Gopher Softball 2018

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ComoGopher said:
No recency bias at all from me. This trend started in Vegas. In all 61 games of the 2017 season the team had 53 errors for a .869 errors per game average. In 31 games so far this season the team already has 41 errors or a whopping 1.32 errors per game. It isn't the outfield making the errors and actually Dwyer has dramatically improved this year over last so it is not 1B accounting for the errors either.

Those numbers can't sit well with Trachsel who prides herself on being a defensive specialist. She has a reputation for being a disciplinarian. Does she have the team playing tight both at the plate and in the field?
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There has to be a reason(s) why a team with so many talented players has performed so erratically this year, both on defense and at the plate. I like ComoGopher's comment because it suggests WHY, not just WHAT. But where the truth lies, maybe nobody knows who's an outside observer. What I see missing is a strong on-field leadership. Players and coaches move on, but what I see is that Allister got lots of good players, but failed to recruit the All-American talent in the circle (and in the midst of the action) that Groenewegen represented. I can't help but believe that Allister realized that would be missing in 2018. You can't win big without truly superior talent in key positions. The Gophers need better on-field leadership, in MHO.
 

With Illinois having a bit of a down season with an RPI of 52, does this become a "must win" series for the Gophers?
 

MNsoftballfan said:
With Illinois having a bit of a down season with an RPI of 52, does this become a "must win" series for the Gophers?
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Yes. This may sound cavalier, but when the team already has 13 losses with 23 regular season games left, all remaining series are "must win".
 

It's amazing to me the coaching change had such an effect on the team. I knew we'd step back on pitching, but the hitting should have made up for it. I'm not sure what happened, but it is a disaster compared to last year.
 

The weather looks terrible this weekend. Forecast says it will below 30° from Saturday morning to late Sunday afternoon. Friday barely above freezing with potential rain. Ish. I'm curious how they'll handle this.
 



Schedule change. Double-header tomorrow starting at 1PM, no games on Saturday, and a noon game on Sunday! Happy Easter!

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Panthadad2 said:
Hate to beat a dead horse, but I sure hope Gopher softball can eventually get into US Bank Stadium. Just ran across this old article about softball at the Metrodome. I had no idea. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/021109aaa.html

and here: http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/021308aac.html
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Definitely no for next season, since even baseball won't be in there because the NCAA has the stadium from February through the Final Four.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Definitely no for next season, since even baseball won't be in there because the NCAA has the stadium from February through the Final Four.
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Yeah. That's a bummer. Baseball was able to play 10 of 24 non-conference games at home in the Bank this year. Next year, they'll have to be road warriors like the softball team.
 



No hitter (1 walk 1 hbp 3 errors) and 6-0 win, 3 run hr from Kendyl and one from Maddie too. Gametracker had back to back fielding errors from Allie and then benched for Carlie at SS
 

Did the Illini just intentionally walk Lindaman with Partain on first and one out? I am doing the 'gametracker' and don't always trust it.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Did the Illini just intentionally walk Lindaman with Partain on first and one out? I am doing the 'gametracker' and don't always trust it.
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Yep. In the two games, 1 at bat (the home run), and 7 walks. The Illini strategy worked today. The only time Lindaman crossed home plate was her home run. Luckily, others were hitting.
 



Incredible performance by Fiser today in 2 games...in frigid cold. It must have been a little demoralizing for the Illini to be suffering through 30° weather with no ability to get hits. I had to laugh when the main announcer mentioned he was leaving to go indoors to announce the men's baseball game while the young ladies were outside gutting it out in frigid weather like the defending champions they are.
 

We need the win tomorrow for the sweep. Bats came alive and pitching was good. Arneson had a tough time on D.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
They should give the Gophers a W, Fiser would have shut them out anyways.
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I asked Fiser after the cancellation if she was scheduled to pitch today. She said, "they didn't tell us who would be throwing today." Surely it would have been her. Illinois' coaches seemed awfully chippy and passive aggressive, just as they were at Illinois in 2017; they seemed intent on blaming the umpires for their losing both last year and yesterday, ignoring the fact that you don't win many doubleheaders with only 3 hits total. I think they beat a hasty retreat out of town as soon as the temperature dipped below 28 today, not wanting to lose again, as they surely would have. Being an Illinois native, I don't take pride in reporting that. Their coaches' attitude only reminds me once again why I don't live there any longer.
 

Hrothgar said:
I asked Fiser after the cancellation if she was scheduled to pitch today. She said, "they didn't tell us who would be throwing today." Surely it would have been her. Illinois' coaches seemed awfully chippy and passive aggressive, just as they were at Illinois in 2017; they seemed intent on blaming the umpires for their losing both last year and yesterday, ignoring the fact that you don't win many doubleheaders with only 3 hits total. I think they beat a hasty retreat out of town as soon as the temperature dipped below 28 today, not wanting to lose again, as they surely would have. Being an Illinois native, I don't take pride in reporting that. Their coaches' attitude only reminds me once again why I don't live there any longer.
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Gotta think it would have been Fiser. She is the key. Cool that you spoke with her.
Yeah, 3 hits in 2 games, hard to win.

Perry has got them to the Regionals her two years there and nice record this year, but looks a little inflated to me.

Off track, but Stanford really got worked over this weekend. Think they were outscored 27-1 in the 3 games against #1 Washington.
 

Hrothgar said:
I asked Fiser after the cancellation if she was scheduled to pitch today. She said, "they didn't tell us who would be throwing today." Surely it would have been her. Illinois' coaches seemed awfully chippy and passive aggressive, just as they were at Illinois in 2017; they seemed intent on blaming the umpires for their losing both last year and yesterday, ignoring the fact that you don't win many doubleheaders with only 3 hits total. I think they beat a hasty retreat out of town as soon as the temperature dipped below 28 today, not wanting to lose again, as they surely would have. Being an Illinois native, I don't take pride in reporting that. Their coaches' attitude only reminds me once again why I don't live there any longer.
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There was no way they were playing in that weather yesterday because of the wind. I agree that it was most-likely a Gopher win had they played, but the Illini were not waiting forever on a weather decision when it was obvious they were not going to play. They had a long bus ride and the girls have class today.

The behavior of the Illini coaches is another topic entirely! I don't get it...

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Nice strike out pitcher down the road at Drake, Nicole Newman. She hurt her elbow last year, so this is her junior season because of a medical redshirt. 482.1 innings pitched in her career and has 667 strikeouts. She beat Purdue 1-0 allowing 1 hit and striking out 14 in early March. Drake sitting at 25-9 with an 11 game win streak.
 

Gophers next series in East Lansing against a very beatable Michigan State Spartan squad.

Indiana
6-0-0

Maryland
5-1-0

Michigan
4-1-0

Northwestern
5-3-0

Minnesota
3-2-0

Nebraska
3-3-0

Wisconsin
2-2-0

Rutgers
2-2-0

Illinois
3-4-0

Ohio State
2-4-0

Penn State
2-4-0

Iowa
1-4-0

Michigan State
1-5-0 (13-18)

Purdue
1-5-0
 

Gophers RPI improved a bit from last week, and are now ranked #29 in the RPI standings. Nebraska is the only BIG school in the top 25. Lots of BIG schools are bunched very close together. see below.

24 Nebraska Big Ten 25-12-0 5-3-0 13-6-0 7-3-0 0-0-0
25 Texas Big 12 19-13-0 6-1-0 3-4-0 10-8-0 0-0-0
26 Kentucky SEC 20-11-0 2-8-0 7-1-0 11-2-0 0-0-0
27 Michigan Big Ten 28-7-0 5-4-0 18-3-0 5-0-0 0-0-0
28 Ohio St. Big Ten 21-8-0 8-4-0 11-3-0 2-1-0 0-0-0
29 Minnesota Big Ten 20-13-0 6-9-0 12-4-0 2-0-0 0-0-0
30 Texas St. Sun Belt 25-8-0 5-3-0 10-2-0 10-3-0 0-0-0
31 Wichita St. AAC 21-12-0 9-3-0 6-7-0 6-2-0 0-0-0
32 Oklahoma St. Big 12 25-10-0 3-2-0 14-6-0 8-2-0 0-0-0
33 Northwestern Big Ten 22-11-0 4-3-0 14-6-0 4-2-0 0-0-0
34 Ole Miss SEC 17-14-0 2-6-0 8-2-0 7-6-0 0-0-0
35 Wisconsin Big Ten 16-13-0 3-6-0 11-7-0 2-0-0 0-0-0
 

Thanks for posting the RPI
They really are bunched. (How about Hofstra?! I always get a kick out of the non Power Five teams.)
 

The RPI is important, of course. But at this stage (20-13) I'm mostly interested in the Gophers posting victories, as many as possible of any sort. I'm not certain Fiser can do it alone in the circle, though she seems always to keep a positive mindset. It was projected they'd have a starting pitchers' power duo of Fiser & Smith. Anybody know what has held Smith back?
 

Hrothgar said:
The RPI is important, of course. But at this stage (20-13) I'm mostly interested in the Gophers posting victories, as many as possible of any sort. I'm not certain Fiser can do it alone in the circle, though she seems always to keep a positive mindset. It was projected they'd have a starting pitchers' power duo of Fiser & Smith. Anybody know what has held Smith back?
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Smith has a nagging elbow thing going on from what I understand.

MSU and Iowa - we take 5-1
Becky and Nebraska 3-2
NDSU, Purdue, SD, and PSU 9-1

Leaving some margin for error, this is what I think happens. 36-17 going into the B1G tournament.
 

ComoGopher said:
Smith has a nagging elbow thing going on from what I understand.

MSU and Iowa - we take 5-1
Becky and Nebraska 3-2
NDSU, Purdue, SD, and PSU 9-1

Leaving some margin for error, this is what I think happens. 36-17 going into the B1G tournament.
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Thanks for the info about Smith. Sorry to hear that about her. I think it'd be 37-17 (sorry to be so picky, as my arithmetic has never been good). :)
 

Watching the Twins opener now. After watching a ton a fast paced fastpitch, it's difficult to watch the slooooow pace of play between pitches in MLB.

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Hrothgar said:
Thanks for the info about Smith. Sorry to hear that about her. I think it'd be 37-17 (sorry to be so picky, as my arithmetic has never been good). :)
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Close enough! I will take an extra win.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Watching the Twins opener now. After watching a ton a fast paced fastpitch, it's difficult to watch the slooooow pace of play between pitches in MLB.

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Definitely two completely different sports.

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Hrothgar said:
The RPI is important, of course. But at this stage (20-13) I'm mostly interested in the Gophers posting victories, as many as possible of any sort. I'm not certain Fiser can do it alone in the circle, though she seems always to keep a positive mindset. It was projected they'd have a starting pitchers' power duo of Fiser & Smith. Anybody know what has held Smith back?
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I think she can carry most of the load through the rest of the Big Ten schedule and into the Big Ten Tourney. She's at 137 innings now. Probably get about 270 or so if the coach keeps using her the way she has been. Moulton did that a couple of seasons. Go back farther and Hassett logged over 300. Should be a blowout here and there or another cancellation which will help save on her.
 

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