Michigan to Open B1G Play with Altered Home Set vs. Nebraska

Update: Saturday's series finale has been pushed back to 4 p.m. due to weather.

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The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan softball team (18-7, 0-0 Big Ten) will kick off Big Ten Conference play against Nebraska (19-9, 0-0 Big Ten) with a three-game series this weekend at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. The teams will play a modified schedule due to the weekend weather forecast with two games on Friday (March 25) at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and a 2 p.m. slate on Saturday (March 26).

• Michigan is the three-time reigning Big Ten champion, posting a 36-6 record in its conference-only regular season last year 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.

• Michigan is 5-1 at home this season after suffering its first home loss to Miami (Ohio), 7-3, on Wednesday (March 23). The Wolverines have batted .314 over their six home games with a 41-14 run differential. Four Michigan players have hit over .350, most notably senior outfielder Lexie Blair and senior catcher Hannah Carson with .400 averages over the six-game stretch.

• U-M's hitting success at home is the latest example of its continued offensive progress over the last month. Michigan batted .338 over its 10-game spring break trip (Feb. 25-March 5) -- a 99-point improvement over their .239 team batting average entering the Duke Invitational. Four different U-M hitters posted averages of .400 or better over the stretch: graduate students Kristina Burkhardt (.514) and Melina Livingston (.462), junior Lauren Esman (.458) and junior Audrey LeClair (.438).

• Michigan has also significantly improved its home run production with 17 over its last 16 games, including six over its six home games, after entering the spring-break trip with just one on the season. Seven different Wolverines have at least one homer this season, while sophomore Sierra Kersten leads the team with five long balls -- the first home runs of her collegiate career -- and Esman, Carson and sophomore Keke Tholl all have three.

• Burkhardt leads the nation with 15 doubles this season and, adding two triples, nearly half of her 38 total hits have gone for extra bases. She continues to lead the Wolverines at the plate with a career-best .458 average and boasts 19 runs batted in. She has recorded at least one hit in all but two games this season and currently owns a 14-game hitting streak.

• Senior RHP Alex Storako leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally with 13 wins already his season and lists eighth with 138 total strikeouts and seventh with a 12.3 strikeouts-per-seven-innings average. She owns eight double-digit strikeout games, including 16 last week against Oakland. Storako also led the nation last season with a 12.9 strikeout average, while the Michigan staff posted the nation's top team mark with a 10.76 strikeout average.

Last Time Out

Michigan split a pair of midweek games this weekend, earning a 9-1, six-inning win over Western Michigan on Tuesday (March 22) before falling to Miami (Ohio), 7-2, on Wednesday (March 23). » Recaps: WMU | Miami

Up Next

Tuesday, March 29 -- vs. Bowling Green (Wilpon Complex), 4 p.m.