All Things 2015 Gophers Softball Thread

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Gophers take the first game against the Badgers, winning 7-2. Groenewegen with 13 strikeouts (127 pitches), LeMay singled, doubled and homered.
Anderson gets the start in the second game.
 

Gophers win game 2 12-1. If the Gophers sweep Purdue, they can finish in first place outright if Penn State wins the series against Michigan. Gophers can still get a first place tie with a sweep vs. Purdue and Michigan takes 2 out of 3 from Penn State, but Michigan would win the tiebreaker.
 


Overall Conference
W-L % W-L %
1. Michigan 45-6 .882 18-2 .900
2. Minnesota 43-8 .843 17-3 .850
3. Nebraska 30-19 .612 15-5 .750
4. Illinois 25-24 .510 13-7 .650
5. Northwestern 25-19 .568 12-7 .632
6. Rutgers 28-17 .622 10-10 .500
7. Ohio State 26-21 .553 9-11 .450
Penn State 28-24 .538 9-11 .450
9. Maryland 26-24 .520 8-12 .400
10. Purdue 30-21 .588 7-11 .389
Indiana 17-35 .327 7-11 .389
12. Iowa 16-37 .302 7-13 .350
13. Wisconsin 19-30 .388 3-16 .158
14. Michigan State 17-35 .327 2-18 .100
Updated through all games of April 29.

Gophers sitting at #19 in the RPI. California, a team the Gophers pummeled 8-0 at their park, holds the 16th spot. Arizona State, another squad the Gophers handled at their field, 4-1, is immediately behind them at 20.
 

Purdue (30-21, 7-11) comes in today for the last series of the season. Lefthander Lily Fecho has started 33 of the 51 games for the Boilermakers. 216 innings pitched, 273 strikeouts, 2.01 ERA, 71 BB and holds opponents to .193 batting average. Senior Ashley Burkhardt (#15 in the NPF draft) leads the team in most offensive categories including hits, homeruns, RBI's, stolen bases. In their most recent game Fecho threw a no-hitter and Burkhardt hit a 2 run homer in a 2-0 win over Indiana State.
 




fan of Ray Williams said:
They aren't disclosing anything according to the announcers during the Wisconsin games. When they showed her on screen she was using two crutches to get around. Huge loss.
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Luckily, they aren't a top-heavy batting order. The "worst" batting average of the regulars (without Walker's replacement Dani Wagner) is .325, and the lowest OPS is .996.
 

Groenewegen against Fecho.
1-0 victory for the Gophers. Groenewegen strikes out 15, gives up 2 hits, 3 walks, 2 hit batters, 116 pitches. Fecho gives up 5 hits, 2 by Gronewegen. Gophers scored in the 5th on an unearned run as Meyer reached on an error and Palkovich doubled her home.
Guessing Anderson gets the ball tomorrow.
Michigan beat Penn State in 5 innings today.
 




ruppertflywheel said:
Ray...I just don't think Michigan will drop any to Penn State.
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Yup, I agree. Betsa and Wagner throw too well and Michigan puts up a ton of runs against all these Big Ten teams.
8 out of their 19 conference wins they've scored 10 or more runs.
 

Groenewegen throwing the first game of the double header. (Possibility of rain tomorrow.) Fecho going to throw for Purdue again. Rematch of last night.
1. Sam Macken, 3b
2. Danielle Parlich, 2b
3. Sara Groenewegen, p
4. Kaitlyn Richardson, 1b
5. Hannah Granger, rf
6. Taylor LeMay, c
7. Erica Meyer, cf
8. Madie Eckstrom, dp
9. Paige Palkovich, lf
Flex: Dani Wagner, ss

Gophers and Michigan both up 2-0 in the middle innings.
Gophers and the Boilermakers head into the 7th tied 2-2.
Michigan beat Penn State 9-1.
Groenewegen with 17 strikeouts. Gophers hitting in the bottom of the 7th.
Extra innings.
18 strikeouts for Groenewegen. School record.
19
Gophers get the W. Groenewegen walked to start the 8th. Wenner pinch ran. Stole second. Moved to third on a Richardson fly ball and scored on a Granger single.
149 pitches for Groenewegen and 110 for Fecho. Sara with 2 hits allowed, one being a home run by Burkhardt.

Nikki Anderson will start the 2nd game. Gina Snyder for Purdue.
Anderson goes all 7 innings as the Gophers win 4-2 after being behind 2-0 in the bottom of 6th. Nikki allowed 4 hits, struck out 9 and no walks, 102 pitches. LeMay and Meyer with big hits in the comeback rally. LeMay doubled in Parlich and Groenewegen and Meyer followed with an RBI single, advanced to 2nd on the throw, stole third and scored on an errant thrown by the catcher on the play.
Two hard earned victories. Gophers might end up seeing Purdue in the tourney. Winner of 7-10 game gets the Gophers and Purdue is sitting at 10 right now.
 

Overall Conference
W-L % W-L %
1. Michigan 47-6 .887 20-2 .909 The Spartans are 10-2 winners over Penn State, 5 innings. They move to 21-2.
2. Minnesota 46-8 .852 20-3 .870
3. Nebraska 31-20 .608 16-6 .727 The Huskers win 9-1 victors over Illinois in 5 innings.
4. Northwestern 27-19 .587 14-7 .667 Wildcats win over Iowa 11-6.
5. Illinois 26-25 .510 14-8 .636
6. Ohio State 28-21 .571 11-11 .500
7. Rutgers 28-19 .596 10-12 .455 Rutgers beat Wisconsin 3-2.
8. Maryland 27-25 .519 9-13 .409 Terrapins lost 7-4 to Michigan State.
Penn State 28-26 .519 9-13 .409
10. Indiana 17-37 .315 7-13 .350
11. Purdue 30-24 .556 7-14 .333
12. Iowa 16-39 .291 7-15 .318
13. Wisconsin 21-30 .412 5-16 .238
14. Michigan State 18-36 .333 3-19 .136
Updated through all games of May 2.

Today's games
Michigan vs Penn State
Nebraska vs Illinois
Northwestern at Iowa
Ohio State vs Indiana
Rutgers vs Wisconsin
Maryland at Michigan State
 



#4 Northwestern gets the winner of #5 Illinois-#12 Purdue
#1 Michigan gets the winner of #8 Maryland-# 9 Penn State
#3 Nebraska gets the winner of #6 Ohio State-#11 Indiana
#2 Minnesota gets the winner of #7 Rutgers-#10 Iowa

Bracket link http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/w-softbl/15-bracket.pdf Single elimination, first game is Thursday at noon Eastern time, Buckeye Field.
 

Pitcher of the Week
Sara Groenewegen, Minnesota
So., RHP, White Rock, British Columbia/Elgin Park Secondary

· Recorded three complete-game conference victories last week, while notching a conference-leading 47 strikeouts in games against Wisconsin and Purdue
· Established a school record with 19 strikeouts against Purdue on Saturday
· Scattered nine hits and allowed only three earned runs over 22.0 innings
· Wins her sixth career Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor
· Last Minnesota Big Ten Pitcher of the Week: Sara Groenewegen (April 27, 2015)

Minnesota now sitting at #15 in the RPI as of today. #9 and #13 in the rankings.
 

Thanks Ray. In a single elimination I like the Gophers with Sarah chucking. Glad we didn't draw Purdue.
 

I would think that getting to the final would keep us in the top 16, which would have us hosting a regional.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Thanks Ray. In a single elimination I like the Gophers with Sarah chucking. Glad we didn't draw Purdue.
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My thoughts too. Would be great to get to the finals with Groenewegen versus Betsa from Michigan. That has the chance to be a classic.
 

Five players from the Minnesota softball team were named to All-Big Ten teams for the 2015 season, the conference announced Wednesday. Sara Groenewegen, Tyler Walker and Danielle Parlich were first-team selections, while Kaitlyn Richardson and Sam Macken were named to the second team. Groenewegen was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/050615aaa.html
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
My thoughts too. Would be great to get to the finals with Groenewegen versus Betsa from Michigan. That has the chance to be a classic.
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Yep, biggest question all year was the No. 2 starter and how they would do in a second game of a Big Ten or NCAA Tournament. Hope we can find out.
 

Here are the OPS for the Gophers batters:

Groenewegen: 1.176
Richardson: 1.123
Palkovich: 1.105
Meyer: 1.087
Macken: 1.026
Grainger: 1.017
Parlich: .992
LeMay: .965

The ninth person has been shared by Maddie Eckstrom (.971) and Dani Wagner (.753) since Walker's injury.
 

Maximus said:
Yep, biggest question all year was the No. 2 starter and how they would do in a second game of a Big Ten or NCAA Tournament. Hope we can find out.
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Nikki Anderson had an ERA of 4.86 on March 27th, it is now 3.27. I think she starts the semi.
 

Don't follow softball like baseball, but don't softball pitchers pretty much have rubber arms? Nowhere near the same stress on the arm as a baseball pitcher? If you have a stud on the mound, if there's a huge drop-off not much reason to use your #2 against a good team unless #1 is getting shelled. ... ride #1 to the finish line?
 

#12 seed Purdue over #5 seed Illinois. (With Fecho throwing it and Burkhardt hitting it, dangerous #12 seed.) Northwestern next.
#9 Penn State over #8 Maryland 10-6. Michigan next.
#6 Ohio State in squeaker 24-1 over #11 Indiana. (Coach leaves the first pitcher in till the Ohio State hit count totals 21 and runs were at 16.) Nebraska next.
#10 Iowa over #7 Rutgers 5-3. Gophers get the Hawkeyes.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Don't follow softball like baseball, but don't softball pitchers pretty much have rubber arms? Nowhere near the same stress on the arm as a baseball pitcher? If you have a stud on the mound, if there's a huge drop-off not much reason to use your #2 against a good team unless #1 is getting shelled. ... ride #1 to the finish line?
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Two years ago Sara Moulton was a junior. Allister sent her out to start the game 45 times out of the 55 games. In the Big Ten tourney she had Moulton start 3 days in a row. I'm also really interested in how Michigan handles it this year. Wagner isn't the pitcher Betsa is (Not many are). Purdue gets by Northwestern and it might be Fecho against Wagner. Not sure if Purdue can win, but with Fecho and Burkhardt, who knows?
 

#10 seeded Hawkeyes are 18-39 overall, 8-15 in the conference, 3-10 at home, 9-16 away, 6-13 neutral.
Rated teams they've played. (Ranked at that spot when the game was played)
Lost to #1 Florida 8-0 in Gainsville.
Lost again to #1 ranked Florida 8-0 in Gainsville.
Lost to #6 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette 4-3 in Lafayette. (Starkenburg pitched)
Lost to #17 UCF 3-2 in Orlando. (Starkenburg pitched)
Lost to #2 Oregon 2-1 in Fullerton. (Starkenburg pitched)
Lost to #6 Oklahoma 23-3 in Norman.
Lost to #6 Oklahoma 8-2 in Norman
Lost to #6 Oklahoma 9-0 in Norman.
Lost to #4 Michigan 6-0 in Ann Arbor.
Lost to #6 Michigan 7-4 in Ann Arbor.
Lost to #6 Michigan 6-4 in Ann Arbor.
Lost to #15 Missouri 10-2 in Columbia.
Lost to #12 Minnesota 8-0 in Minneapolis.
Lost to #12 Minnesota 8-0 in Minneapolis.
Lost to #12 Minnesota 9-0 in Minneapolis.
They also played Hofstra twice, was not rated, but is now #22 in RPI. Lost 4-3 (Yoways started and Starkenburg came in for 2 shutout innings.) and 9-3.
Also played and lost to North Dakota State 9-1 in Cedar Falls.
Red shirt sophomore Starkenburg has started 36 games and freshman Yoways 20. Starkenburg went all 7 in their win over Rutgers yesterday, 6 hits, 3 runs, 4 BB, 5 strikeouts, 113 pitches. Senior shortstop Megan Blank is their leading hitter. Leads the club in avg., hits, home runs, RBI's.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Nikki Anderson had an ERA of 4.86 on March 27th, it is now 3.27. I think she starts the semi.
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Gosh, that will be an interesting decision by the coach. (If they win the first one. Don't want to jinx it.) Anderson seemed at her best the last time out. Have you heard anything at all on Walker?
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Gosh, that will be an interesting decision by the coach. (If they win the first one. Don't want to jinx it.) Anderson seemed at her best the last time out. Have you heard anything at all on Walker?
Click to expand...

It will be, go with Nikki until the first sign of trouble, then in comes Sara. Just to take a few pitches off Sara on Saturday.
 

Rutgers just cruising yesterday, leading 3-0 in the bottom of the 5th, had the bases loaded, no outs. Didn't score.
Went to the top of the 6th, got an out. 5 more outs and the game is over. Right fielder botched a catchable ball. Allows the hitter to reach third. She scores on a hit. Next batter hits one out and all of a sudden it's 3-3. Hawkeyes score 2 in the 7th on a single and a home run.
Starkenburg is drop, drop, drop, drop, drop, take a little off the drop, maybe a little more off it and an occasional rise.
 

Lefty junior Lily Fecho gets the call again for Purdue. Junior right hander Kristen Wood for Northwestern. First game today underway.
 

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