Season Review: 2025 Michigan Softball

• Record: 39-21 overall, 11-11 Big Ten Conference (T8th place)
• Big Ten Tournament: Champion
• NCAA Tournament: NCAA Regional

The University of Michigan softball team boasted another championship season in 2025, registering a 39-21 record while claiming its second straight -- and 12th overall -- Big Ten Tournament title. Under the direction of third-year head coach Bonnie Tholl, who earned her 100th career win at the helm of the Michigan program in April, Michigan flipped two regular-season sweeps with top-10 wins over Oregon and UCLA en route to the tournament crown. The Wolverines advanced to the Austin Regional, where they fell to eventual national champion Texas.

Team Highlights

• Michigan captured its second straight Big Ten Tournament title with a 4-0 record and as the No. 8 seed -- tied for the lowest seed to win in conference history. The Wolverines shut out a pair of top-10 opponents with a 5-0 win against No. 4-ranked Oregon in the quarterfinals and a 2-0 win over No. 9 UCLA in the championship game.

Michigan broke up a pitchers' duel in the sixth inning of the championship game when sophomore outfielders Jenissa Conway and Ella Stephenson posted back-to-back RBI hits. Senior right-handed pitcher Lauren Derkowski allowed just three hits and two walks over five innings; sophomore RHP Erin Hoehn entered with one on and no outs and in the sixth and retired all six Bruins she faced. The Wolverines rank first in Big Ten history in tournament titles (12), championship game appearances (18), overall wins (53) and win percentage (.736).

• Of its 11 losses in Big Ten play, Michigan sacrificed leads in eight and was ahead or tied after the fifth inning of seven of them, including two each against No. 3 Oregon, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 7 UCLA. The Wolverines avenged two of those regular-season sweeps in tournament action.

• Michigan batted .309 as a team in 2024 -- its highest combined batting average since 2019 (.315) and belted its most home runs (67) since registering 86 in 2016. Five of eight returning starters tallied career-high offensive numbers.

• In perhaps its most exciting home game of the 2025 season, Michigan won a 9-8 slugfest in extra innings to claim the series rubber game against in-state rival Michigan State on March 29. The win was part of a doubleheader sweep and featured five home runs, with three from MSU first baseman Kaelin Cash, as U-M first rallied then twice lost its lead late. Stephenson came through in the eighth with a lofted fly ball to no-man's land in shallow center to secure Michigan's first walk-off of the season. Conway, who scored the winning run, hammered four home runs and totaled 10 RBI in the doubleheader.

• The 16th annual Michigan Softball Academy, held on April 24, raised more than $220,000 for the American Cancer Society. Since 2007, the Michigan softball program has raised more than $2,250,000 for the ACS (seven Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks, 16 academies). No college athletic program has ever raised more money for the American Cancer Society.

Individual Highlights

• Conway was named to the NFCA All-America third team after registering a .379 batting average -- a 140-point improvement over her rookie-season average (.236) -- and leading the Wolverines with 59 runs, 75 hits, 18 home runs, 52 RBI and a .737 slugging percentage. Conway became the 70th All-American in Michigan program history and U-M's first All-American since 2021.

• Junior second baseman Indiana Langford also boasted a breakout season, leading Michigan with a career-high .406 batting average, a 77-point jump from her 2023 average (.329) when she earned All-Big Ten second-team honors. Langford batted leadoff over the last 46 games of the season and posted a team-best .487 on-base percentage. She also tallied career highs with 69 hits and 52 runs scored.

• Freshman Lauren Putz was named to D1Softball's Freshman All-America first team and Big Ten All-Freshman Team after listing among the Wolverines' top-three leaders in every offensive category with a .392 batting average -- the best average for a U-M freshman since Lexie Blair batted .406 in 2019 -- along with 51 runs, 69 hits, including 29 for extra bases, and 48 RBI.

• Derkowski was named the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player for the second straight season after posting a 3-0 record with a 1.11 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 19 innings pitched. She combined with Hoehn for shutout wins against No. 4 Oregon and No. 9 UCLA. Hoehn appeared in three games, posting one win, two saves, a 0.00 ERA and a .167 average against over nine innings, and joined Derkowski on the All-Tournament Team.

• Freshman RHP Kat Meyers threw the ninth perfect game in program history in an 8-0, five-inning win against North Carolina Central on the final day of the Wolverines' 10-day spring break trip on March 10. Meyers retired 15 straight batters in her first collegiate start, posting six strikeouts, including two apiece in the second, third and fifth innings, and back-to-back swinging strikeouts to close out the game. It was U-M's first perfect game since Sarah Schaefer in 2018.

• Head coach Bonnie Tholl earned her 100th career win with Michigan's 8-4 decision in the series finale against Rutgers on April 14. Tholl contributed to 1,366 wins as Carol Hutchins' top assistant and is now 108-64 after the conclusion of her third season at the helm of the program.

Honors and Awards

Jenissa
Conway

Lauren
Derkowski

Indiana
Langford

Lauren
Putz

Erin
Hoehn

National Fastpitch Coaches Association
All-America (Third Team): Jenissa Conway
All-Great Lakes Region (First Team): Jenissa Conway, Lauren Derkowski, Indiana Langford
All-Great Lakes Region (Second Team): Lauren Putz

Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (First Team): Jenissa Conway, Indiana Langford
All-Freshman Team: Lauren Putz
Sportsmanship Award: Ella Stephenson
Tournament MVP: Lauren Derkowski
All-Tournament Team: Jenissa Conway, Lauren Derkowski, Erin Hoehn, Indiana Langford

Big Ten Player of the Week
Player: Jenissa Conway (March 31)
Freshman: Lauren Putz (March 24)

Academic All-Big Ten
Emerson Aiken, Sr., Biology, Health, & Society
Ryleigh Carricaburu, Gr., Master of Management
Ava Costales, So., Biology
Lexi Dellamonica, So., Communication & Media
Lauren Derkowski, Sr., Industrial & Operations Engineering
Maddie Erickson, Jr., Biopsychology, Cognition, & Neuroscience
Avery Fantucci, Jr., Business Administration
Indiana Langford, Jr., Biology, Health, & Society
Ella McVey, Sr., Communication & Media
Madi Ramey, Jr., General Studies
Kaylee America Rodriguez, Sr., Sport Management
Ellie Sieler, Sr., Communication & Media
Ella Stephenson, So., Movement Science
Lilly Vallimont, Jr., Applied Exercise Science