» Michigan opened up the Houston-HCU Invitational with wins over Pittsburgh and host Houston Christian.

» Lauren Putz and Lilly Vallimont tallied first-inning homers against Pitt; both posted three hits on the day.

» Gabby Ellis won in relief against Pitt with five strikeouts and allowed no runs through 3.2 innings; Kat Meyers earned the HCU win with six strikeouts and five hitless innings.

HOUSTON, Texas — The University of Michigan softball team kicked off a five-game weekend appearance at the Houston-HCU Invitational with a pair of wins Friday (Feb. 13), defeating Pittsburgh 3-1 and host Houston Christian 6-1 at HCU’s Husky Field.

The Wolverines (6-1) belted two solo homers in the first inning against Pitt. Sophomore outfielder Lauren Putz connected on just the second pitch she saw and went deep down the right-field line for her team-best fourth long ball of the season. Redshirt junior catcher Lilly Vallimont, who went 3-for-3 with two RBI in the game, followed two batters later with her second home run of the season on a deep shot to left.

Pitt got on the board with a solo homer of its own in the fourth inning, but senior shortstop Avery Fantucci got the run back in the home half of the inning, driving a two-out RBI double to the right-center gap.

Junior right-handed pitcher Gabby Ellis (3-0) earned the win in relief for the second straight game. She entered after the Pitt home run in the fourth and allowed no runs on four hits and no walks with five strikeouts through the final 3.2 innings.

Michigan struck early against Houston Christian in the late game, capitalizing on an overthrow to third base as Putz advanced on a groundout and then scored in the first inning. The Wolverines scored on another error in the third after junior outfielder Jenissa Conway tripled to lead off and scored on a bobbled ball at short.

Senior third baseman Maddie Erickson laced a two-out, two-run double to right center three batters later in the third before Putz tacked on two more with a double to left center in the fourth. Putz finished the day with three hits and three RBI.

HCU took advantage of a couple of free passes and then hit a two-out RBI single to shallow right to spoil the shutout bid in the sixth.

Sophomore RHP Kat Meyers (2-0) was stellar in the circle, posting six strikeouts while allowing no hits and one walk through five scoreless innings.

Michigan will move across town for its next three Houston-HCU contests at the University of Houston’s Cougar Softball Stadium. U-M will play two on Saturday (Feb. 14), taking on Incarnate Word at 9:30 a.m. CT and hosting Houston at 2:30 p.m. CT — new game times due to rain in the forecast.