Gopher softball 2021

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Big Ten teams better schedule tough teams to play next year. The selection committee ALWAYS rewards tough schedules... even if you lose. LSU getting a 7 seed shows that yet again. They played a lot of top 20 teams; and lost a lot to those teams. Northwestern got a 4 seed in their four-team region. Michigan goes to Washington - and Washington looks mad.
 

Michigan over 16 Washington
Liberty over JMU - both beating Tenn
Oregon over 12 Texas - and games will get chippy
Georgia over 13 Duke - missing their best hitter
3 Alabama - but clemson keeps it close
Louisiana over 7 LSU
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
Obviously the Gopher coaches felt that the game today would not impact their seeding... I hope they were right.

They “managed” Jensen by not risking injury to her at all. I hope they “managed” Pease to avoid overstrain on her arm; as opposed to an underlying injury.

Would it be nice to play a big number of second stringers and still win against Conference teams? Of course. But alas... parity.

Next year will be something different for sure. I am a little worried. But until then we have just a few more games with Partain (what a player!) and Fiser and Kemmetmueller, Brandt and Gill. So we might as well enjoy next week as entertainment the best we can.
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If the coaches were "managing" their players & not worrying about winning today's game, why did they start Fiser for the 3rd game in 3 days? That ploy made no sense at all.
 


I am not surprised by the Gophers seed or being sent out west to UCLA. I look forward to seeing this team compete in the regionals. Hopefully, they can show more than they did against the bottom of the BIG - Penn State. That was sad today.

I am concerned about this staff's ability to recruit in the future. How do you sell your program to the best players across the country? "Yeah we had a freshman who hit 2 homers in only 7 at bats all year. Come to our program to sit the bench while we continue to bat our .150 or less hitters with runners on in scoring position."

On the other hand, "If by some miracle you do get on the field, it doesn't matter how much you suck at the plate you get to hit all season!"
 

Hrothgar said:
If the coaches were "managing" their players & not worrying about winning today's game, why did they start Fiser for the 3rd game in 3 days? That ploy made no sense at all.
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It’s the Pease question that is the question. I assume they wanted to rest Pease but so would love to know for sure.

While I was excited to see what Jones and Hollifiled could add in the circle this year; clearly Ritter is not confident at all that they can throw consistent strikes or maybe throw at D1 velocity or something. So that leaves Dueck. I assume Ritter didn’t think Dueck could hold her strength for 7 innings and 100 plus pitches and therefore needed Fiser to chew up some early innings today.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
It’s the Pease question that is the question. I assume they wanted to rest Pease but so would love to know for sure.

While I was excited to see what Jones and Hollifiled could add in the circle this year; clearly Ritter is not confident at all that they can throw consistent strikes or maybe throw at D1 velocity or something. So that leaves Dueck. I assume Ritter didn’t think Dueck could hold her strength for 7 innings and 100 plus pitches and therefore needed Fiser to chew up some early innings today.
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Clearly, Ritter doesn’t think Jones and Hollifield are where they need to be or they would get some innings. Ritter seemed to think Fiser gave them the best chance to win or she wouldn’t have started her. I think with pitching it’s relatively easy to tell if a player has what it takes to compete - drive, focus, consistency, unflappability. Batting is a different animal. Sometimes a player can crush the ball in BP but is stymied in games. Or they look unorthodox at the plate but for some reason they have success in games. We may never know with some of these girls, but we DEFINITELY know with others that they are not contributors. At least not this season. Denson with 50 AB and only got on base .161. Many on this forum have talked about Brandt with the low avg, but she had DOUBLE the OBP of Denson AND she’s a top notch fielder. Also better OBP than Lindner and Dray.

Like last weekend, Pease had good stuff through the first 2 innings on Saturday but seemed to lose control after that. One can only speculate. She’s a great player. I hope she’s ok. We won’t get anywhere without her.
 

What other program in the nation's top 25 would allow itself to be routinely beaten by the likes of PSU on the eve of NCAAs? Or by other hapless teams the Gophers gave games to during the season with no apparent fire in their bellies. Here's hoping for some superstar recruits for next fall. If not.....
 



Hrothgar said:
What other program in the nation's top 25 would allow itself to be routinely beaten by the likes of PSU on the eve of NCAAs? Or by other hapless teams the Gophers gave games to during the season with no apparent fire in their bellies. Here's hoping for some superstar recruits for next fall. If not.....
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Well, that is the glass-is-half-empty way to look at it.

The Gophets have had 8 years now where fans have been able to enjoy really competitive teams as one of the top two teams of the Big Ten. It has been very fun for me to follow them. I know that will not continue forever.
 

abc30.com

Bulldog Breakdown: Fresno State softball preparing for NCAA Tournament

They are heading back to the UCLA Regional, just like they did back in 2016. The Bruins are the second-ranked team in the country.
abc30.com abc30.com

Some Fresno State info:

Fresno State softball took two of three in their season finale against San Diego State, but the hard work was taken care of last weekend.

The Bulldogs clinched the Mountain West regular-season championship, in doing so, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

They are heading back to the UCLA Regional, just like they did back in 2016. The Bruins are the second-ranked team in the country.

Minnesota and Long Beach round out the group.
The Dogs are set to face the Golden Gophers on Friday at 5 pm.

"Just very grateful, being able to keep playing with this team and taking it one foot at a time," says Hailey Dolcini. "You know, anything can happen. We beat Texas, who'd be UCLA last year, so I mean why not us in a sense and we're just ready to play this weekend."

"Just got to play every game like it's your last," says Miranda Rohleder. "I mean, why not us? Just go out and play as hard as we can and just play ball as we know how."

To make the celebration even sweeter, the Bulldogs would go on to sweep the postseason awards in the Mountain West, led by their two biggest stars.



Bulldogs' senior ace Hailey Dolcini was named the 2021 Pitcher of the Year for her dominance in the circle

Fresno State has won four out of the last six Pitcher of the Year awards.

She currently has an overall record of 21-4 and has been named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player Top 25 Finalist List.

Her 21 wins led the conference as she was truly in a league of her own.

She led the conference with a 1.01 E-R-A and over 166 innings pitched, Dolcini would lead the conference with 241 strikeouts.

Dolcini earned seven MW Pitcher of the Week awards this season and led the nation with 13 shutouts, including two perfect games to record the 16th and 17th perfect games in program history.

A freshman also put her stamp on the Mountain West on her way to a breakout season for the Bulldogs.



Outfielder Keahilele Mattson was named both the MW Player of the Year and the Co-Freshman of the Year.

Mattson became the backbone of the Bulldogs' offense in just her first season in a Fresno State jersey.

The freshman came alive in conference play, leading the Bulldogs in almost every offensive category.

She led the team in hits with a .426 batting average and recorded a hit in 32 games including 13 multi-hit games.

She currently leads the Mountain West in slugging percentage, RBIs, home runs and total bases.

Mattson is just the second Bulldog to be named Player of the Year and also the second to earn Freshman of the Year honors.

The Bulldogs are the first team to win back-to-back Freshman of the Year awards since San Diego State did so in 2012 and 2013
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ClassOf98Gopher said:
Well, that is the glass-is-half-empty way to look at it.

The Gophets have had 8 years now where fans have been able to enjoy really competitive teams as one of the top two teams of the Big Ten. It has been very fun for me to follow them. I know that will not continue forever.
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My point is: the glass is not yet full. MN strives to be the best team in the Big Ten, not one of the two best. However, MI wins the regular-season title almost every year bec they don't lose games to teams they should beat, and MN does, too often, as in 2021. Frustrating that MN finds no remedy for that situation. I'm only observing what I perceive on the field.
 

The Big Ten's final stats show how dominant Michigan was, especially in pitching. They led the league in team batting average, ERA, and fielding. Their ERA was 1.10, and the next lowest was the Gophers at 2.05. Their pitchers gave up 45 earned runs; Minnesota gave up 83; and only one other team was under 100. They shut out their opponents 18 times; next highest was Northwestern with 10 (Gophers had 8). Michigan pitchers had 447 strikeouts; the next highest was Northwestern at 269 (Gophers had 241). Though the Gophers and Michigan gave up a similar number of walks (73 and 76, respectively) the Gophers' 24 wild pitches was the second highest (Nebraska had the most at 26); Michigan pitchers, incredibly, had 3 wild pitches for the season.

On the batting side, Michigan was at .306; Northwestern was 2nd in batting average at .289 (Gophers batted .248). The on-base percentage stats were much closer, with Northwestern #1 at .371, Michigan next at .367, and Minnesota 3rd at .364, with a big drop-off after that. The Gophers led in home runs with 47; Michigan was 2nd at 37. Michigan led in fewest strikeouts at 177, with Illinois at 194. Those were the only two teams under 200. The Gophers were 4th at 214. And the Gophers led in walks with 166; Wisconsin was 2nd at 115 (Michigan had 90).
 
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let'sbeclear said:
The Big Ten's final stats show how dominant Michigan was, especially in pitching. They led the league in team batting average, ERA, and fielding. Their ERA was 1.05, and the next lowest was the Gophers at 2.10. Their pitchers gave up 45 earned runs; Minnesota gave up 83; and only one other team was under 100. They shut out their opponents 18 times; next highest was Northwestern with 10 (Gophers had 8). Michigan pitchers had 447 strikeouts; the next highest was Northwestern at 269 (Gophers had 241). Though the Gophers and Michigan gave up a similar number of walks (73 and 76, respectively) the Gophers' 24 wild pitches was the second highest (Nebraska had the most at 26); Michigan pitchers, incredibly, had 3 wild pitches for the season.

On the batting side, Michigan was at .306; Northwestern was 2nd in batting average at .289 (Gophers batted .248). The on-base percentage stats were much closer, with Northwestern #1 at .371, Michigan next at .367, and Minnesota 3rd at .364, with a big drop-off after that. The Gophers led in home runs with 47; Michigan was 2nd at 37. Michigan led in fewest strikeouts at 177, with Illinois at 194. Those were the only two teams under 200. The Gophers were 4th at 214. And the Gophers led in walks with 166; Wisconsin was 2nd at 115 (Michigan had 90).
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Are there any serious discussions happening in fast pitch softball as to rule changes to limit the impact pitching has on teams? Seems like with two great pitchers, you're set for a great season, and in the playoffs it can almost be just one pitcher that carries you. Something like limiting the number of innings for a pitcher during a series, or moving the mound back another couple of feet?
 

To me it seems the trajectory of the past decade of the college sport of softball is that batters are catching up and reducing the dominance of the great college pitchers.

Oklahoma’s current lineup is an example of an entire lineup being able to hit good pitching. I think a decade ago players at the end of the lineup had very little chance at all against great pitching.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
To me it seems the trajectory of the past decade of the college sport of softball is that batters are catching up and reducing the dominance of the great college pitchers.

Oklahoma’s current lineup is an example of an entire lineup being able to hit good pitching. I think a decade ago players at the end of the lineup had very little chance at all against great pitching.
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And, since players at younger ages are throwing harder(as a 12u my daughter faced 60's 2 yrs ago) batters are seeing this more often and able to handle it. She regularly sees 60's now as a 14u.
 

So, the NCAA Seeding committee did another snub job on the Big Ten. Arguably, Northwestern (Big #3). has the easiest Regional. At Kentucky.

Michigan with just 6 losses is not a top 16 host? Washington hosts them ranked #5? Gophers 54-3 and ranked #1 in 2017 were also not awarded a regional…and sent to Alabama.

Gophers ranked #23 this year, who won their regional and advanced to the WCWS… in 2019…are sent to go to #2 defending National champ, UCLA.

SEC Bias is alive and well. No respect for BIG10…Something needs to be done. 12 SEC teams in the tournament? Just stupid.

Those of you looking for reasons why coaches leave and it’s hard to recruit? Look no further.

Obviously BIG playing itself only didn’t help this year. But I’ll back the decision for health reasons. Michigan and Minnesota need once again to try and shock the softball world to gain respect. Again held to a whole different standard than anyone else, anywhere!
 

let'sbeclear said:
The Big Ten's final stats show how dominant Michigan was, especially in pitching. They led the league in team batting average, ERA, and fielding. Their ERA was 1.05, and the next lowest was the Gophers at 2.10. Their pitchers gave up 45 earned runs; Minnesota gave up 83; and only one other team was under 100. They shut out their opponents 18 times; next highest was Northwestern with 10 (Gophers had 8). Michigan pitchers had 447 strikeouts; the next highest was Northwestern at 269 (Gophers had 241). Though the Gophers and Michigan gave up a similar number of walks (73 and 76, respectively) the Gophers' 24 wild pitches was the second highest (Nebraska had the most at 26); Michigan pitchers, incredibly, had 3 wild pitches for the season.

On the batting side, Michigan was at .306; Northwestern was 2nd in batting average at .289 (Gophers batted .248). The on-base percentage stats were much closer, with Northwestern #1 at .371, Michigan next at .367, and Minnesota 3rd at .364, with a big drop-off after that. The Gophers led in home runs with 47; Michigan was 2nd at 37. Michigan led in fewest strikeouts at 177, with Illinois at 194. Those were the only two teams under 200. The Gophers were 4th at 214. And the Gophers led in walks with 166; Wisconsin was 2nd at 115 (Michigan had 90).
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These are eye-opening statistics & admirably compiled. VERY revealing quantitative info. However, I think the qualitative/sports psychology angle is equally revealing. The Gophers didn't live up to the axiom that good teams don't lose to teams they should beat. Gophers lost the BIG title not by losing 3 games to Michigan, but by failing to show up mentally in losses to weak teams like Maryland, Ohio St., Iowa, Purdue, Nebraska, PSU, & to an extent even IL. MN was darned exciting as a team for about 32 games, but didn't show up for 6 or 8 others. MI seems to have been there for every game they played all season, enough for a title.
 

The problem is relying on metrics mainly being RPI that are just a circle jerk of strength of schedule. LSU 32-19 with 10-9 on road no way they should be #6. Barely even deserve a seed with their record against tourney teams
 

rowdaboat said:
The problem is relying on metrics mainly being RPI that are just a circle jerk of strength of schedule. LSU 32-19 with 10-9 on road no way they should be #6. Barely even deserve a seed with their record against tourney teams
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Yes, and ironically… LSU who Minny beat in their home regional bid in 2019…!!!
 


rowdaboat said:
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The playing field is not equal.

Tough to compete in a partial scholarship sport when we have to charge out of state tuition to the best players in the country and no lottery scholarships for the in-state girls. It is amazing that the Gophers do so well.
 


AZGopher8 said:
How can the NCAA put a regional in California with these requirements? They didn't have Duke host their own regional for the Covid policies that would not work to host. How can UCLA/California make these demands on the teams?

This should be a MUCH bigger story.
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Here’s a screen grab from a late April story talking about UCLA’s upcoming Covid policy. The FDA has not fully approved any COV vaccine, nor is it the Fall Semester. So what are they doing enacting this policy now, unannounced?
 

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Several teams got shafted by the selection committee, which has always had a bad-case of SEC/deep south slurpitis. The PAC 12 got royally screwed this year. Washington as the No. 16? Yeah, okay. Texas at No. 12? Um, sure. Not to mention Clemson. WTF was that?

The entire selection process needs to be addressed with college softball. Looks an awful like the good ole' boys network whenever the selection committee comes out with their brackets.
 

MRJ said:
Several teams got shafted by the selection committee, which has always had a bad-case of SEC/deep south slurpitis. The PAC 12 got royally screwed this year. Washington as the No. 16? Yeah, okay. Texas at No. 12? Um, sure. Not to mention Clemson. WTF was that?

The entire selection process needs to be addressed with college softball. Looks an awful like the good ole' boys network whenever the selection committee comes out with their brackets.
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I am beginning to see now why SEC schools got some favorable hosting treatment... their states are workable with the NCAA on COVID public policy as regarding massed events like ballgames. I just don’t know how it is fair to our Gopher ball players if they chose not to get a shot (for the record and my own credibility on this matter... I got my two dose COVID vaccine shots.). I am mad about this.
 

Is anyone willing to give a quickie overview of the preceived injustices of the bracket? (I haven't been able to catch up on them.) Much appreciated if possible to do.
 

rowdaboat said:
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I understand that this policy could have an impact on the Gophers (or any team coming into the state) and that, given the timing, there isn't any way to "correct" the problem by getting vaccinated before the trip, but do we know whether it will have any actual impact on the Gopher softball team this weekend? Put another way, do we know if there are Gopher players who might have their ability to play impacted by not having completed the vaccine protocol?
 

Hrothgar said:
Is anyone willing to give a quickie overview of the preceived injustices of the bracket? (I haven't been able to catch up on them.) Much appreciated if possible to do.
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If it is 1-16 and 17-32 S-curve vs coaches poll

#6 Washington - 16
#10 Oregon - 20 vs old coach for drama
#13 Clemson - 30 vs Alabama
#14 Missouri - 8 seed despite 15 losses
#15 Louisiana - 25 vs LSU
#16 LSU - 7 seed despite 19 losses
#18 Tennessee - 9 seed with #22 JMU #25 Liberty
#23 Wichita State - 32
#24 Gophers - 31
#26 Georgia - 21
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
I understand that this policy could have an impact on the Gophers (or any team coming into the state) and that, given the timing, there isn't any way to "correct" the problem by getting vaccinated before the trip, but do we know whether it will have any actual impact on the Gopher softball team this weekend? Put another way, do we know if there are Gopher players who might have their ability to play impacted by not having completed the vaccine protocol?
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I was wondering the same thing
 

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