Michigan softball coach Bonnie Tholl on back-to-back Big Ten titles: 'You stay the course'

It wasn’t supposed to be Michigan in 2025, but the Wolverines repeated as Big Ten Tournament champions Saturday anyway! As the No. 8 seed, Michigan made a run dating back to the first day, winning four games in a row to win the Big Ten.

Standing in their way was No. 2 UCLA, which cruised in the quarterfinals and edged a hot Nebraska team in the semis. Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl just told her team to stay the course in order to repeat as champions.

In the end, the Wolverines blanked the Bruins 2-0 to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll await their fate during Sunday’s selection show.

“It’s unbelievable,”  Tholl said after the game, via Big Ten Network. “I’m so incredibly happy for the group and for the seniors who led us.

“The season, we say it all the time, it is an investment. I tell them all the time, you know how you become a millionaire? You invest all you have in all your accounts. The most you have, the most energy, the most effort you have, you give to the program, you give to each other. Like a season, the market goes up and down, but you stay the course, and the reward is coming, the millions are coming, and it happened today.”

Jenissa Conway put Michigan on the board first, up 1-0, in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI double to center field, driving in Indiana Langford. The Wolverines built a 2-0 lead when Ella Stephenson’s two-out single scored Conway.

Michigan had four hits and UCLA had three hits but left six on base. It ended up being the Bruins’ detriment during Saturday’s final on the campus of Purdue.

Lauren Derkowski pitched five innings, giving up three hits and two walks with two strikeouts to earn the win for Michigan. After UCLA drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, Erin Hoehn entered the game in relief and took it from there. 

Tholl used both pitchers throughout the tournament consistently, and Hoehn finished it off for Michigan, clinching the Big Ten title. She didn’t allow a hit and had one strikeout over the course of two innings.

Michigan and the rest of the NCAA Tournament eligible teams will await their postseason fate Sunday. The Selection Show is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN2.