Wolverines Set for First-Ever Series at New B1G Foe No. 6 Oregon

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (27-9, 6-1 Big Ten) will travel to Eugene, Ore., for a three-game set against new Big Ten Conference foe and No. 6-ranked Oregon (31-3, 6-1 Big Ten) this Friday through Sunday (April 4-6) at the Ducks' Jane Sanders Stadium. The teams will square off at 6 p.m. PT on Friday (April 4), 4 p.m. PT on Saturday (April 5) and 1 p.m. PT on Sunday (April 6).

Friday's opener will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network, while Saturday and Sunday's contests will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan and Oregon will square off for the first time since 2013, and the Wolverines hold a narrow 4-3 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1995. This weekend will mark Michigan's first-ever games played in the state of Oregon in program history.

• Sophomore center fielder Jenissa Conway was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday (March 31) after boasting an .800 batting average (12-for-15) over Michigan's four home games against Western Michigan and Michigan State. Conway went 7-for-8 in U-M's Saturday doubleheader against MSU, posting home runs -- two per game -- with five runs scored and 10 RBI. She posted career highs with four hits and six RBI in the day's second slate. The six RBI were the most for a Wolverine player since Keke Tholl similarly posted six against Northwestern in 2023.

• Michigan's top four in the batting order all hit .500 or better over last week's four games. Sophomore right fielder Ella Stephenson batted .600, and junior second baseman Indiana Langford and freshman designated player Lauren Putz both hit .500.

• Putz leads Michigan -- and ranks 10th in the Big Ten -- with a .433 batting average and owns team bests with 37 runs, 45 hits, 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 34 RBI. Four Wolverine freshmen have led the team in hitting since 1995 -- Sara Griffin (.432, 1995), Amanda Chidester (.350, 2009), Sierra Romero (.379, 2013) and Lexie Blair (.406, 2019).

• Stephenson and Conway have boasted significant year-one to year-two improvements at the plate. Stephenson's .372 average is a 105-point jump over her rookie-season average last year, while Conway's .366 average is a 130-point improvement since last season. Through 36 games this time last year, Stephenson held just a .198 batting average and Conway was at .247.

• Langford also boasts a career-high .394 batting average, ranking second on the team and a 65-point jump from her 2023 average when she earned All-Big Ten second-team honors. She batted .283 last season. She has batted leadoff over the last 22 games and has reached base nearly half the time when leading off an inning (.486, 17-for-35).

• Michigan's power numbers have escalated over the last four weeks, going from a .416 slugging percentage and 23 extra-base hits over the first 18 games of the season to a .581 slugging percentage and 57 extra-base hits over the last 18. Most notably, U-M hit just nine homers over the first 18 games and 32 in the 18 games since. Nine different Wolverines have posted at least one homer this season; Conway and Putz share the team lead with 11 apiece.

• Michigan ranks second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally with nine shutout wins. Senior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski owns four complete-game shutouts, leading the conference and ranking 10th in the country, and has combined for three more. Derkowski also boasts a career-high five saves this season to rank fifth nationally.

• Sophomore RHP Erin Hoehn (14-2) ranks third in the Big Ten and 10th nationally with her 14 wins already this season -- just one win away from her total (15) as a rookie last season. She earned both wins in Michigan's doubleheader sweep against MSU last Saturday (March 29).