Michigan
Kansas City
Wolverines to Return to Tampa, USF Invite for 2022 Season Kickoff
2/9/2022 4:08:00 PM | Softball
» No. 16 Michigan will kick off its 45th season of intercollegiate play at the annual USF-Rawlings Invitational with a five-game slate in Tampa, Fla.
» The Wolverines return 13 letterwinners from last season's squad, including Al-America pitchers Meghan Beaubien and Alex Storako and Big Ten Player of the Year Lexie Blair.
» Head coach Carol Hutchins is in her 38th season at the helm of the Michigan program and, with a record of 1,669-533-5, is just five wins shy of retaking the mantle as the winningest coach in NCAA softball history.
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun., Feb. 11-13 -- at USF-Rawlings Invitational (Tampa, Fla.)
Friday, Feb. 11 -- vs. Kansas City, 10 a.m.
Live Stats | WCBN Audio
Friday, Feb. 11 -- vs. Illinois State, 12:30 p.m.
Live Stats | WCBN Audio
Saturday, Feb. 12 -- vs. #6 Florida, 1 p.m.
Live Stats | WCBN Audio
Saturday, Feb. 12 -- at South Florida, 3:30 p.m.
Live Stats | WCBN Audio | Live Video
Sunday, Feb. 13 -- vs. Kansas City, 9:30 a.m.
Live Stats
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan softball team (0-0) will return to the annual USF-Rawlings Invitational this weekend in Tampa, Fla., to kick off its 45th season of intercollegiate play. After a season of conference-only play, the Wolverines will open up against four non-conference opponents, facing Kansas at 10 a.m. and Illinois State at 12:30 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 11), continuing against No. 6 Florida (1 p.m.) and host South Florida (3:30 p.m.) on Saturday (Feb. 12) and wrapping up with a 9:30 a.m. slate against Kansas City on Sunday (Feb. 13). All games will be held at USF Softball Stadium.
• Head coach Carol Hutchins is in her 38th season at the helm of the Wolverines. She has compiled a 1,669-533-5 record over her 38 overall seasons as an NCAA head coach. Hutchins is poised to retake the mantle as the winningest coach in NCAA softball history, entering the season just five wins shy of Arizona's Mike Candrea (1,674-436-2), the Hall of Famer and eight-time NCAA champion who retired from coaching last spring.
• Associate head coach Bonnie Tholl enters her 29th season with U-M and 20th as associate head coach, assistant Jennifer Brundage is in her 24th season and former Wolverine Faith Canfield, a two-time NFCA All-American at second base (2016-19), joins the staff this season as volunteer coach. The coaching trio of Hutchins, Tholl and Brundage have led Michigan to a 1,081-270-4 record (.799) over the last 23 seasons.
• U-M returns 13 letterwinners from its 2021 squad, including two starting pitchers and four starting position players. Among their notable returnees are All-America pitchers in graduate student left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien and senior right-handed pitcher Alex Storako, who also was named the 2021 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, senior outfielder Lexie Blair, who garnered Big Ten Player of the Year honors last season, and fifth-year senior third baseman and All-Big Ten first team honoree Taylor Bump.
• Michigan led the nation in 2021 with a 1.23 team earned-run average and a 10.76 strikeouts-per-seven-inning average. Individually, Storako, a 2021 NFCA second team All-American, also led the nation with a 12.9 strikeout average and ranked seventh with a 1.05 ERA, while Beaubien listed 14th nationally with a 1.24 ERA and ranked 28th with 9.3 strikeouts per game. U-M previously led the nation in 2008 when All-Americans Nikki Nemitz and Jordan Taylor combined for a 0.88 ERA.
• Blair was named the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year after posting a .406 batting average, .632 slugging percentage and .465 on-base percentage. She tallied 15 doubles, a triple, six homers and 25 runs batted in. Blair, who also earned All-Big Ten first team honors as a freshman (2019), became the 20th Big Ten Player of the Year award in Michigan program history, becoming the 14th different Wolverine to claim the honor -- and first since Sierra Romero won her third in 2016.
• Bump boasted a big breakout year as a fourth-year senior last season, ranked among the Wolverines' top hitters with a career-best .325 average -- a 118-point improvement over her previous best as a sophomore (2019). She led the team with 12 homers and ranked second with 31 RBI and a .675 slugging percentage.
• Michigan welcomed a pair of veteran graduate transfers this season in outfielder Kristina Burkhardt and utility player Melina Livingston. Burkhardt was a two-time All-ACC selection, including a first teamer in 2019, at North Carolina and started 174 games in the outfield for the Tar Heels. She led UNC with a .333 batting average last season and ranks among the program's career stolen bases leaders (52). Livingston appeared in multiple positions at Penn State, earning 103 starts between shortstop, the outfield and third base. She was also PSU's leader hitter in 2021 and posted a .293 batting average over her three seasons.
• U-M also welcomes a talented five-member freshman class that that includes five nationally-ranked prospects and was tabbed the nation's No. 11 recruiting class by Extra Inning Softball -- pitchers Emerson Aiken and Lauren Derkowski, pitcher/infielder Annabelle Widra, infielder Ella McVey and outfielder Ellie Sieler. All are expected to earn early playing time this season.
• Of the 50 games on the Wolverines' 2022 schedule, 11 feature opponents that reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, including two teams from the 2021 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma State and Florida State.
• Michigan is the three-time reigning Big Ten Conference champion, posting a 36-6 record in its conference-only regular season and finishing eight wins better than second-place Minnesota (28-12) in the final conference standings. The Wolverines have captured 22 of the last 29 Big Ten regular-season crowns, including 12 of the last 13, and without a Big Ten Tournament over the last two seasons, remain the reigning tournament champion as well.
Up Next
Fri-Sat., Feb. 18-19 -- at St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational (Clearwater, Fla.)
