Gopher Softball 2022

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Watched UNI this wknd. They're no pushover.
 

dlw4gophers said:
Follow up on the above post. Any info on Cox. I can’t imagine they can get through these OOC tournaments without getting Hollified some innings
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Who didn’t see any action this weekend?

Cox JR
Hollifield SO
Ceynoya SO
Ehlke SO
Valencia FR

Doubt we will see Hollifield until we face an overmatched opponent or are way up or down in a game.

Based on fall ball, thought both Cox and Valencia might get more run. Probably some injury or illness. We will know far more by next Sunday.
 

rwlarson said:
Who didn’t see any action this weekend?

Cox JR
Hollifield SO
Ceynoya SO
Ehlke SO
Valencia FR

Doubt we will see Hollifield until we face an overmatched opponent or are way up or down in a game.

Based on fall ball, thought both Cox and Valencia might get more run. Probably some injury or illness. We will know far more by next Sunday.
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Still too many hitters on the roster for them all to play, between Denson Lindner Ehlke Costa Ceynowa there's really only playing time room for 1 could have afforded several transfers there over another pitcher
 

rowdaboat said:
rowdaboat said:
Still too many hitters on the roster for them all to play, between Denson Lindner Ehlke Costa Ceynowa there's really only playing time room for 1 could have afforded several transfers there over another pitcher
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Tough to overcome losing 40% of expected pitching staff too late to effectively counter with a significant pitching transfer. Looking at those five names, I am not
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faulting the coaching staff for adding the two non-pitchers they did. Both are impact players. At the time, we still had a five-person staff. Last year we got less than 30 innings from anyone not named Fiser or Pease, so it can be done.
 

rwlarson said:
faulting the coaching staff for adding the two non-pitchers they did. Both are impact players. At the time, we still had a five-person staff. Last year we got less than 30 innings from anyone not named Fiser or Pease, so it can be done.
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I wouldn’t have minded if Dueck or Hostettler had stuck around, not because our team NEEDS 4 pitchers if all our other pitchers hold up to the wear, but because I am not 100 percent certain they can.

The thing we all know about Fiser was that her strongest strength was her stamina. She could throw 300 pitches a day and maintain 68 on the gun throughout. That stamina was the nature of her build on combination with her fitness. I just don’t know for sure how Pease and Leavitt will hold up to the wear and tear.
 


rwlarson said:
faulting the coaching staff for adding the two non-pitchers they did. Both are impact players. At the time, we still had a five-person staff. Last year we got less than 30 innings from anyone not named Fiser or Pease, so it can be done.
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I have trouble understanding why Lindner, who hit, what last year? only .150 or below?, is given at bats and even a couple of starters hitting .083, but Cox & Costa have no atbats in 5 games this whole wknd (unless injured or ill). And why bring Valencia in as a touted potential superstar, but she sees no playing time the first 5 games? If we have hitters with power, why keep them in the dugout? The loss of Dueck & Hostettler is also hugely bothersome to my way of thinking. The starting pitching looks pretty good but also very thin in numbers.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I wouldn’t have minded if Dueck or Hostettler had stuck around, not because our team NEEDS 4 pitchers if all our other pitchers hold up to the wear, but because I am not 100 percent certain they can.

The thing we all know about Fiser was that her strongest strength was her stamina. She could throw 300 pitches a day and maintain 68 on the gun throughout. That stamina was the nature of her build on combination with her fitness. I just don’t know for sure how Pease and Leavitt will hold up to the wear and tear.
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Pease is coming off shoulder injury so it's likely she won't be 100% throughout end of season. At least Leavitt looks good so far
 

Looks like North Carolina also assessed Kiana Jones more as a hitter than a pitcher. But she is hitting in the 5 spot for them so far this year and got a big HR for them in their win over South Carolina today.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
Looks like North Carolina also assessed Kiana Jones more as a hitter than a pitcher. But she is hitting in the 5 spot for them so far this year and got a big HR for them in their win over South Carolina today.
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Good for her! She showed some power in the abbreviated 2020 season, then was basically invisible last year. She seemed like a good teammate that found a good situation for herself.
 



Stepping back and looking at the first weekend overall, 3-2 is about what I would have expected for a B1G contender against those teams. One weekend is too few games to truly assess much, but it certainly appears that we have two good to very good pitchers again, and Espalin and Dowell were indeed impact transfers.

The lack of clutch hitting is of course a concern. The coaches need to make sure the hitters go to bat with the right approach in all situations. Failing to get a runner in from third with no outs is almost criminal unless facing an absolutely dominant pitcher.

Big picture-wise, if you were going to go 3-2 you would likely rather drop a game to UCF and win one against Georgia, as they are almost certain to be a Top 25 RPI team, and you need those wins for NCAA tournament seeding purposes. We do have 5-10 more of those. We need to win 3-4 of them to have a decent chance to host a regional.
 

rwlarson said:
Stepping back and looking at the first weekend overall, 3-2 is about what I would have expected for a B1G contender against those teams. One weekend is too few games to truly assess much, but it certainly appears that we have two good to very good pitchers again, and Espalin and Dowell were indeed impact transfers.

The lack of clutch hitting is of course a concern. The coaches need to make sure the hitters go to bat with the right approach in all situations. Failing to get a runner in from third with no outs is almost criminal unless facing an absolutely dominant pitcher.

Big picture-wise, if you were going to go 3-2 you would likely rather drop a game to UCF and win one against Georgia, as they are almost certain to be a Top 25 RPI team, and you need those wins for NCAA tournament seeding purposes. We do have 5-10 more of those. We need to win 3-4 of them to have a decent chance to host a regional.
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Great comments, though it's too bad that w/ a 4-1 wknd record in reach the team didn't grab it. The clutch hitting, which Allister's teams were outstanding at and never passive about, has been lowkey absent for 2+ years. It has to improve!
 

Throwing in my two cents..
It looks like we have a above average defense. Chavez at 3B and Dowell at SS seem to be pretty cool customers. I really like how Leavitt stayed calm and worked out of some jams. I also think Pease is only going to get better throughout the year because she couldn't pitch in the fall.
Hitting - Jensen is a on base machine . Espalin looks very good and Dowell had a great last day. This team looks like it will only get better throughout the year. Go Gophs!
 

Hrothgar said:
I have trouble understanding why Lindner, who hit, what last year? only .150 or below?, is given at bats and even a couple of starters hitting .083, but Cox & Costa have no atbats in 5 games this whole wknd (unless injured or ill). And why bring Valencia in as a touted potential superstar, but she sees no playing time the first 5 games? If we have hitters with power, why keep them in the dugout? The loss of Dueck & Hostettler is also hugely bothersome to my way of thinking. The starting pitching looks pretty good but also very thin in numbers.
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I completely agree. These early tournaments should used to identify which lineups work best. There is a lot of offense power on the bench that hasn’t been used yet. I have no doubt that coach Ritter and staff will do just that.
 



rwlarson said:
Stepping back and looking at the first weekend overall, 3-2 is about what I would have expected for a B1G contender against those teams. One weekend is too few games to truly assess much, but it certainly appears that we have two good to very good pitchers again, and Espalin and Dowell were indeed impact transfers.
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As I have thought about the past weekend the more confident I am that we are capable of given Michigan and Northwestern (and Illinois?) a real run for the Big Ten Title. Note: I try as hard as I can (not always successfully) to not even think about the tournament that follows the B1G tourney; win the Big Ten and everything after is just gravy.

Let’s start with the now clear fact that Jensen is really, really good. I guess Partain cast a shadow on Jensen in past years but she is a hit machine and that fact is under no shadow now. That first Georgia game Jensen didn't even play. It was our first game of the year and we didn’t have our best lineup on the field.

As to the second Georgia game, fielding errors really hurt. But it is so important for us to remember that Georgia made it to the college World Series last year, taking out really good Duke and Florida teams on the way there. Losing to Georgia (by one run each game) is not a shameful thing.

This coming weekend will show a lot. I just hope they can get Costa, who has hit college pitching before, and Cox, who has hit college pitching over the scoreboard before some at bats against ASU and other strong teams. We are not going to shut out good teams this year. We have to beat the good times with a lineup that can drive the ball with power - which I believe we have on this roster.
 

rudimentary stats since the gophers don't seem keen to post them again this spring. can't guarantee they're accurate since i'm pulling from box scores. but they should be close.

1644951060997.png
 

junc1929 said:
rudimentary stats since the gophers don't seem keen to post them again this spring. can't guarantee they're accurate since i'm pulling from box scores. but they should be close.

View attachment 17008
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47 LOB in 5 games=about 9.5 LOB per game - by my grade school math. Including a leadoff triple that didn't score in the late innings of what at the time was a 1-run game. As fervently as I want this Gophers team to win, it's hard to see how this lack of clutch hitting will cut it. It has to improve.
 

TNGophfan- your post is the longest one that I have ever seen! Did you fall asleep on your keyboard?!
 



Was viewing it while taking a shit trying to figure out why my browser was broken and infinitely scrolling
 

We are playing western teams (western teams are historically very good) with a lot of wins and not many losses this coming weekend.
 

Kianna HR in 1st inning for all 3 of UNC's runs today
 

Sorry guys. Having trouble with responding on the app. Curser jumping all over.
 

Hrothgar said:
47 LOB in 5 games=about 9.5 LOB per game - by my grade school math. Including a leadoff triple that didn't score in the late innings of what at the time was a 1-run game. As fervently as I want this Gophers team to win, it's hard to see how this lack of clutch hitting will cut it. It has to improve.
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I didn't get to watch any games last weekend but I have learned to trust your judgment on this. We need clutch hitting.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
As I have thought about the past weekend the more confident I am that we are capable of given Michigan and Northwestern (and Illinois?) a real run for the Big Ten Title. Note: I try as hard as I can (not always successfully) to not even think about the tournament that follows the B1G tourney; win the Big Ten and everything after is just gravy.

Let’s start with the now clear fact that Jensen is really, really good. I guess Partain cast a shadow on Jensen in past years but she is a hit machine and that fact is under no shadow now. That first Georgia game Jensen didn't even play. It was our first game of the year and we didn’t have our best lineup on the field.

As to the second Georgia game, fielding errors really hurt. But it is so important for us to remember that Georgia made it to the college World Series last year, taking out really good Duke and Florida teams on the way there. Losing to Georgia (by one run each game) is not a shameful thing.

This coming weekend will show a lot. I just hope they can get Costa, who has hit college pitching before, and Cox, who has hit college pitching over the scoreboard before some at bats against ASU and other strong teams. We are not going to shut out good teams this year. We have to beat the good times with a lineup that can drive the ball with power - which I believe we have on this roster.
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Jensen is really good. She had a great frosh season and has been nicked up on and off since then. If she can stay healthy she is a good lead off hitter who gets on base and will give the big hitters more RBIs.
 




Ran into third out, good throw but Hollifield hesitated on contact with 2 outs
 

GCU is good. However, I sure would have preferred a win.

I was only following Gametracker so I don’t know how bad the throw out to end the top of the 7th inning was.
 

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