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I think you're all being too bland/kind. The February-thru-early-June NCAA calendar playing season was clearly a rig-job by NCAA-SEC-PAC 12 to favor the warm weather schools and allow them to play almost their entire pre-conference seasons (Febr & March) on their home fields v. traveling...

The SEC teams get more bids and possibly have more roster depth because the collegiate softball schedule is skewed to fit their weather (and, in my assumption, less rigorous academic programs.

Let's hope so, because The Big Ten will get better or the losers round will disappear?

Second day of the softball NCAAs and no BigTen team has escaped the elimination round.

Good insightful comment, Classof98. Don't mean to be a smart aleck, but I've argued that for years also. As you say, "at least one ace pitcher," preferably two to be really good.

To start with she needs to believe it herself.

Some hitters mentioned above are big and athletic, but they have slow bat speed. By contrast Krapf & Oakland (esp Krapf) whip their bats through the strike zone with lightning speed, which allows them to drive more balls much deeper. Most of the teams I saw beat MN had batting orders loaded with...

Even if Chavez, Krapf, & Oakland stay, serious holes remain to be filled for 2025. They are: a backup catcher; first base; 2nd base; lf, cf, rf; dp, and of course dominating pitcher(s). (True lf & rf are returning, but they hit in the low .200s.) First base and all three outfield positions and...

Everyone has known for several years that Fiser and Pease will/would be gone and when. MN coaching has failed to upgrade MN pitching. Everyone knows that winning big at this game comes only with elite pitching. Except for Pease, MN's pitching has been in an absolute shambles the past 3 years...

If the NCAA didn't already have good reasons for excluding the Gophers, yesterday's embarrassing play clinched it beyond all doubt. A performance hard to watch. Can't blame the players; there's a handful of true D1 performers. Otherwise the coaches have put together squad at mid-major level, no...

It still seems strange to me why so many battery mates (pitchers & catchers) fade from the Gophers scene in recent years. This year not a word about apparent injuries to Schwartz and Enter or what happened to Lindmark (losing Krapf would have been a double disaster given Lindmark's disappearance).

BTN said 6 walks to Oakland was as a program record. Didn't WI walk Lindaman 7 times in a game in 2017?

MN pitchers behind in counts all game, until Hambrick's last inning plus. She pitches better in relief than as a starter. But who's to argue about a win? The whole game was just IL stalling until some Gopher unloaded on one. Thanks to Krapf!

It would be great to see an underdog MN team catch fire and charge to a title. It's long overdue.

Sorry, my mistake. dlw4gophers said: "Pitching is everything in this game." Which is what we've all known for a long time. As the PBS series on baseball pointed out: "Baseball/softball is the only sport in which the defense has the ball." I love that insight.

I admire your positive approach. I was so disgusted after Friday's game, I didn't bother to attend Sat. or Sun. (First games I've missed in 10 yr. Saved a lot on gas.) This Gophers team isn't that bad, except for the lack of pitching. Gopher68 said it; you can't win without it.

In addition, even if they keep the star players in the field, there will be a need to replace 1base, 2 base, cf, and DP while also beefing up production at the plate from lf and rf. So hard to know what to expect next year.

The Gophers scored 6 runs tonight. With stellar starting pitching, that would win almost any game on the Big Ten schedule.

"Diehard fans like Preacher Roe .... to be part of the solution .... and want to throw money around..." those are only excerpts, but since I go by the pseudonym Preacher Roe I'll comment. Perhaps the eco in Ecoperson refers to economic expertise. If so, good. In my case, as in that of many...

For the past 10 or more years the program has built on winning. They have a large and loyal fan base, who've come to expect excellence.