2021 Michigan Wolverines softball team

The 2021 Michigan Wolverines softball team was an American college softball team that represented the University of Michigan during the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. The Wolverines were led by head coach Carol Hutchins in her thirty-seventh season, and played their home games at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2021 Michigan Wolverines softball
Big Ten Regular Season Champions NCAA Seattle Regional
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	38–8 (36–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Carol Hutchins (37th season)
Assistant coaches	Bonnie Tholl (28th season) Jennifer Brundage (23rd season)
Home stadium	Alumni Field
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Big Ten Conference softball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 18 Michigan  ‍†‍‍^y	36	–	6		.857			38	–	8		.826
No. 23 Minnesota  ‍‍‍^y	29	–	11		.725			31	–	13		.705
Northwestern  ‍‍‍^y	29	–	15		.659			30	–	17		.638
Iowa  ‍‍‍	26	–	18		.591			26	–	18		.591
Indiana  ‍‍‍	25	–	19		.568			25	–	19		.568
Ohio State  ‍‍‍	24	–	19		.558			24	–	19		.558
Illinois  ‍‍‍	24	–	20		.545			24	–	20		.545
Nebraska  ‍‍‍	22	–	22		.500			22	–	22		.500
Wisconsin  ‍‍‍	18	–	22		.450			18	–	22		.450
Maryland  ‍‍‍	19	–	25		.432			19	–	25		.432
Purdue  ‍‍‍	18	–	26		.409			18	–	26		.409
Michigan State  ‍‍‍	14	–	26		.350			14	–	26		.350
Rutgers  ‍‍‍	8	–	36		.182			8	–	36		.182
Penn State  ‍‍‍	7	–	34		.171			7	–	34		.171
† – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 23, 2021^[1] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today

Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2020 season 15–8 overall, in a season shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Preseason

Michigan was ranked No. 17 by NFCA/USA Today and ESPN.com/USA Softball, No. 18 by D1Softball, and No. 20 by Softball America in the preseason polls, the only Big Ten Conference team named in each poll.^[3][4][5][6]

Roster

2021 Michigan Wolverines softball team
Players	Coaches
# Pos. Name Bats/throws Height Year High school/junior college Home town 1 OF Thais Gonzalez L/R 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Sr St. Thomas Aquinas Boca Raton, FL 2 INF Keke Tholl R/R 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Victor J. Andrew Tinley Park, IL 3 OF Lexie Blair L/L 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Jr West Orange Winter Garden, FL 4 RHP Chandler Dennis R/R 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So North Gwinnett Suwanee, GA 5 INF Kaylee Rodriguez R/R 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Fr Doral Academy Miami, FL 7 INF Ryleigh Carricaburu R/R 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Woodcrest Christian Riverside, CA 8 RHP Alex Storako L/R 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Lincoln-Way East Frankfort, IL 10 LHP Meghan Beaubien L/L 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Saint Mary Catholic Central Newport, MI 11 OF Lexi Voss R/R 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Marist Palos Park, IL 12 LHP Lauren Esman L/L 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Gull Lake Kalamazoo, MI 13 INF Taylor Bump R/R 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Canterbury School of Florida St. Petersburg, FL 14 INF Lou Allan R/R 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Sr Oak Hills Hesperia, CA 16 C Jessica Garmen R/R 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Detroit Country Day Waterford, MI 17 INF Sierra Kersten L/R 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Clarkston Clarkston, MI 18 RHP Sarah Schaefer R/R 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Waukee West Des Moines, IA 20 INF Hannah Carson L/R 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Mount Pleasant Weidman, MI 21 INF Natalia Rodriguez S/R 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Sr Montverde Academy Clermont, FL 22 INF Julia Jimenez R/R 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m) Fr Etiwanda Fontana, CA 25 U Audrey Leclair L/R 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Phoenix Country Day Phoenix, AZ 32 OF Haley Hoogenraad R/R 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Zeeland West Zeeland, MI	Head coach Carol Hutchins (Michigan State) Assistant coach(es) Bonnie Tholl (Michigan) Jennifer Brundage (UCLA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

2021 Michigan Wolverines Softball Game Log
Regular season (36–6)
February (4–2) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record February 26 vs. Purdue No. 17 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex Leesburg, FL 4–0 Beaubien (1–0) Bates (0–1) — 100 1–0 1–0 February 26 vs. Purdue No. 17 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 4–0 Storako (1–0) Henley (0–1) — 100 2–0 2–0 February 27 vs. Iowa No. 17 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 2–0 Beaubien (2–0) Doocy (0–1) — 0 3–0 3–0 February 27 vs. Iowa No. 17 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 6–5 Storako (2–0) Loecker (0–1) — 0 4–0 4–0 February 28 vs. Illinois No. 17 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 1–2 Sickels (2–1) Beaubien (2–1) — 0 4–1 4–1 February 28 vs. Illinois No. 17 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 1–2 Jarvis (3–0) Storako (2–1) Sickels (1) 0 4–2 4–2
March (9–1) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record March 11 vs. Nebraska No. 23 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 2–1 ^(8) Beaubien (3–1) Ferrell (1–4) — 86 5–2 5–2 March 11 vs. Nebraska No. 23 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 2–0 Storako (3–1) Wallace (2–1) — 74 6–2 6–2 March 12 vs. Nebraska No. 23 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 4–5 ^(8) Wallace (3–1) Storako (3–2) — 74 6–3 6–3 March 13 vs. Wisconsin No. 23 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 8–0 ^(5) Storako (4–2) Schwartz (2–3) — 66 7–3 7–3 March 13 vs. Wisconsin No. 23 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 3–0 Storako (5–2) Schwartz (2–4) — 66 8–3 8–3 March 14 vs. Wisconsin No. 23 Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex 2–1 Storako (6–2) Hestekin (2–1) — 59 9–3 9–3 March 26 at Indiana No. 25 Andy Mohr Field Bloomington, IN 7–1 Beaubien (4–1) Goodin (3–3) — 98 10–3 10–3 March 27 at Indiana No. 25 Andy Mohr Field 3–1 ^(9) Storako (7–2) Goodin (3–4) — 103 11–3 11–3 March 27 at Indiana No. 25 Andy Mohr Field 8–1 Beaubien (5–1) Goodin (3–5) — 103 12–3 12–3 March 28 at Indiana No. 25 Andy Mohr Field 4–0 Storako (8–2) Goodin (3–6) — 56 13–3 13–3
April (12–2) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record April 2 Michigan State No. 23 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols^[7] April 3 Michigan State No. 23 Alumni Field Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols April 3 Michigan State No. 23 Alumni Field Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols April 4 Michigan State No. 23 Alumni Field Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols April 9 at Ohio State No. 23 Buckeye Field Columbus, OH 7–0 Beaubien (6–1) Buresch (5–2) — 150 14–3 14–3 April 10 at Ohio State No. 23 Buckeye Field 3–1 Storako (9–2) Smith (7–6) — 177 15–3 15–3 April 10 at Ohio State No. 23 Buckeye Field 2–3 Buresch (6–2) Beaubien (6–2) — 164 15–4 15–4 April 11 at Ohio State No. 23 Buckeye Field 11–0 Storako (10–2) Smith (7–7) — 151 16–4 16–4 April 14 Michigan State No. 22 Alumni Field 6–1 Storako (11–2) Ladd (2–6) — 93 17–4 17–4 April 16 Maryland No. 22 Alumni Field 4–2 Beaubien (7–2) Brann (3–5) — 96 18–4 18–4 April 17 Maryland No. 22 Alumni Field 2–0 Storako (12–2) Wyche (2–4) — 138 19–4 19–4 April 17 Maryland No. 22 Alumni Field 5–1 Beaubien (8–2) Ellefson (1–2) — 138 20–4 20–4 April 18 Maryland No. 22 Alumni Field 8–0 ^(5) Storako (13–2) Wyche (2–5) — 123 21–4 21–4 April 23 Northwestern No. 20 Alumni Field 1–4 Williams (13–2) Beaubien (8–3) — 192 21–5 21–5 April 24 Northwestern No. 20 Alumni Field 7–2 Storako (14–2) Boyd (3–2) — 181 22–5 22–5 April 24 Northwestern No. 20 Alumni Field 6–3 Beaubien (9–3) Williams (13–3) — 181 23–5 23–5 April 25 Northwestern No. 20 Alumni Field 2–0 Storako (15–2) Newport (4–3) — 164 24–5 24–5 April 30 at Penn State No. 19 Beard Field State College, PA 7–1 Beaubien (10–3) Parshall (1–13) — 118 25–5 25–5
May (11–1) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record B1G record May 1 at Penn State No. 19 Beard Field 10–0 ^(6) Storako (16–2) Lingenfelter (1–8) — 166 26–5 26–5 May 1 at Penn State No. 19 Beard Field 12–2 ^(6) Beaubien (11–3) Oatley (3–3) — 166 27–5 27–5 May 2 at Penn State No. 19 Beard Field 5–3 Storako (17–2) Parshall (1–14) Beaubien (3) 155 28–5 28–5 May 5 at Michigan State No. 19 Secchia Stadium East Lansing, MI 1–0 ^(9) Storako (18–2) Miller (6–7) — 0 29–5 29–5 May 7 at No. 23 Minnesota No. 19 Jane Sage Cowles Stadium Minneapolis, MN 3–0 Beaubien (12–3) Fiser (12–5) Storako (1) 0 30–5 30–5 May 8 at No. 23 Minnesota No. 19 Jane Sage Cowles Stadium 10–4 Storako (19–2) Fiser (12–7) — 0 31–5 31–5 May 8 at No. 23 Minnesota No. 19 Jane Sage Cowles Stadium 3–1 Beaubien (13–3) Pease (11–2) — 0 32–5 32–5 May 9 at No. 23 Minnesota No. 19 Jane Sage Cowles Stadium 3–7 Fiser (13–7) Storako (19–3) — 0 32–6 32–6 May 14 Rutgers No. 18 Alumni Field 3–0 Beaubien (14–3) Hitchcock (5–15) — 207 33–6 33–6 May 15 Rutgers No. 18 Alumni Field 13–0 ^(5) Storako (20–3) Vickers (0–4) — 143 34–6 34–6 May 15 Rutgers No. 18 Alumni Field 11–0 ^(5) Beaubien (15–3) Hitchcock (5–16) — 143 35–6 35–6 May 16 Rutgers No. 18 Alumni Field 2–1 Storako (21–3) Hitchcock (5–17) — 140 36–6 36–6
Postseason (2–2)
Seattle Regional (2–2) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record Regional record May 21 Seattle No. 20 Husky Softball Stadium Seattle, WA 2–0 Beaubien (16–3) Nance (10–6) — 250 37–6 1–0 May 22 No. 6 Washington (16) No. 20 Husky Softball Stadium 2–1 Storako (22–3) Plain (30–3) — 250 38–6 2–0 May 23 No. 6 Washington (16) No. 20 Husky Softball Stadium 0–2 Plain (31–3) Beaubien (16–4) — 200 38–7 2–1 May 23 No. 6 Washington (16) No. 20 Husky Softball Stadium 5–10 Plain (32–3) Beaubien (16–5) — 200 38–8 2–2
Win   Loss   Postponement Bold: Wolverines team member Reference:^[8]^[9] Rankings from NFCA. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 2021 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	Final
NFCA / USA Today	17	17	17	21	23	25	25	23	23	22	20	19	19	18	20	19
Softball America	20	20	20	25	25	—	—	—	23	25	25	25	22	21	21	18
ESPN.com/USA Softball	17	17	17	22	25	RV	RV	RV	24	22	20	20	19	19	20	20
D1Softball	18	21	20	21	22	—	—	—	—	—	22	21	21	18	18	20

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards Player Award Date Awarded Ref. Meghan Beaubien Co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week March 2, 2021 ^[10] Alex Storako Big Ten Pitcher of the Week March 30, 2021 ^[11] Alex Storako Big Ten Pitcher of the Week April 13, 2021 ^[12] Alex Storako Co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week April 20, 2021 ^[13] Alex Storako Big Ten Pitcher of the Week April 27, 2021 ^[14] Meghan Beaubien Co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week May 11, 2021 ^[15] Julia Jimenez Co-Big Ten Player of the Week Meghan Beaubien Big Ten Pitcher of the Week May 18, 2021 ^[16] Individual Awards Player Award Ref. Lexie Blair Big Ten Player of the Year ^[17] Alex Storako Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Carol Hutchins Big Ten Coach of the Year

All-Big Ten Player Selection Ref. Lou Allan First Team ^[18] Meghan Beaubien First Team Lexie Blair First Team Taylor Bump First Team Alex Storako First Team Julia Jimenez Second Team Taylor Bump All-Defensive Natalia Rodriguez All-Defensive All-American Player Selection Ref. Alex Storako Second Team ^[19]

References

1. "Big Ten Softball Standings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
2. "Big Ten, Michigan Cancel Remainder of Winter and Spring Sports Seasons". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 11, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
3. "2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches poll (Preseason)". NFCA.org. National Fastpitch Coaches Association. January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
4. "2021 D1Softball Preseason Top 25 Rankings". D1Softball.com. January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
5. . teamusa.org. USA Softball. January 26, 2021. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
6. "2021 NCAA Division I Softball Top 25". softballamerica.com. Baseball America Enterprises. February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
7. Howard, Leah (March 31, 2021). "Four-Game Series Between Michigan and Michigan State Postponed". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
8. "2021 Softball Schedule". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
9. "Michigan Announces 44-Game, Conference-Only 2021 Softball Schedule". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
10. . BigTen.org. March 2, 2021. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
11. . BigTen.org. March 30, 2021. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
12. . BigTen.org. April 13, 2021. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
13. . BigTen.org. April 20, 2021. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
14. . BigTen.org. April 27, 2021. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
15. . BigTen.org. May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
16. . BigTen.org. May 18, 2021. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
17. Howard, Leah (May 19, 2021). "Blair, Storako, Hutchins Earn Top Honors; U-M Puts Five on All-Big Ten First Team". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
18. . BigTen.org. May 19, 2021. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
19. Howard, Leah (June 2, 2021). "Storako Named to NFCA All-America Second Team". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 2, 2021.