Wolverines Host Toledo, Indiana for Four-Game Homestand

» Michigan will play four home games this week, hosting Toledo at 4 p.m. on Wednesday (April 3) before welcoming Indiana for a three-game weekend set at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field.
» The Wolverines have won each of their last 11 games -- their longest win streak of the season -- with a 96-10 scoring margin over the stretch.
» Alex Sobczak was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week after hitting .667 with three homers -- one in each game against Rutgers -- through four games last week.

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan softball team (23-10, 6-0 Big Ten) returns home for a four-game homestand this week at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. The Wolverines kick off the slate with a midweek matchup against Toledo (10-18) at 4 p.m. on Wednesday (April 3) before welcoming Indiana (28-10, 3-3 Big Ten) for a three-game weekend set. U-M will host the Hoosiers at 5 p.m. on Friday (April 5), 2 p.m. on Saturday (April 6) and 1 p.m. on Sunday (April 7).

• Michigan has won each of its last 11 games -- its longest winning streak of the season -- by a combined 96-10 margin. The Wolverines have boasted a .385 team batting average over the 11-game stretch with a 1.06 combined earned-run average and .144 opposing average.

• The Wolverines are 7-0 at home this season, highlighted by series sweeps against Kent State and Nebraska. U-M boasts a stellar 569-136-1 home record at Alumni Field since its 1982 construction. Last season, Michigan went 14-2 at Alumni Field.

• Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week after leading the Wolverines with a .667 batting average, .714 on-base percentage and 1.500 slugging percentage in wins against Central Michigan and Rutgers last week. She tallied a home run in all three games against Rutgers, going 6-for-9 in the series with nine RBI.

• Freshman outfielder Lexie Blair netted her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolade in three weeks after posting a .583 batting average over four games last week, boasting a .688 on-base percentage and .917 slugging percentage in wins over Central Michigan and Rutgers. She posted eight runs scored and four RBI in the Rutgers series. Her four runs scored in the series opener was the most by a Wolverine player in two seasons.

• Blair is on a career-long 11-game hitting streak, neatly matching the Wolverines' current win streak. The Wolverine rookie has batted .625 (20-for-32) over the stretch with 16 runs scored and 16 RBI. Blair leads Michigan with a .407 batting average on the season.

• Michigan has belted out 18 home runs over its last 11 games, including four last weekend at Rutgers -- three off the bat of Sobczak, who now leads the Wolverines with a career-best six homers. In its last home appearance, U-M posted back-to-back-to-back homers in the third inning of the Nebraska series finale -- the first time the Wolverines posted home runs in three straight at-bats since the 2001 season. U-M also recorded three homers in the sixth inning of the KSU series finale.

• Sobczak and senior designated player Mackenzie Nemitz are having big breakout years in their final season at Michigan. Sobczak owns a career-best .385 batting average -- a 127-point improvement over her previous best average in 2016 -- and similarly already owns career bests in runs (19), hits (25), home runs (six) and RBI (21). Nemitz, after only earning one hit and seven total plate appearances over her first three seasons -- she missed all of 2017 with injury -- has a .283 batting average with 15 hits, three homers and 16 RBI.

• Sophomore left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien saw her scoreless inning streak halted at 32 in the Rutgers series opener last Friday (March 29), but she responded with 7.2 scoreless innings in her final two appearances of the weekend. Stretching back to the Wolverines' home opener against Kent State (March 14), Beaubien has posted a 7-0 record with three saves, a 0.33 earned-run average, 51 strikeouts and a .154 opposing average.

• Michigan is the reigning conference regular-season champion. U-M, which reclaimed the league's top spot last year after a one-year hiatus, has captured 20 of the last 27 Big Ten regular-season crowns, including 10 of the last 11. The Wolverines posted an 18-3 league record in 2018, finishing one game ahead of second-place Minnesota, and outscored their Big Ten opponents, 134-31.