Erin Hoehn’s story this season is held within two distinctly polarizing bookends.
Feb. 7, the sophomore right-hander opened the Michigan softball team’s regular season. As the starter she hit three batters while allowing three hits and five total runs in just 1.1 innings to a Delaware team that stamped their first victory against a ranked opponent in program history. The first bookend.
The second came this past Saturday, when Hoehn closed out Michigan’s run to the Big Ten Tournament Championship, upholding the Wolverines’ 2-0 lead over No. 2 seed UCLA by retiring all six batters she faced in consecutive fashion to secure the unlikely upset win. It was her second successful relief effort against a top-10 team on the week.
With multiple wins over ranked opponents on a big stage now under her belt, Hoehn has established this second bookend before the year has even ended. The season isn’t over, but her progression from an unanswered question in the opening weeks into next year’s bonafide answer at primary starter has concluded.
Next season will be Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl’s first without senior right-hander Lauren Derkowski, the now-two time Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player and two-time member of the All-Big Ten First Team at the helm of both of Tholl’s Big Ten Championships.
Under Derkowski’s wing her freshman year, Hoehn started 22 games and posted a 15-5 record. Her stock was high going into the 2025 season, as was Michigan’s. But the swift destruction at the hands of Delaware, followed by a pummeling from then-No. 3 Florida the next day planted seeds of doubt in both the pitcher and her program. It appeared that, just as they had last year, the Wolverines were going to lean everything they had on Derkowski.
But Tholl was never a fan of that plan.
“Erin Hoehn has the capabilities to really compete well,” Tholl said just days after the losses to the Gators and Blue Hens.
A vote of confidence, and one that Hoehn backed up.
After the loss to Florida, Hoehn went on to record 16 wins in a row, including a relief effort for Derkowski in the deciding game of the Michigan State series. Not only was Hoehn showing up in her own starts, but she was there for her mentor as well, taking on a different role to secure a victory. More than anything, Hoehn was assertive while in command, and it was palpable among her teammates.
“You can tell when a pitcher is really confident with her stuff,” junior third baseman Maddie Erickson said April 8 after the Michigan State series. “It’s really special to watch (Hoehn) out there just killing it.”
As the Wolverines got deeper into Big Ten play, they faced more formidable opponents, which garnered disappointing results for Michigan and a mixed bag for Hoehn. The Wolverines were swept in all three conference series against ranked opponents, dropping their record against ranked opponents to 0-12 on the season. And while Hoehn was a part of five of such losses, there were some promising flashes in her game.
She held a violent UCLA offense to just four runs in an eight-inning showing, and a similarly potent Oregon attack to three runs through six innings. A few strong showings in the circle, but Hoehn had still yet to contribute to an effort against a strong opponent that was not doomed to fall short of success.
Enter the Big Ten Tournament. The other bookend. As anticipated, Derkowski was once again given every start in the circle, but unlike last time around, Hoehn came in to relive the last three games.
Across a total of nine innings and three games, Hoehn did not give up a single run, holding onto each lead the Wolverines’ offense had amassed. Two such efforts came in Michigan’s first and only two victories over ranked opponents all season, notably against two of the teams that had swept them just a month ago. She had the conviction when her teammates needed it most.
When asked about Hoehn’s accomplishments after the fact this past weekend, Tholl’s thoughts on Hoehn from the beginning of the season had not changed a bit.
“Erin is just a competitor, we knew that from the moment she stepped on campus,” Tholl said. “She trusted her preparation to the fullest this weekend, and when we needed it most she certainly stepped up.”
As the year winds down and Michigan looks to Derkowski to lead for the last time at the NCAA Tournament, just as many eyes are on the future. And they’re looking at Erin Hoehn.
