Gopher Softball 2019

[ComoGopher]

Shoot, I was way off. I had you pegged as a Russian bot.

I am a huge Gopher fan and Gopher softball fan. I think that Jamie has not jumped onboard with the culture that our department wants our teams to have. I hope she can figure it out.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

I am a huge Gopher fan and Gopher softball fan. I think that Jamie has not jumped onboard with the culture that our department wants our teams to have. I hope she can figure it out.

I know you are, was just kidding.

 

[Panthadad2]

Nice to see all the social media stuff coming from the softball team this year. It's fun to track. Builds excitement for the season.

On a side note, I'm pondering taking my wife and daughter on a quick spring break trip to Austin for those games (and some sightseeing). Tickets to Houston look cheap.

 

[GrudgeGuy]

So how many injuries do we have after our “motivational workouts” and “spring training”? You can’t run kids 10+ hours a day - they need rest. Three practices a day is absurd. The season hasn’t started and based on social media these kids are pushed beyond their limit. Smiling faces don’t tell the whole story.

Nice to see all the social media stuff coming from the softball team this year. It's fun to track. Builds excitement for the season.

On a side note, I'm pondering taking my wife and daughter on a quick spring break trip to Austin for those games (and some sightseeing). Tickets to Houston look cheap.

 

[Panthadad2]

So how many injuries do we have after our “motivational workouts” and “spring training”? You can’t run kids 10+ hours a day - they need rest. Three practices a day is absurd. The season hasn’t started and based on social media these kids are pushed beyond their limit. Smiling faces don’t tell the whole story.

LOL. It's softball practice...in south Florida in January...no school...for a ranked D1 team with aspirations.

 

[GrudgeGuy]

Exactly my point. They have aspirations for the season so don’t ruin them in a week one 40-50 hour+ boot camp where multiple players (13 at last count) leave with some type of injury.

LOL. It's softball practice...in south Florida in January...no school...for a ranked D1 team with aspirations.

 

[MRJ]

Exactly my point. They have aspirations for the season so don’t ruin them in a week one 40-50 hour+ boot camp where multiple players (13 at last count) leave with some type of injury.

So, basically the whole team is injured now? Good to know...

 

[Panthadad2]

Exactly my point. They have aspirations for the season so don’t ruin them in a week one 40-50 hour+ boot camp where multiple players (13 at last count) leave with some type of injury.

If you want to imply that practices are too hard for these players. Fine. Don't refer to it as boot camp though. It ain't boot camp.

 

[ComoGopher]

I want to imply that the social media is good. Far better than last year. No idea if Jamie has figured out how to coach yet. This team is multiple time B1G tourney champs. They deserve some scrutiny. These ladies deserve the best coaching we can get them. We will see if they have that or not. Jamie needs to produce.

 

[Panthadad2]

I got a feeling the whole transfer portal rule will change this spring.

Article link

 

[GrudgeGuy]

I want to imply that the social media is good. Far better than last year. No idea if Jamie has figured out how to coach yet. This team is multiple time B1G tourney champs. They deserve some scrutiny. These ladies deserve the best coaching we can get them. We will see if they have that or not. Jamie needs to produce.

I have been wanting to bring this up and maybe this is a good start. What does the team need to do this year to consider it a successful season? Any predictions on the overall record (best and worst case)? What about BIG ten? The conference schedule is pretty favorable but preseason is tough.

Who wants to make a prediction?

 

[Hrothgar]

I have been wanting to bring this up and maybe this is a good start. What does the team need to do this year to consider it a successful season? Any predictions on the overall record (best and worst case)? What about BIG ten? The conference schedule is pretty favorable but preseason is tough.

Who wants to make a prediction?

I think a lot about that, too. It's a tough call. To be SUCCESSFUL they probably need to break even in the pre-BIG season, against very tough teams, and then win the BIG. Personally I'd be more interested in an EXCEPTIONAL season, which means a CWS berth. Several posters here express doubts about the Gopher coaching. I'm more concerned about the caliber of players. If the incoming players aren't really very good, I expect a long season (I can't get the 2018 PSU loss out of my mind). However, I'll hope for a great 2019 season, which would bolster recruiting for coming years. How'd I do?

 

[Panthadad2]

To me, a successful season would mean hosting an NCAA regional which could pave the road to bigger and better things. To get there, the Gophs probably need to win the BG10 regular season or tournament (with very few conference losses) and get out of the non-conference with about 10 losses or better. To get there, that probably means beating most of the unranked non-conference teams and finding a way to get no worse than 4 road wins against Tennessee, FSU, Alabama (2), Arizona, Texas (3) and Florida. I doubt any team in the country not named Oklahoma, FSU, UCLA, Florida would have a winning record on the road against those teams.

 

[Hrothgar]

To me, a successful season would mean hosting an NCAA regional which could pave the road to bigger and better things. To get there, the Gophs probably need to win the BG10 regular season or tournament (with very few conference losses) and get out of the non-conference with about 10 losses or better. To get there, that probably means beating most of the unranked non-conference teams and finding a way to get no worse than 4 road wins against Tennessee, FSU, Alabama (2), Arizona, Texas (3) and Florida. I doubt any team in the country not named Oklahoma, FSU, UCLA, Florida would have a winning record on the road against those teams.

I think you and I are saying pretty much the same things, with minor differences. To me, the real proof is how good the incoming first-year players are. In fall ball they looked very good. Hopefully that will prove true. I'm hoping 1) that Houlihan & Partain have spectacular years at the plate, 2) the infield defense is very tight, and 3) the other pitchers back up Fiser.

 

[Panthadad2]

I think you and I are saying pretty much the same things, with minor differences. To me, the real proof is how good the incoming first-year players are. In fall ball they looked very good. Hopefully that will prove true. I'm hoping 1) that Houlihan & Partain have spectacular years at the plate, 2) the infield defense is very tight, and 3) the other pitchers back up Fiser.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing the new players in action in a few weeks. We had an insane fall and weren't able to track any Gopher softball. Partain had a great full season 2018 and Houlihan caught fire late (both were the best offensive players in the NCAAs) so I'm hoping that continues upward. If Jensen can add some power to her already strong slapping game she could be a game changer too. Arneson showed some clutch hitting and sneaky good power late in the season too (her at-bats are fun - she absolutely crushes the inside pitch).

And for the most important part - pitching. I'm hoping the staff is fully healthy this year and Fiser continues to improve her craft in Year 3 like she did in Year 2. I enjoy watching Smith's composure/attitude on the mound and hope she stays healthy and Brandt with her flexibility and athleticism.

It will be an extremely tough non-conference so I'm trying to temper my expectations.

 

[ComoGopher]

Roster Question:

They went to a 22 player roster last year and I am assuming the team is budgeted for 22 players. With KL transferring and AJ Thompson leaving due to concussion, that puts the roster at 20. I am sure the recruiting class that just signed didn't figure in the loss of two players. This should leave the door open to pick up a big-time transfer for next year right? I am thinking a veteran pitcher to complement Fiser. Does anyone know if the team can go right back to 22? I know softball rosters vary greatly from school to school.

 

[rugger14]

Roster Question:

They went to a 22 player roster last year and I am assuming the team is budgeted for 22 players. With KL transferring and AJ Thompson leaving due to concussion, that puts the roster at 20. I am sure the recruiting class that just signed didn't figure in the loss of two players. This should leave the door open to pick up a big-time transfer for next year right? I am thinking a veteran pitcher to complement Fiser. Does anyone know if the team can go right back to 22? I know softball rosters vary greatly from school to school.

There are four seniors (Smith, Arneson, Houlihan, and Chell) and Jamie signed three in November for next year's incoming class including a pitcher and a catcher. I can't imagine a roster of 19. There might be a PWO or 2 in this incoming class who we don't know about yet. I am guessing that Jamie will be watching the transfer portal very closely. I think this new transfer portal might be a game changer in softball. With no required year to sit out, I could see a dominant pitcher at a mid-major being very interested in transferring up to a P5 school.

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[Ski U Mah Gopher]

It looks like they are doing a good job hitting up the middle

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[Panthadad2]

It looks like they are doing a good job hitting up the middle

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I'm seeing this being retweeted everywhere! Hard to believe Goph SB starts in a few days. Been streaming a little NSIC action already this weekend.

 

[rugger14]

Roster Question:

They went to a 22 player roster last year and I am assuming the team is budgeted for 22 players. With KL transferring and AJ Thompson leaving due to concussion, that puts the roster at 20. I am sure the recruiting class that just signed didn't figure in the loss of two players. This should leave the door open to pick up a big-time transfer for next year right? I am thinking a veteran pitcher to complement Fiser. Does anyone know if the team can go right back to 22? I know softball rosters vary greatly from school to school.

Looks like they added one more recruit yesterday.

https://twitter.com/GophSB_Trachsel/status/1093368720741806085?s=19

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[rowdaboat]

Opening day today, got my 2017 B1G champions shirt for casual Friday. Beating Ole Miss would be a good quadrant 1 win, they're in the SEC so guaranteed to finish in the top 25 even if they go 0-18 in conference play.

 

[Waffle]

Opening day today, got my 2017 B1G champions shirt for casual Friday. Beating Ole Miss would be a good quadrant 1 win, they're in the SEC so guaranteed to finish in the top 25 even if they go 0-18 in conference play.

No lies there. Was happy to see South Carolina lose to unranked BYU yesterday!

 

[rowdaboat]

Opening lineup

Jensen CF
Partain 2B
Houlihan RF
Brandner 1B
Kemmetmueller 3B
Burns C
Arneson SS
Brandt P
Lindner LF

no flex/dp listed

 

[Panthadad2]

Carlie Brandt in at CF against UCF. Interesting. Talk about a true blue utility player.

 

[Panthadad2]

Quick thoughts from the UCF game…my first chance to see this group play (streamed).

Fiser dominant. Wow. No hits in 5 innings. I’m hoping hoping hoping she and the team stay relatively healthy this year.

Partain and Houlihan look sharp at the plate, carrying over from late last year. Both lived on the base paths in both games – Houlihan with several hard line-drives/grounders and Partain with multiple BB.

Brandner has a sweet old-school baseball type power swing. Multiple extra base hits. Her at-bats will be fun this year and might help us Gopher fans forget the Lindaman dramatic late exit.

Josey White is a natural hitter and looks very comfortable at the plate for a freshman. She could be a batting average monster.

Lindner slapped a home run from the left side. Impressive. I’m hoping that’s a sign she could be an extremely dangerous threat like Partain.

Houlihan, Arneson and Fiser look they've been doing crossfit.

Kemetmueller is batting behind Brandner and had multiple RBI in the opener per the box score and played well vs UCF. That would be awesome if she could grow into that role like Sydney Dwyer did. She looks like she has a solid glove at 3B (this defensive spot worried me).

I see Jensen went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI in the opener as leadoff per the box score. I missed seeing her play in the UCF game…her speed is fun to watch.

No errors in two games. I’ll repeat. No errors. (OK. OK. There was a routine pop foul to left that 3 players let drop untouched that technically wasn’t an error but should have been an out).

Brandt gets the last out in center field making a great over-the-head catch while sprinting back on a hard line-drive.

 

[rowdaboat]

3-1 loss to Ole Miss

 

[ComoGopher]

3-1 loss to Ole Miss

We need to score runs against good teams. This team needs to win games like today's game if they want any chance to host a regional.

 

[GrudgeGuy]

We need to score runs against good teams. This team needs to win games like today's game if they want any chance to host a regional.

We went 53-3 and won the regular season and B1G ten tournament titles. We were ranked #1 in the coach’s poll and #8 in the RPI. We didn’t host a regional. So this year our goal is to host? Lets be honest. That is not happening. Making the tournament is the first goal and it may take a conference title of some type to achieve that goal based on the early season schedules. I hate to say the 3rd game of the year is a must win but that was a big loss.

 

[rugger14]

We went 53-3 and won the regular season and B1G ten tournament titles. We were ranked #1 in the coach’s poll and #8 in the RPI. We didn’t host a regional. So this year our goal is to host? Lets be honest. That is not happening. Making the tournament is the first goal and it may take a conference title of some type to achieve that goal based on the early season schedules. I hate to say the 3rd game of the year is a must win but that was a big loss.

We need to win games over average SEC teams. We were not playing Florida yesterday. Plenty of time for the ladies to redeem themselves. The first month of the season will tell the tale. I think they will be fine in the B1G.

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[ComoGopher]

We went 53-3 and won the regular season and B1G ten tournament titles. We were ranked #1 in the coach’s poll and #8 in the RPI. We didn’t host a regional. So this year our goal is to host? Lets be honest. That is not happening. Making the tournament is the first goal and it may take a conference title of some type to achieve that goal based on the early season schedules. I hate to say the 3rd game of the year is a must win but that was a big loss.

We have Ole Miss, Tennessee, FSU, Cal, Bama x 2, Arizona, Texas x 3, and Florida among other teams in the non-conference this year.

In 2017 they had Texas x 2, LSU, Washington x 2 (lost both), and beat a ranked Cal team and then blew threw the B1G without playing the only other "good" team in the conference. If that team had beaten Washington once they would have hosted. If they had scheduled like this in 2017 and had made it through with a similar record, they would have hosted. Did the 2017 team get completely screwed? Yes. If this team ends up with 5 losses, I believe they will host a regional. Can they do it? Unlikely if they can't figure out how to score some runs on decent pitchers.

Our goal every year should be to win the B1G and host a regional. We can't control what the selection committee does, but the team can make it impossible to overlook them. Our conference is so weak that we have to make our case in the pre-season and then almost run the table in the conference.