Michigan
Illinois State
Wolverines to Kick Off 2024 Campaign at Annual USF Tournament
2/6/2024 2:23:00 PM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (0-0) will return to the annual USF-Rawlings Tournament this weekend in Tampa, Fla., to kick off its 47th season of intercollegiate play. The Wolverines will open against five non-conference opponents, including Illinois State at 10 a.m. and host USF at 3 p.m. on Opening Day on Friday (Feb. 9). U-M continues against Bethune-Cookman at 9 a.m. and No. 17 Florida at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 10) before wrapping up with a 9:30 a.m. slate against Oregon State on Sunday (Feb. 11). All games will be held at USF Softball Stadium.
Notes
• U-M returns 13 letterwinners from its 2023 squad, including all four pitchers and starters at catcher, both middle-infield positions and one outfield spot. Notable among U-M's returnees are a pair of All-Big Ten selections in junior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski and sophomore infielder/outfielder Indiana Langford and All-Region honoree senior catcher Keke Tholl.
• Michigan graduated its leading hitter from last season in Lexie Blair, the 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year, but return the rest of its top-five 2023 leaders. Langford ranked second on the team with a .329 average, while Tholl posted a .289 batting average but led the team with 11 home runs and 48 RBI.
• Tholl, who started 51 games for U-M last season, including 47 behind the plate, boasted a breakout year in 2023, improving her previous-best average by 26 points -- from .263 (2021) to .289, while more than tripling her previous career total (15) in RBI with her team-best 48, nearly averaging an RBI per game.
• Michigan returns its entire 2023 pitching staff which combined for a 2.91 earned-run average, 10 shutouts, 336 strikeouts and a .239 opposing average. Derkowski, who earned both All-Big Ten and NFCA All-Great Lakes Region second team honors, led U-M with 18 wins, a 2.12 ERA, five shutouts and 223 strikeouts. Derkowski ranked 15th nationally in total strikeouts and 64th in strikeouts-per-seven-innings (7.7).
• U-M welcomed a talented five-member freshman class with all five Wolverine newcomers included in Extra Inning's Class of 2023 national prospect rankings, including three in the top 20. All are likely to see action this season, in particular outfielders Jenissa Conway and Ella Stephenson and pitcher Erin Hoehn seeking starting time.
• The Wolverines will also get sophomore/freshman Lilly Vallimont back in action after she missed the entire 2023 season due to an injury suffered the previous fall. The nation's No. 5 overall prospect -- and the top catcher -- in 2022, Vallimont will see time both behind the plate and at first base.
• Michigan posted a 4-0-1 record in fall ball, outscoring its opposition 55-10 with wins over Toledo, Concordia and Bowling Green and a tie against Notre Dame. U-M earned a pair of shutout wins and, in its tightest game of the fall, rallied late to tie the Fighting Irish 5-5 on the road.
• Seniors Jessica LeBeau and Keke Tholl and junior Lauren Derkowski will serve as Michigan's co-captains in 2023-24. All three are first-year team captains for the Wolverines.
• Bonnie Tholl is in her second season at the helm of the Wolverine program after previously serving 29 years as Carol Hutchins' top assistant coach. In that role, she contributed to nearly all the program's postseason success, including 22 Big Ten regular-season titles since 1995, 10 Big Ten Tournament crowns, 27 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, 12 NCAA Women's College World Series appearances and the 2005 NCAA championship.
• The Wolverines' 2024 schedule features 10 opponents who reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including three-game series against Big Ten foes Northwestern and Nebraska, who are both ranked top 20 in the NFCA's preseason poll. Michigan also will face No. 17 Florida in its opening weekend at the USF Tournament.
