2023 Michigan Wolverines softball team

2023 Michigan Wolverines softball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	26–25 (10–13 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bonnie Tholl (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Jennifer Brundage (25th season) Amanda Chidester (1st season)
Home stadium	Alumni Field
Seasons ←  2022 2024 →

2023 Big Ten Conference softball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 15 Northwestern  ‍†‍‡‍y	20	–	3		.870			42	–	13		.764
Indiana  ‍‍‍y	18	–	5		.783			44	–	18		.710
Minnesota  ‍‍‍y	17	–	6		.739			38	–	18		.679
Nebraska  ‍‍‍y	13	–	10		.565			36	–	22		.621
Wisconsin  ‍‍‍	12	–	10		.545			27	–	20		.574
Ohio State  ‍‍‍	12	–	11		.522			33	–	20		.623
Maryland  ‍‍‍	11	–	11		.500			38	–	19		.667
Penn State  ‍‍‍	11	–	11		.500			31	–	16		.660
Iowa  ‍‍‍	10	–	13		.435			35	–	27		.565
Michigan  ‍‍‍	10	–	13		.435			26	–	25		.510
Rutgers  ‍‍‍	9	–	14		.391			32	–	25		.561
Illinois  ‍‍‍	6	–	16		.273			29	–	27		.518
Purdue  ‍‍‍	6	–	17		.261			23	–	30		.434
Michigan State  ‍‍‍	4	–	19		.174			14	–	32		.304
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of May 28, 2023 [1] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today

The 2023 Michigan Wolverines softball team was an American college softball team that represents the University of Michigan during the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. The Wolverines, wee led by head coach Bonnie Tholl in her first season, and played their home games at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2022 season 38–18 overall, and 14–8 in the Big Ten, finishing in fifth place in their conference. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Wolverines received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament and were defeated in the Regional Final by UCF. ^[2]

Preseason

On June 13, 2022, graduate student Alex Storako transferred to Oklahoma. ^[3] The next day, sophomore pitcher Annabelle Widra transferred to Auburn. ^[4] On July 5, 2022, Michigan added three transfer students, outfielder Ellie Mataya and pitchers Hannah George and Jessica LeBeau. ^[5]

On August 24, 2022, long-time head coach Carol Hutchins announced her retirement after 38 years as head coach at Michigan. At the time of her retirement, she was the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with a record of 1,707–555–5. During her career as head coach, Michigan never suffered a losing season, and she led the team to 22 Big Ten regular-season titles from 1995–2021, including nine in a row from 2008–16, 10 Big Ten Tournament championships, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament 29 times, including each of the last 27 years. ^{[6] [7]} Later that day former Michigan associate head coach Bonnie Tholl was promoted to head coach. ^[8]

Roster

2023 Michigan Wolverines softball team
Players	Coaches
# Pos. Name Bats/throws Height Year High school/junior college Home town 1 OF Ellie Sieler L/L 5 ft 5 in(1.65 m) So Monroe Monroe, MI 2 INF Keke Tholl R/R 5 ft 10 in(1.78 m) Jr Victor J. Andrew Tinley Park, IL 3 OF Lexie Blair L/L 5 ft 4 in(1.63 m) RS Sr West Orange Winter Garden, FL 4 INF Ryleigh Carricaburu R/R 5 ft 9 in(1.75 m) So Woodcrest Christian Riverside, CA 5 INF Kaylee Rodriguez R/R 5 ft 5 in(1.65 m) So Doral Academy Miami, FL 7 RHP Maddie Erickson L/R 5 ft 5 in(1.65 m) Fr Wilsonville Wilsonville, OR 8 INF Madi Ramey L/R 5 ft 6 in(1.68 m) Fr Allen Park Allen Park, MI 11 OF Lexi Voss (C) R/R 5 ft 8 in(1.73 m) Sr Marist Palos Park, IL 12 RHP Jessica LeBeau L/R 5 ft 8 in(1.73 m) Jr Lake Hartville, OH 14 INF Janelle Ilacqua R/R 5 ft 5 in(1.65 m) Fr Catawba Ridge Fort Mill, SC 16 C Jessica Garmen R/R 5 ft 9 in(1.75 m) Sr Detroit Country Day Waterford, MI 17 OF Ellie Mataya L/L 5 ft 5 in(1.65 m) RS Sr Lake Braddock Burke, VA 18 RHP Lauren Derkowski R/R 5 ft 8 in(1.73 m) So York Community Elmhurst, IL 20 U Lilly Vallimont R/R 5 ft 6 in(1.68 m) Fr Trenton Trenton, MI 21 RHP Hannah George R/R 5 ft 5 in(1.65 m) RS Sr Northside Columbus, GA 22 RHP Emerson Aiken R/R 5 ft 8 in(1.73 m) So Glen Allen Henrico, VA 23 INF Avery Fantucci R/R 5 ft 8 in(1.73 m) Fr Marist Atlanta. GA 24 U Melina Livingston (C) R/R 5 ft 2 in(1.57 m) RS Sr Regina Harrison Township, MI 25 U Audrey Leclair L/R 5 ft 8 in(1.73 m) Sr Phoenix Country Day Phoenix, AZ 32 INF Ella McVey L/R 5 ft 7 in(1.7 m) So Dowling Catholic Des Moines, IA 44 U Indian Langford L/R 5 ft 2 in(1.57 m) Fr Poway Poway, CA	Head coach Bonnie Tholl (Michigan) Assistant coach(es) Jennifer Brundage (UCLA) Amanda Chidester (Michigan) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

2023 Michigan Wolverines Softball Game Log
Regular season (26–24)
February (7–8) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record February 9 at USF USF Softball Stadium Tampa, FL 1–2 (8) Dixon (1–0) Derkowski (0–1) Hill (1) 1,506 0–1 — February 10 vs. Colgate The Spring Games Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex Leesburg, FL 10–0 (5) LeBeau (1–0) Misken (0–1) — — 1–1 — February 11 vs. Western Kentucky The Spring Games Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex Leesburg, FL 5–2 Derkowski (1–1) Houchens (0–1) — 350 2–1 — February 11 vs. Western Kentucky The Spring Games Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex Leesburg, FL 5–2 (9) Derkowski (2–1) Gardner (1–2) — 300 3–1 — February 12 vs. Portland State The Spring Games Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex Leesburg, FL 9–1 (6) LeBeau (2–0) Grey (2–1) — — 4–1 — February 17 vs. No. 20 UCF St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational No. 25 Eddie C. Moore Complex Clearwater, FL 2–8 DeVoe (2–1) Derkowski (2–2) — 657 4–2 — February 17 vs. Louisiana St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational No. 25 Eddie C. Moore Complex Clearwater, FL 7–6 LeBeau (3–0) Landry (2–1) — 657 5–2 — February 18 vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational No. 25 Eddie C. Moore Complex Clearwater, FL 6–15 (6) Runner (1–0) LeBeau (3–1) — 5,632 5–3 — February 18 vs. Mississippi State St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational No. 25 Eddie C. Moore Complex Clearwater, FL 5–4 Derkowski (3–2) Hawk (1–2) — 5,632 6–3 — February 19 vs. No. 16 Duke St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational No. 25 Eddie C. Moore Complex Clearwater, FL 3–6 Davidson (2–1) LeBeau (3–2) Wright (1) — 6–4 — February 24 vs. Boise State Stanford Invitational Smith Family Stadium Stanford, CA 2–4 Walljasper (4–1) Derkowski (3–3) — 57 6–5 — February 24 vs. Nevada Stanford Invitational Smith Family Stadium Stanford, CA 0–3 Craft (3–0) LeBeau (3–3) — 74 6–6 — February 25 vs. Boise State Stanford Invitational Smith Family Stadium Stanford, CA 2–1 LeBeau (4–3) Caudill (1–3) — 116 7–6 — February 25 at No. 16 Stanford Stanford Invitational Smith Family Stadium Stanford, CA 0–5 Vawter (5–1) Derkowski (3–4) — 315 7–7 — February 26 at No. 16 Stanford Stanford Invitational Smith Family Stadium Stanford, CA 1–3 Krause (3–1) LeBeau (4–4) — 115 7–8 — February 28 at Saint Mary's Cottrell Field Moraga, CA Cancelled [9]
March (9–5) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record March 2 vs. UCF Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 2–0 LeBeau (5–4) Felton (3–3) — 494 8–8 — March 2 at Cal State Fullerton Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 2–1 (8) Derkowski (4–4) Sutherlin (4–2) — 494 9–8 — March 3 vs. No. 15 LSU Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 0–2 Kilponen (5–0) LeBeau (5–5) — 357 9–9 — March 3 vs. Seattle Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 3–2 Derkowski (5–4) Ilacqua (7–2) — 325 10–9 — March 4 vs. No. 2 UCLA Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 0–8 (5) Faraimo (11–1) LeBeau (5–6) — — 10–10 — March 9 Kent State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 4–0 Derkowski (6–4) Kelly (2–4) — 202 11–10 — March 10 Georgia Southern Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Cancelled [10] March 11 Georgia Southern Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Cancelled March 11 Kent State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Cancelled March 12 Kent State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Cancelled March 15 Bowling Green Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 9–0 (5) Derkowski (7–4) Anderson (5–2) — 773 12–10 — March 18 vs. Longwood John Cropp Classic John Cropp Stadium Lexington, KY 2–1 Derkowski (8–4) Burton (4–6) — — 13–10 — March 18 at No. 14 Kentucky John Cropp Classic John Cropp Stadium Lexington, KY Cancelled March 19 vs. DePaul John Cropp Classic John Cropp Stadium Lexington, KY Cancelled March 19 at No. 14 Kentucky John Cropp Classic John Cropp Stadium Lexington, KY 1–2 Schoonover(11–1) Derkowski (8–5) — 1,077 13–11 — March 24 at Ohio State Buckeye Field Columbus, OH Postponed [11] March 25 at Ohio State Buckeye Field Columbus, OH Postponed March 26 at Ohio State Buckeye Field Columbus, OH 3–1 (10) Derkowski (9–5) Smith (9–4) — 1,773 14–11 1–0 March 26 at Ohio State Buckeye Field Columbus, OH 2–11 (5) Ruck (5–4) LeBeau (5–7) — 1,325 14–12 1–1 March 27 at Ohio State Buckeye Field Columbus, OH 7–8 Smith (10–4) Derkowski (9–6) Ruck (1) 405 14–13 1–2 March 29 Oakland Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 9–0 (5) LeBeau (6–7) Campbell (5–4) — 1,109 15–13 — March 31 at Nebraska Bowlin Stadium Lincoln, NE 10–1 (5) Derkowski (10–6) Wallace (15–7) — 691 16–13 2–2
April (8–8) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record April 1 at Nebraska Bowlin Stadium Lincoln, NE 0–8 (5) Wallace (16–7) LeBeau (6–8) — 941 16–14 2–3 April 2 at Nebraska Bowlin Stadium Lincoln, NE 4–2 Derkowski (11–6) Harness (8–4) — 1,137 17–14 3–3 April 5 at Michigan State Secchia Stadium East Lansing, MI Postponed [12] April 7 Illinois Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 0–3 Sickels (11–6) Derkowski (11–7) — 1,339 17–15 3–4 April 8 Illinois Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 3–2 LeBeau (7–8) McQueen (4–3) Derkowski (2) 1,941 18–15 4–4 April 9 Illinois Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 2–1 (8) Derkowski (12–7) Sickels (11–7) — 1,463 19–15 5–4 April 12 at Michigan State Secchia Stadium East Lansing, MI 5–2 Derkowski (13–7) Guidry (2–7) — 1,264 20–15 6–4 April 14 at Purdue Bittinger Stadium West Lafayette, IN 4–0 Derkowski (14–7) Echazarreta (5–10) — 509 21–15 7–4 April 15 at Purdue Bittinger Stadium West Lafayette, IN 2–3 Elish (8–2) LeBeau (7–9) — 686 21–16 7–5 April 15 at Purdue Bittinger Stadium West Lafayette, IN 5–0 Derkowski (15–7) Echazarreta (5–11) — 99 22–16 8–5 April 18 Michigan State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 8–0 (5) Derkowski (16–7) Guidry (3–9) — 2,104 23–16 9–5 April 21 No. 21 Northwestern Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 3–4 (11) Boyd (7–3) LeBeau (7–10) — 1,384 23–17 9–6 April 22 No. 21 Northwestern Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 15–0 (5) Derkowski (17–7) Henry (10–2) — 1,852 24–17 10–6 April 23 No. 21 Northwestern Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 0–3 Williams (12–1) Derkowski (17–8) — 2,130 24–18 10–7 April 28 Indiana Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Postponed [13] April 29 Indiana Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 1–4 Copeland (17–2) Derkowski (17–9) — 1,881 24–19 10–8 April 29 Indiana Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 1–15 (6) Johnson (13–6) LeBeau (7–11) — 1,881 24–20 10–9 April 30 Indiana Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 5–6 Copeland (18–2) Derkowski (17–10) Johnson (4) 1,948 24–21 10–10
May (2–3) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record May 2 Western Michigan Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 9–1 (5) Derkowski (18–10) Godwin (4–10) — 1,037 25–21 — May 3 Oakland Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 13–0 (5) LeBeau (8–11) Konyvka (0–7) — 318 26–21 — May 5 at Minnesota Jane Sage Cowles Stadium Minneapolis, MN 0–3 Pease (24–6) Derkowski (18–11) — 830 26–22 10–11 May 6 at Minnesota Jane Sage Cowles Stadium Minneapolis, MN 10–13 Schwartz (2–1) Derkowski (18–12) — 863 26–23 10–12 May 7 at Minnesota Jane Sage Cowles Stadium Minneapolis, MN 0–2 Pease (25–6) Derkowski (18–13) — 961 26–24 10–13
Post-season (0–1)
Big Ten Tournament (0–1) Date Opponent Rank Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1GT record May 10 Penn State Eichelberger Field Champaign, IL 2–3 Lingenfelt (12–5) Derkowski (18–14) — — 26–25 0–1
Win   Loss   Postponement Bold: Wolverines team member Reference: [14] [15] Rankings from NFCA. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I softball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
NFCA / USA Today	RV	25	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Softball America	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ESPN.com/USA Softball	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
D1Softball	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

1. "Big Ten Softball Standings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
2. Howard, Leah (May 22, 2022). "Wolverines Fall to Host UCF in NCAA Regional Final". MGoBlue.com. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
3. Chengelis, Angelique S. (June 13, 2022). "Michigan softball pitcher Alex Storako transfers to Oklahoma for final season". The Detroit News . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
4. Zuke, Ryan (June 14, 2022). "Michigan softball loses another pitcher to transfer portal". MLive.com . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
5. Howard, Leah (August 24, 2022). "Wolverines Add Three Transfer Students to Softball Program". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
6. Howard, Leah (August 24, 2022). "Hutchins Announces Retirement After 38 Seasons at Helm of U-M Softball". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
7. Cossman, Barb (August 24, 2022). "The Profound Legacy of Carol Hutchins". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
8. Howard, Leah (August 24, 2022). "Tholl Named Head Coach of Michigan Softball". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
9. Howard, Leah (February 28, 2023). "Rain Washes Out Midweek Softball Game at Saint Mary's". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved February 28, 2023.
10. Howard, Leah (March 8, 2023). "Inclement Weather Alters Home-Opening Weekend Schedule". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved March 8, 2023.
11. Howard, Leah (March 25, 2023). "Wolverines' Series Opener at Ohio State Postponed to Sunday". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved March 25, 2023.
12. Howard, Leah (April 5, 2023). "Weather Postpones Wolverines' Rivalry Game at Michigan State". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved April 5, 2023.
13. Howard, Leah (April 28, 2023). "U-M's Friday Opener Against Indiana Postponed, Doubleheader Saturday". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved April 28, 2023.
14. "2023 Softball Schedule". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
15. Howard, Leah (November 22, 2022). "Wolverines Announce 2023 Softball Schedule, Ticket Information". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 24, 2022.