Carol Hutchins Tallies Win #1,458

Michigan head softball coach Carol Hutchins led her team to an 8-0 run-rule victory on Saturday against Indiana. It gave the Wolverines the series win and marked the 1,458th victory of her career.

With the win, she moved into sole possession of first-place on the all-time coaching list, moving out of a tie with former Fresno State head coach Margie Wright.

Photo: Kevin Gregory

In a statement to Justin's World, Wright said, "I want to congratulate Carol on having the most wins in NCAA Division 1 softball. I know how difficult that is and I congratulate her and her teams on this accomplishment. It was an honor being in that position for a long time and I can honestly say the honor was more about the female athletes I got to coach. With every victory, they got to either be the hero of the win, become a more confident person with the win and they get to take pride in the hard work and sacrifices they made to get that victory. I'm sure Hutch shares those sentiments and I congratulate her and Michigan softball."

"Hutch" tied Wright's record on Friday in the series-opener against the Hoosiers, that an 11-5 victory, before claiming the record in the mercy-rule-shortened "W" today.

A record thirty-four years in the making, those same years have seen the Maize & Blue in the Women's College World Series eleven times, including last season and 2005, when they were crowned National Champions. The legendary coach and 2006 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee holds a career .754 winning percentage and eighteen Big Ten conference titles, including the last eight in a row.

The Wolverines moved to 26-3 on the season with the win and currently hold the #2 spot in both the ASA/USA and NFCA Top 25 polls, and the top spot in the latest RPI.