 2018 NCAA Women's College World Series over its non-conference schedule.
• The Wolverines struggled at last weekend's LSU Invitational, batting .219 as a team while posting a 2.62 earned-run average -- though just a .173 opposing average. Senior center fielder Natalie Peters paced Michigan with a .429 batting average.
• Michigan did show a marked improvement after the first day at the LSU Invitational, which included losses to Stanford (7-1) and the host Tigers (2-0), with a 119-point jump in its combined batting average and a four-run drop in its team ERA -- to just 1.05 over the last three games.
• Of the Wolverines' eight losses, only three have come with a margin of more than two runs, and in all three of those games -- against Florida (6-0), North Carolina (8-3) and Stanford (7-1) -- the opponent scored four or more runs in the last three innings. Michigan has outscored its opposition, 22-13, over the first three innings of games but has been outscored, 24-18, in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
• Sophomore left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien posted her fourth collegiate no-hitter against CSUN at the LSU Invitational, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning until a two-out hit-by-pitch spoiled the effort. In all, she allowed four baserunners on two HBP and two walks, and struck out seven. Beaubien was also a sixth-inning bunt single shy of a no-hitter against Louisville the previous weekend at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
