Wolverines Blank Longwood, Western Carolina at Red and Black Showcase

Friday, February 14

Athens, Ga.

1:00 PM

Michigan

3-4

Longwood

2-5

Longwood

Michigan

Lilly Vallimont (Michigan Photography)

Wolverines Blank Longwood, Western Carolina at Red and Black Showcase

2/14/2025 7:15:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan earned shutout wins against Longwood 8-0 in five innings, and Western Carolina 6-0 at Georgia's Red and Black Showcase.
» Lauren Derkowski threw a one-hit shutout in the first game -- her third shutout this season -- with eight strikeouts.
» Lilly Vallimont posted six RBI, including four against Longwood, with two hits and a pair of sacrifice flies.

ATHENS, Ga. -- The University of Michigan softball team earned back-to-back shutouts on day two of the Red and Black Showcase, beating Longwood 8-0 in five innings and Western Carolina 6-0 on Friday (Feb. 14) at Georgia's Turner Softball Stadium.

Senior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski (3-1) posted her third complete-game shutout this season -- Michigan has four total shutouts -- in the day's first game, posting eight strikeouts while allowing one hit and one walk over five innings. Derkowski added another strikeout in a 1.1-inning relief appearance against Western Carolina, while sophomore RHP Erin Hoehn (1-2) earned the victory after allowing no runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Junior/sophomore catcher Lilly Vallimont led the Wolverines from the plate, going 2-for-3 on the day with six RBI, including a pair of sacrifice flies in the second game. Junior third baseman Maddie Erickson posted four hits, including three against Longwood -- a high for Michigan to date this season -- while sophomore outfielder Ella Stephenson also posted a hit and an RBI in both games.

Michigan busted its first game open early, plating four runs -- all with two outs -- in the first inning against Longwood. Stephenson launched a deep ball to left field that initially looked like it might hang up in the wind but just cleared the wall for her first homer of the season. Junior second baseman Indiana Langford used a single down the left-field line to score another before Vallimont roped a hard comeback single off the Longwood pitcher's glove to plate two more.

Vallimont drove in two in the third inning as well with a double to the right-center gap, and Michigan reached its run-rule margin with a two-run fifth. Freshmen Andee Dircks and Cece Thorington posted their first collegiate hits with one-out singles in consecutive at-bats to load the bases before sophomore outfielder Jenissa Conway grounded a ball through the Lancers' first baseman's legs to score two on the fielding error.

The Wolverines scored a run apiece in the first and fourth innings against the Catamounts and broke it open with a four-run sixth. Freshman first baseman Lauren Putz and senior outfielder Ellie Sieler tripled in the inning -- Putz off the WCU center fielder's glove on the warning track to lead off the inning and Sieler down the left-field line with two outs. Stephenson, who started the day with U-M's first RBI, earned the day's final one with a single through the left side to score Sieler from third base.

With the extended lead, freshman RHP Haley Ferguson entered to record the final three outs in the top of the seventh, setting WCU down in order on a punchout, popout to catcher and groundout to short.

Michigan (4-4) will wrap up its appearance at the Red and White Showcase on Saturday (Feb. 15) with a 1 p.m. rematch against No. 10-ranked host Georgia at Georgia's Turner Softball Stadium. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.