2024 Michigan Wolverines softball team explained

Sport:	softball
Year:	2024
Team:	Michigan Wolverines
Conference:	Big Ten Conference
Short Conf:	Big Ten
Record:	43–18
Conf Record:	18–5
Head Coach:	Bonnie Tholl
Hc Year:	2nd
Asst Coach1:	Jennifer Brundage
Ac1 Year:	26th
Asst Coach2:	Amanda Chidester
Ac2 Year:	2nd
Asst Coach3:	Faith Canfield
Ac3 Year:	3rd
Stadium:	Alumni Field
Champion:	Big Ten tournament champion
Bowl:	NCAA Stillwater Regional
Bowl Result:	2–2

The 2024 Michigan Wolverines softball team was an American college softball team that represented the University of Michigan during the 2024 NCAA Division I softball season. The Wolverines were led by head coach Bonnie Tholl in her second season, and played their home games at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines won the 2024 Big Ten softball tournament, and advanced to the 2024 NCAA Division I softball tournament.

Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2023 season 26–25 overall, and 10–13 in the Big Ten, finishing in ninth place in their conference. Michigan failed to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.^[1]

Preseason

On July 17, 2023, Jennifer Brundage was promoted to associate head coach at Michigan.^{[2] [3]} On July 21, 2023, Faith Canfield was promoted to assistant coach.^[4]

Schedule and results

2024 Michigan Wolverines Softball Game Log
Regular Season (38–16)
February (10–7) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record February 9 vs. Illinois State USF Tournament USF Softball Stadium Tampa, FL 5–3 Derkowski (1–0) Meshnick (0–2) Hoehn (1) — 1–0 — February 9 at USF USF Tournament USF Softball Stadium Tampa, FL 0–1 Dixon (1–0) LeBeau (0–1) — 1,530 1–1 — February 10 vs. Bethune–Cookman USF Tournament USF Softball Stadium Tampa, FL 3–2 LeBeau (1–1) Gonzalez (1–2) — — 2–1 — February 10 vs. No. 17 Florida USF Tournament USF Softball Stadium Tampa, FL 2–1 ^(10) Derkowski (2–0) Rothrock (0–1) — — 3–1 — February 11 vs. Oregon State USF Tournament USF Softball Stadium Tampa, FL 2–1 Hoehn (1–0) Haendiges (1–1) — — 4–1 — February 16 vs. Seton Hall Joan Joyce Classic Joan Joyce Field Boca Raton, FL 3–0 Derkowski (3–0) Carr (0–1) LeBeau (1) — 5–1 — February 16 vs. Maine Joan Joyce Classic Joan Joyce Field Boca Raton, FL 11–0 ^(5) Hoehn (2–0) Fallon (0–2) — — 6–1 — February 17 vs. Louisville Joan Joyce Classic Joan Joyce Field Boca Raton, FL 0–2 Zabala (4–1) LeBeau (1–2) — — 6–2 — February 17 at Florida Atlantic Joan Joyce Classic Joan Joyce Field Boca Raton, FL 0–1 Schlotter (3–1) Derkowski (3–1) — — 6–3 — February 18 vs. Seton Hall Joan Joyce Classic Joan Joyce Field Boca Raton, FL Cancelled^[5] February 23 vs. Northern Colorado UCSB Tournament Campus Diamond Santa Barbara, CA 9–1 ^(5) Hoehn (3–0) DiNapoli (0–3) — 104 7–3 — February 23 vs. Sacramento State UCSB Tournament Campus Diamond Santa Barbara, CA 1–6 Bertuccio (2–1) Derkowski (3–2) — 89 7–4 — February 24 vs. Sacramento State UCSB Tournament Campus Diamond Santa Barbara, CA 4–3 Hoehn (4–0) Evans (2–3) — 102 8–4 — February 24 vs. Northern Colorado UCSB Tournament Campus Diamond Santa Barbara, CA 4–1 LeBeau (2–2) Erin (3–3) — 126 9–4 — February 25 at UC Santa Barbara UCSB Tournament Campus Diamond Santa Barbara, CA 6–1 Derkowski (4–2) Waddell (1–5) — 401 10–4 — February 28 LBSU Softball Complex Long Beach, CA 6–7 ^(9) Fernandez (1–5) George (0–1) — 515 10–5 — February 29 vs. No. 17 Texas A&M Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 0–6 Kennedy (8–0) Derkowski (4–3) — 100 10–6 — February 29 at Cal State Fullerton Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 1–5 Rainey (3–3) Hoehn (4–1) — 301 10–7 —
March (14–4) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record March 1 vs. Oregon State Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 0–1 Garcia (3–3) Derkowski (4–4) — — 10–8 — March 1 vs. No. 18 UCLA Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 0–10 ^(6) Terry (3–0) Hoehn (4–2) — — 10–9 — March 2 vs. No. 13 Florida Judi Garman Classic Anderson Family Field Fullerton, CA 10–2 ^(5) Hoehn (5–2) Brown (8–1) — 131 11–9 — March 9 vs. Bowling Green NKU Tournament Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field Highland Heights, KY Cancelled^[6] March 10 vs. Bowling Green NKU Tournament Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field Highland Heights, KY 8–0 ^(6) Hoehn (6–2) Denison (0–1) — 75 12–9 — March 10 at Northern Kentucky NKU Tournament Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field Highland Heights, KY 2–3 Hicks (6–8) Derkowski (4–5) Eads (2) 355 12–10 — March 11 vs. Illinois State NKU Tournament Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field Highland Heights, KY 13–2 ^(5) Derkowski (5–5) Meshnick (3–8) — — 13–10 — March 16 vs. South Dakota Cardinal Classic Ulmer Stadium Louisville, KY 4–3 Hoehn (7–2) Edwards (5–9) — 454 14–10 — March 16 at Louisville Cardinal Classic Ulmer Stadium Louisville, KY 4–12 ^(5) Zabala (11–4) Hoehn (7–3) — 454 14–11 — March 17 vs. Dartmouth Cardinal Classic Ulmer Stadium Louisville, KY 4–2 Derkowski (6–5) McCarroll (1–3) — 86 15–11 — March 17 vs. Illinois Cardinal Classic Ulmer Stadium Louisville, KY 4–1 Hoehn (8–3) McQueen (6–5) Derkowski (1) 106 16–11 — March 19 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 2–0 Derkowski (7–5) Cambell (5–5) — 677 17–11 — March 23 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 7–0 Derkowski (8–5) Elish (2–4) — 928 18–11 1–0 March 24 Purdue Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 11–3 ^(5) Hoehn (9–3) Klochack (3–3) — 947 19–11 2–0 March 25 Purdue Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 6–2 Derkowski (9–5) Gossett (4–6) — 556 20–11 3–0 March 27 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 12–3 ^(6) Hoehn (10–3) Knight (9–5) — 841 21–11 — March 29 Andy Mohr Field Bloomington, IN 15–6 ^(6) Derkowski (10–5) Copeland (12–6) — 523 22–11 4–0 March 30 at Indiana Andy Mohr Field Bloomington, IN 7–1 Hoehn (11–3) Copeland (12–7) — 732 23–11 5–0 March 31 at Indiana Andy Mohr Field Bloomington, IN 10–1 ^(5) Derkowski (11–5) Cooper (0–1) — 347 24–11 6–0
April (13–3) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record April 3 Melissa Cook Stadium Notre Dame, IN Postponed^[7] April 5 Sharon J. Drysdale Field Evanston, IL 1–9 ^(5) Miller (9–4) — 405 24–12 6–1 April 6 at Northwestern Sharon J. Drysdale Field Evanston, IL 5–8 Hoehn (11–4) 935 24–13 6–2 April 6 at Northwestern Sharon J. Drysdale Field Evanston, IL 4–5 Miller (10–4) Derkowski (11–7) — 988 24–14 6–3 April 9 Secchia Stadium East Lansing, MI 11–5 Hoehn (12–4) Taylor (1–9) — 1,117 25–14 7–3 April 10 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 5–0 Hoehn (13–4) Wallace (1–7) Derkowski (2) 1,271 26–14 — April 12 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI Postponed^[8] April 13 Iowa Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 8–6 George (1–1) Adams (9–8) Hoehn (2) 1,975 27–14 8–3 April 13 Iowa Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 9–8 ^(8) Derkowski (12–7) Judisch (0–2) — 1,975 28–14 9–3 April 14 Iowa Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 6–5 George (2–1) Adams (9–9) — 2,079 29–14 10–3 April 16 Michigan State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 5–1 Hoehn (14–4) Roberts (0–1) Derkowski (3) 1,752 30–14 11–3 April 19 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 4–3 ^(9) George (3–1) Kinney (15–11) — 1,354 31–14 12–3 April 20 Nebraska Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 6–5 George (4–1) Harness (5–4) — 1,987 32–14 13–3 April 21 Nebraska Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 11–3 ^(6) Derkowski (13–7) Kinney (15–12) — 1,986 33–14 14–3 April 23 Oakland Softball Field Rochester, MI 9–4 George (5–1) Smith (1–2) — — 34–14 — April 26 Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park State College, PA 2–0 Derkowski (14–7) Nemeth (21–4) — 839 35–14 15–3 April 27 at Penn State Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park State College, PA 14–3 ^(6) George (6–1) Volpe (8–6) — 782 36–14 16–3 April 28 at Penn State Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park State College, PA 3–2 ^(9) Derkowski (15–7) Nemeth (21–5) — 1,077 37–14 17–3
May (1–2) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record May 3 Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 9–6 Derkowski (16–7) Ruck (8–5) George (1) 2,131 38–14 18–3 May 4 Ohio State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 0–6 Paulsen (3–2) Hoehn (14–5) — 2,432 38–15 18–4 May 5 Ohio State Alumni Field Ann Arbor, MI 1–2 Smith (18–9) Derkowski (16–8) — 2,206 38–16 18–5
Post-season (5–2)
(3–0) Date Opponent Rank Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1GT Record May 9 Pearl Field Iowa City, IA 10–0 ^(5) Derkowski (17–8) Wyche (13–15) — — 39–16 1–0 May 10 Pearl Field Iowa City, IA 6–4 Derkowski (18–8) Salo (5–5) — 680 40–16 2–0 May 11 Pearl Field Iowa City, IA 3–1 Derkowski (19–8) Copeland (20–11) — 692 41–16 3–0 (2–2) Date Opponent Rank Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record Regional record May 17 Cowgirl Stadium Stillwater, OK 3–4 Derkowski (19–9) — — 41–17 0–1 May 18 Cowgirl Stadium Stillwater, OK 4–2 George (7–1) Caviness (17–10) — 698 42–17 1–1 May 18 vs. Kentucky Cowgirl Stadium Stillwater, OK 4–2 Hoehn (15–5) George (2) 753 43–17 2–1 May 19 Cowgirl Stadium Stillwater, OK 1–4 Kilfoyl (24–3) Derkowski (19–10) — 1,072 43–18 2–2

Rankings

See main article: 2024 NCAA Division I softball rankings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Michigan softball misses NCAA Tournament for first time since 1994 . MLive.com . Ryan . Zuke . May 14, 2023 . January 18, 2024.
2. Web site: Brundage Elevated to Associate Head Coach . . MGoBlue.com . Leah . Howard . July 17, 2023 . January 18, 2024.
3. Web site: Jennifer Brundage Promoted to Michigan Associate Head Coach . extrainningsoftball.com . Justin . McLeod . July 18, 2023 . January 18, 2024.
4. Web site: Michigan Alum Canfield Elevated to Assistant Softball Coach . . MGoBlue.com . Leah . Howard . July 21, 2023 . January 18, 2024.
5. Web site: Rain Washes Out U-M's Joan Joyce Classic Finale One Out Shy of Official Game . . MGoBlue.com . Leah . Howard . February 18, 2024 . February 18, 2024.
6. Web site: Weather Alters NKU Spring Classic, Wolverines to Play Sunday, Monday . . MGoBlue.com . Leah . Howard . March 5, 2024 . March 5, 2024.
7. Web site: Wolverines' Notre Dame Midweek Rescheduled Due to Weather . . MGoBlue.com . April 2, 2024 . April 2, 2024.
8. Web site: Weather Alters Schedule for Weekend Series Against Iowa . . MGoBlue.com . April 11, 2024 . April 11, 2024.