Three Wolverines Named to NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Teams
5/19/2022 2:29:00 PM | Softball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Michigan softball team placed three players on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region teams, the organization announced Thursday (May 19). Senior right-handed pitcher Alex Storako was named to the all-region first team, while senior outfielder Lexie Blair and graduate student outfielder Kristina Burkhardt garnered second-team honors.
The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association's 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member head coaches from each respective region voted on the teams, and all student-athletes now become eligible for the 2022 NFCA Division I All-America squads. The 2022 NFCA Division I All-America teams will be announced on Wednesday, June 1.
Storako, a 2021 NFCA second team All-American, owns a 23-8 record with a 1.69 earned-run average, nine shutouts, 284 strikeouts and a .166 opponent batting average. She ranks among the nation's leaders in several statistical categories, listing ninth with a 10.9 strikeouts-per-game average -- a category she led the nation in last season -- eighth in shutouts and 12th in wins. Storako repeated on the All-Big Ten first team this season; she also was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2021.
Blair, now a three-time NFCA all-region selection, adding to her first-team nods in 2019 and 2021, owns a .336 batting average on the season with 22 runs, 21 RBI and 14 extra-base hits. She missed time after suffering an injury early during the Big Ten season and, after returning to the lineup as a first baseman, has batted .394 with six extra-base hits and eight RBI over 11 games. Blair, the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year, is also a three-time All-Big Ten first team honoree.
Burkhardt has led U-M from the plate since the first weekend of the season and enters the NCAA Tournament with a .372 batting average, 38 runs and 27 RBI. She ranks top 10 nationally in both doubles (20) and triples (seven) -- the latter the most by a Wolverine player since 1993. Previously a two-time All-ACC honoree during her undergraduate career at North Carolina, it is her first career all-region selection.
The 20th-ranked Wolverines will kick off NCAA Regional play against South Dakota State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday (May 20) at the UCF Softball Complex in Orlando, Fla.
