Michigan
13-3
Villanova
0-16
Wolverines Surge Past Villanova, Fall to No. 18 Virginia in Spring Break Opener
2/27/2026 4:39:00 PM | Softball
Wolverines Surge Past Villanova, Fall to No. 18 Virginia in Spring Break Opener
» Michigan scored five runs in the sixth inning in a 7-0 win against Villanova, but fell to No. 18 Virginia 6-2 after the Cavaliers pulled away with four unanswered runs on day one of the Party at Palmer Park Invitational.
» Gabby Ellis allowed just one hit and one walk through six scoreless innings against Villanova.
» Avery Fantucci posted two hits and four RBI against Villanova, while Lauren Putz and Lilly Vallimont both tallied three hits on the day.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The University of Michigan softball team split a pair of games on its first day of spring break, surging past Villanova 7-0 before falling 6-2 to No. 18-ranked host Virginia at the Party at Palmer Park Invitational on Friday (Feb. 27) at Palmer Park.
The Wolverines broke a scoreless tie against Villanova with a five-run sixth inning. Senior shortstop Avery Fantucci, who tied her career high with four RBI in the game, plated the go-ahead runs with a two-out, two-run double past the leaping Wildcat shortstop and into left-center field.
Freshman first baseman Siena Snyder followed with a pinch-hit walk. Snyder shares U-M's team lead with 13 bases on balls. Junior right-handed pitcher Erin Hoehn then cleared the bases, belting a pinch-hit three-run home run into the bullpen beyond left field. It was Hoehn's first home run of the season and the second of her career.
Fantucci pushed across two more runs in the top of the seventh after Michigan loaded the bases on an error, double and walk. Villanova recorded back-to-back outs, but Fantucci added a two-run single up the middle.
Junior right-handed pitcher Gabby Ellis (7-0) was stellar in the circle, posting four strikeouts while allowing just one hit and one walk through six scoreless innings. Villanova broke up her no-hit bid with a one-out single in the fifth, but senior first baseman Madi Ramey turned an unassisted double play to end the inning.
Ellis combined for the shutout, Michigan's fourth of the season, with freshman right-handed pitcher Grayson LaMarche, who added a pair of strikeouts in the seventh inning.
Michigan stayed even with Virginia through three innings and answered the Cavaliers' two-run second with two runs in the third. Sophomore right fielder Lauren Putz delivered an RBI double to right-center field and later scored when redshirt junior catcher Lilly Vallimont drove a double to the right-center field fence. Vallimont's earlier RBI double down the left-field line was overturned and ruled foul after an umpire conference.
Virginia retook the lead in the fourth inning. U-M nearly escaped the frame with a throw home for the second out, but the Cavaliers followed with a two-out RBI single up the middle and extended the lead with home runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Hoehn (2-2) took the loss in game two, allowing three runs on six hits and five walks with four strikeouts over 3.2 innings.
The Wolverines (13-4) will continue play at the Party at Palmer Park Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 28), facing Bucknell at 11 a.m. at Palmer Park.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ellis, Gabby (7-0)
L: Gallant, Kat (0-6)
Batting:
2B: Vallimont, Lilly 1 ; Conway, Jenissa 1 ; Fantucci, Avery 1
HR: Hoehn, Erin 1
RBI: Hoehn, Erin 3 ; Fantucci, Avery 4
SH: Langford, Indiana 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Langford, Indiana 1 ; Dellamonica, Lexi 1 ; Hoehn, Erin 1 ; Conway, Jenissa 1 ; Fantucci, Avery 1 ; Putz, Lauren 1 ; Snyder, Siena 1
Batting:
2B: Reed, Katherine 1
Base Running:
HBP: Burrows, Maddie 1
