Michigan
Villanova
Wolverines to Kick Off Spring Break Swing With Five Games at Virginia
2/25/2026 3:20:00 PM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team (12-3) will spend its annual spring break trip with 10 games in eight days across Virginia, kicking off the week with a five-game set at the Party at Palmer Park in Charlottesville, Va. Michigan will face Villanova (0-15) and No. 18-ranked host Virginia (12-1) at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively, on Friday (Feb. 27), Bucknell (1-8) at 11 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 28) and two more against Villanova and Virginia at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday (March 1).
Notes
• Michigan will spend its annual spring break trip in the state of Virginia and has previously played against all four of its hosts over the 10-game swing -- Virginia, Liberty, James Madison and Virginia Tech -- but has never before played in the state.
• Michigan will face Bucknell for the first time in program history.
• The Wolverines rank among the nation's leaders in several power categories, listing 11th with 26 total home runs, 13th with a 1.73 home-runs-per-game average, and 22nd with their .593 team slugging percentage. At this time last year, Michigan had eight home runs through 15 games.
• Sophomore outfielder Lauren Putz ranks third nationally with 10 home runs, fifth with .67 homers per game and seventh with a 1.214 slugging percentage. Junior outfielder Jenissa Conway also ranks 33rd nationally with her 1.021 slugging percentage and leads the nation with four triples. Putz and Conway led Michigan's home-run hitters last season, and through 15 games, are nearly halfway (15) to their 2025 combined total (32).
• Conway posted two triples in consecutive at-bats against No. 22 Arizona State last Saturday. She is just the eighth player in program history to achieve the feat and the second on the current roster. Junior outfielder Ella Stephenson recorded a pair of three-baggers against Nebraska in 2024 -- after a 26-year drought.
• Michigan has earned two wins this season when trailing after five innings, including its 9-8 win at ASU last Friday. U-M sacrificed five runs in the bottom of the fifth to fall two runs behind but evened the score in the sixth and notched the game-winning tally in the top of the seventh. Michigan also used a three-run sixth in its 4-2 comeback win against Kansas (Feb. 8).
• The Wolverines claimed their first extra-inning matchup of the season with their 5-3 win against Southern Utah in 10 innings. Michigan survived bases loaded with no outs in the eighth and one out in the ninth.
• Senior second baseman Janelle Ilacqua led the Wolverines with a .500 batting average (6-for-12) from the No. 9 spot over five games last weekend at the Sun Devil Classic. She posted a career-best four hits and three runs scored with an RBI in the first slate against ASU. She scored a run in the first three games of the tournament and added an RBI in the finale against Southern Utah. She is batting .318 for the season.
• Michigan belted a program-record eight home runs in its game against Incarnate Word from six players, including two apiece from Putz and junior outfielder Ella Stephenson. The Wolverines' previous record was seven, which they registered in a 20-5 win against Toledo in 2015. The single-game mark ranks tied for 10th in NCAA Division I history.
• Junior right-handed pitcher Gabby Ellis went 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA at the Sun Devil Classic and allowed just five hits -- and a .093 average against -- over 13 innings pitched. Ellis owns a perfect 6-0 record as a Wolverine and leads Michigan with a 1.81 ERA and .173 opposing batting average. Four of her six wins have come in relief appearances.
