Gopher Softball 2022

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Hrothgar said:
I know nothing at all about any of the coaches; what the program needs most of all IMO is a lights-out stud #1 starting pitcher.
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We’ve been very fortunate for a decade. Fiser and Groenewegen had the luxury of “protection” offered by an All American pitcher as our #1 when they were freshmen and could be brought along slowly even though both were obviously talents themselves.
 

Kianna got ACC player of week, 3 games series went 6-11, 4 runs, 8 RBI, HR each game
 

rowdaboat said:
Kianna got ACC player of week, 3 games series went 6-11, 4 runs, 8 RBI, HR each game
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Good for her. I was a huge Kianna Jones fan for a number of reasons and I wouldn’t have minded if she was still a Gopher.

However, if it were down to who would play right field for the Gophers, between her and Chloe Evans, I would play Evans all the time. I think Evans is just a better natural hitter, both in hitting home run bombs and for avoiding strikeouts.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
Good for her. I was a huge Kianna Jones fan for a number of reasons and I wouldn’t have minded if she was still a Gopher.

However, if it were down to who would play right field for the Gophers, between her and Chloe Evans, I would play Evans all the time. I think Evans is just a better natural hitter, both in hitting home run bombs and for avoiding strikeouts.
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Agreed, and in the couple games I've watched Jones isn't the greatest defensive player either.
 


Providing the weather cooperates, what can we expect from this weekend v. Illini? I have no special feel about them.
 

Hrothgar said:
Providing the weather cooperates, what can we expect from this weekend v. Illini? I have no special feel about them.
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Illinois (15-12 overall; 1-1 B1G; RPI 50) has been a consistent NCAA bubble team for several years now under Coach Tyra Perry. They generally have a lot of good hitters for average in their lineup and they hit a lot of singles and doubles but haven’t consistently hit the long ball as much this year as they have in the past. They are aggressive hitters, who neither strike out nor walk a lot. Pitching and defense have been problematic for them in the past, but this year’s version of the Illini seems more balanced, with good hitting, decent pitching, and decent defense instead of excellent hitting with mediocre pitching and defense. Under Perry, they have been very aggressive on the base paths, which is a double-edged sword, depending on the ability of their opponent‘s defense to execute.

Senior Sydney Sickels is their ace. She dominated the Gophers in the first game last year, but IIRC we hit her pretty well afterwards once we started laying off her rise ball. Sophomore Tori McQueen and freshman Lauren Wiles have also started games. All three have ERAs under three.

Illinois played a good non-conference schedule, with key wins over SEC teams LSU and Arkansas.
 

rwlarson said:
Illinois (15-12 overall; 1-1 B1G; RPI 50) has been a consistent NCAA bubble team for several years now under Coach Tyra Perry. They generally have a lot of good hitters for average in their lineup and they hit a lot of singles and doubles but haven’t consistently hit the long ball as much this year as they have in the past. They are aggressive hitters, who neither strike out nor walk a lot. Pitching and defense have been problematic for them in the past, but this year’s version of the Illini seems more balanced, with good hitting, decent pitching, and decent defense instead of excellent hitting with mediocre pitching and defense. Under Perry, they have been very aggressive on the base paths, which is a double-edged sword, depending on the ability of their opponent‘s defense to execute.

Senior Sydney Sickels is their ace. She dominated the Gophers in the first game last year, but IIRC we hit her pretty well afterwards once we started laying off her rise ball. Sophomore Tori McQueen and freshman Lauren Wiles have also started games. All three have ERAs under three.

Illinois played a good non-conference schedule, with key wins over SEC teams LSU and Arkansas.
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THANKS! It seems the Illini always sneak out a softball win each year from the Gophers that MN more or less gives away. 2019, that was MN's only BIG loss when MN gave away a lead late. 2 yr ago it was an extra inning HR. 2021 an absolutely lifeless performance v. Sickels, when I wondered if MN's super seniors were even interested. Plus Perry always seems to be stalling in a sport that has no time clock. I guess these things irritate me bec. I'm originally from hicksville IL, way farther south even than Champaign/Urbana. The only kids who went to the U of I were high school super brains or rich kids aiming for Greek Row. The rest of us were relegated to Eastern, Western, Northern, or Southern. Northwestern didn't even seem part of Illinois. So GO GOPHERS! As a place, the U of MN feels more down-to-earth to me and always has.
 

Man the production value of this broadcast sucks. I've seen better from the likes of Jacksonville state.
 



Well… on the plus side… it seemed to me from watching the game on my phone that the Gophers time and time again got a lot of the calls from the umpires.

That’s something; isn’t it?
 

Shocker... Shake up the offense hard to be any worse

B3: #Gophers strike for a run but unable to capitalize more on the bases-loaded and no out threat

1-0 〽
 

Perry gambled and won this time. She went with McQueen, who has pitched better than Sickels of late, and she walked DenHartog with no out and runners at first and second in the third inning. McQueen got Evans, Dray, and Strelow pretty easily to get out of the bases loaded no out jam, and what could have been a big momentum shift for the home team was neutralized. Leavitt pitched as well as I’ve seen her, until she started to lose command in the sixth, when Pease came in and pitched well until giving up a solo HR on a 3-2 pitch with two out in the eighth. McQueen pitched a gem, giving up no earned runs, walking none except for the IBB to DenHartog, and she consistently kept the Gopher hitters off balance with a good rise and change-curve that she consistently threw for strikes.
 

Twocents said:
Against Illinois who’s top pitcher is a rise ball thrower .Looking for swings where they keep their hands up.
Esplin DP
Jensen LF
DenHartog CF
Evans RF
Hansen 1B
Dowell SS
Drey C
Streylow 2B
Chavez 3B

Pinch Hitter = Cox
Defensive Replacement. Kinch for Hansen
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This did not age well. 10 strikeouts. We don’t need slappers or players that hit to contact. We need HITTERS! Corn fed, hit it a mile-hitters. Hansen, Valencia and Cox need to be given a chance. All three of them can change a game with one swing. Hansen has a better batting average than half the team this year, Cox two HRs in 8 at bats last season and Valencia homers in her only AB this season. Why are the coaches so reluctant to make changes?

It’s not like they can do any worse than some of the others.
 
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GopherAlum03 said:
This did not age well. 10 strikeouts. We don’t need slappers or players that hit to contact. We need HITTERS! Corn fed, hit it a mile-hitters. Hansen, Valencia and Cox need to be given a chance. All three of them can change a game with one swing. Hansen has a better batting average than half the team this year, Cox two HRs in 8 at bats last season and Valencia homers in her only AB this season. Why are the coaches so reluctant to make changes?

It’s not like they can do any worse than some of the others.
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So isn’t this exciting? This is the first time in 8-9 years where it looks like we are going to be in a real dog-fight to be in the top 4-5 of the Big Ten. That is new for many of us (it was the 2014 B1G conference championship run that really sparked my fanatical relationship with Gopher softball). Again… exciting!
 

Somebody help me out. Is it really working for Jensen to bat 9th instead of having her leadoff when she is starting? Also, what exactly is Chavez doing wrong at the plate? I wish both her and Strelow could get their bats going. What kind of batting averages did they have in High School?

This team since Day 1 pretty much hasn't had SOLID type hitters in the 4th & 5th positions of the lineup...Dray and Kinch IMO are not the answer. As already stated many times, this teams lineup just doesn't make much sense.
 



Valencia should never be put in the position where she has to pitch more than an inning. Nobody can be expected to face more than a handful of batters when they throw 55 mph and under pitches. It’s not fair to her.

It is a problem that Hollifield hasn’t been able acquire trust to throw strikes.

Actually, there are obviously so many problems on our pitching staff… so many.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
Valencia should never be put in the position where she has to pitch more than an inning. Nobody can be expected to face more than a handful of batters when they throw 55 mph and under pitches. It’s not fair to her.

It is a problem that Hollifield hasn’t been able acquire trust to throw strikes.

Actually, there are obviously so many problems on our pitching staff… so many.
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Agree and so why with a supposedly TOP Pitching Coach in Ritter, do we have these problems?
 

Someone posted recently about the real excitement he/she felt since 2014 about Gopher softball. I've shared that feeling, but in the past 2 1/2 years the feelings have eroded. Something's lacking. Pitching woes this year are a disappointment, but it's not fair to blame individual players; they're doing their best, surely.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
So isn’t this exciting? This is the first time in 8-9 years where it looks like we are going to be in a real dog-fight to be in the top 4-5 of the Big Ten. That is new for many of us (it was the 2014 B1G conference championship run that really sparked my fanatical relationship with Gopher softball). Again… exciting!
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I think it is much more exciting to be competing for the B1G title every year.
 

4EverAGopher said:
Agree and so why with a supposedly TOP Pitching Coach in Ritter, do we have these problems?
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No inside information, but I'm entirely guessing that Valencia was not brought on board to pitch at all. That is out of necessity to save Pease and Leavitt...not just thier arms, but mental well being as well. Dueck and Hostettler leaving put them in a bind.

Anyone clamoring for Hollisfield to get more innnigs, I'd like to hear why? What has she shown that she should? Trust is earned, not given, my guess is what they see at practice is the same theyve seen in the 3 innings she has pitched, which was what we saw in the fall.

An interesting side note, over on the Gopher facebook account there is a thread that has Pease's mom basically calling out Leavitt that she has gone rogue and is calling her own game....might be part of the issue as well.

There is probably a lot going on that we have no idea about. I'm just going to cheer for them to give it their best, and hopefully see improvment.
 

Chase the Rise said:
An interesting side note, over on the Gopher facebook account there is a thread that has Pease's mom basically calling out Leavitt that she has gone rogue and is calling her own game....might be part of the issue as well.
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Yikes!!! That’s not good. Dissension in the ranks never is.
 

Chase the Rise said:
No inside information, but I'm entirely guessing that Valencia was not brought on board to pitch at all. That is out of necessity to save Pease and Leavitt...not just thier arms, but mental well being as well. Dueck and Hostettler leaving put them in a bind.

Anyone clamoring for Hollisfield to get more innnigs, I'd like to hear why? What has she shown that she should? Trust is earned, not given, my guess is what they see at practice is the same theyve seen in the 3 innings she has pitched, which was what we saw in the fall.

An interesting side note, over on the Gopher facebook account there is a thread that has Pease's mom basically calling out Leavitt that she has gone rogue and is calling her own game....might be part of the issue as well.

There is probably a lot going on that we have no idea about. I'm just going to cheer for them to give it their best, and hopefully see improvment.
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Piper has always allowed her pitchers to shake off her call. If Leavitt does not feel comfortable to throw the pitch that Piper has called, she should shake off the call.
 

Gopher68 said:
Piper has always allowed her pitchers to shake off her call. If Leavitt does not feel comfortable to throw the pitch that Piper has called, she should shake off the call.
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I can understand that, to a degree. If it's constant and you have an era of 5+, a whip of 2, at some point as a freshman pitcher, you should be told to throw what is called. If you have pitches A,B,C,D in your arsenal, you should be able to throw those pitches when they are called, or they aren't pitches in your arsenal.

To be clear, I'm OK with a pitcher shaking off pitches....but then it's on the pitcher to own what they throw...hard to hold a coach accountable for that.
 

Chase the Rise said:
No inside information, but I'm entirely guessing that Valencia was not brought on board to pitch at all. That is out of necessity to save Pease and Leavitt...not just thier arms, but mental well being as well. Dueck and Hostettler leaving put them in a bind.

Anyone clamoring for Hollisfield to get more innnigs, I'd like to hear why? What has she shown that she should? Trust is earned, not given, my guess is what they see at practice is the same theyve seen in the 3 innings she has pitched, which was what we saw in the fall.

An interesting side note, over on the Gopher facebook account there is a thread that has Pease's mom basically calling out Leavitt that she has gone rogue and is calling her own game....might be part of the issue as well.

There is probably a lot going on that we have no idea about. I'm just going to cheer for them to give it their best, and hopefully see improvment.
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at the practice that season ticket holders could attend the players introduced themselves and said what position they played. valencia said, "i'm a first baseman and apparently a pitcher this year?"
 

It is fair to say that these next few days are crucial for this team in effort to avoid the program from skipping off the rails.

Sunday was a very poor game; it was nationally televised and didn’t show the Gophers at their best… it showed them at their worst honestly. And having DenHartog bunt in that situation was a terrible look for the program. That was a huge mistake.
 

So on that Denhartog attempt on a bunt, who did make that call? Piper or hitting coach?

On a happier note, I was glad to see Jensen batting 2nd in the lineup this past weekend.....it was about time.
 

Was Leavitt supposed to be the best recruit team has signed or is that Oakland coming next season?
 

junc1929 said:
at the practice that season ticket holders could attend the players introduced themselves and said what position they played. valencia said, "i'm a first baseman and apparently a pitcher this year?"
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Well, if Valenica does indeed play first base, what are the coaches waiting for? Why not let her play that position this Wednesday and see what she can do both fielding and hitting.
 

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