The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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58 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2026 BY ANTHONY BROOME M ichigan softball was on the verge of a run-rule victory, up 8-0 against Liberty on March 3, but all the drama in the game was on the shoulders of sopho- more right-handed pitcher Kat Meyers. The offense had done its job entering the bottom of the fifth inning, and now she had to do hers to slam the door and put herself in the record books. After back-to-back groundouts and a pop-out, Meyers closed out the game and earned her second career no-hitter in a win that lifted the Wolverines to a 16-5 record on the young 2026 season. She finished the game with 2 strikeouts and a walk, the lone blemish on an oth- erwise magical day. "It's never over until the last pitch," Meyers said, via The Michigan Daily. "So, just taking it one batter at a time, trying to throw a no-hitter to each batter, is what I was trying to focus on and just trust- ing my defense. Because if I start think- ing about it, about not giving up any hits, that's when things kind of tighten up, and you never know what can happen then." Meyers faced one batter over the mini- mum in the contest and was a second- inning walk away from a perfect game. Her strikeouts came in the first and third innings, and she quickly dispensed of the Flames in the bottom of the fifth on just 13 pitches. The Michigan offense handled its business offensively by scoring 3 runs in the top of the first, followed by a 5-run blast in the top of the fourth inning to put the run rule into effect. The top of the Wolverine lineup combined for 3 hits, 5 runs and 5 RBI, headlined by a three- run homer from sophomore right fielder Lauren Putz to give U-M its first-inning advantage. Meyers' second no-hitter came al- most a year to the day after her first. She previously recorded the ninth perfect game in program history in a 5-inning, 6-strikeout performance against North Carolina on March 8, 2025, another 8-0 win for the Wolverines. It was Michigan's first perfect game since Sarah Schaefer pulled it off in 2018. Meyers has appeared 11 times with 7 starts through her most recent no-hit- ter, boasting a 2.07 ERA and establishing herself as the ace of the team this season. Last season, she made 14 game appear- ances with two starts, posting a 1-0 re- cord with a 3.15 ERA, 16 strikeouts and a .216 batting average against her. The star twirler graduated from An- thony Wayne High School in White- house, Ohio, where she set school re- cords for single-season ERA (0.53), career ERA (0.96), and career winning percentage (.951, 39-2). She also re- corded 444 career strikeouts over 245 prep innings pitched. "I think that she has made more prog- ress than any single person on our team from one year to the next," Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said, via the Daily. "Just to watch Kat's growth … that's a fun thing to watch. When you start to have some of that success, you learn how to be successful, you learn how to win. … It's great to have somebody in the circle who's willing to put the work in and con- tinues to grow." With two no-hitters already in the first part of her collegiate career, Meyers is quickly carving out her place in Michi- gan's record books. If her early perfor- mances this season are any indication, the sophomore right-hander may only be getting started. ❑ ❱ OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE Sophomore Kat Meyers Throws Second Career No-Hitter Meyers, a right-handed pitcher, has appeared 11 times with 7 starts through March 3, boasting a 2.07 ERA and establishing herself as the ace of the team this season. PHOTO BY JAIME CRAWFORD/MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY