Gopher softball 2023

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Is Flosports the only option we will have to view the games in the 2023 Gopher season? i sure hope not.
 






Gopher68 said:
I'll take my shot at it:
P - Pease
C - Krapf
1B - Cox/Leschber
2B - Strehlow
SS - Oakland
3B - Chavez
LF - Bradley
CF - Den Hartog
RF - Burnett
DH - Leschber/Cox/Valencia
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I fear my enthusiasm is down quite a bit. In past years I would have jumped on this bait John3298 posted with gusto. Now I’m much more… meh. That ain’t good. Anyway, here’s my guess at the opening weekend batting order :

Batting order / name / (position number)

1 Bradley (7)
2 Oakland (6)
3 DenHartog (8)
4 Cox (DH)
5 Strelow (4)
6 Chavez (5)
7 Krapf (2)
8 Ehlke (3)
9 Gardiner (9)

Pitchers: 1 Pease, 2 Hambrick, 3 Schwartz, 4 Enter

Playing time off the bench in most games: Valencia, Leschber, and Burnett
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I fear my enthusiasm is down quite a bit. In past years I would have jumped on this bait John3298 posted with gusto. Now I’m much more… meh. That ain’t good. Anyway, here’s my guess at the opening weekend batting order :

Batting order / name / (position number)

1 Bradley (7)
2 Oakland (6)
3 DenHartog (8)
4 Cox (DH)
5 Strelow (4)
6 Chavez (5)
7 Krapf (2)
8 Ehlke (3)
9 Gardiner (9)

Pitchers: 1 Pease, 2 Hambrick, 3 Schwartz, 4 Enter

Playing time off the bench in most games: Valencia, Leschber, and Burnett
Click to expand...
My guess is a lot of opening day decsions will be decided this week as they open practice down in Florida today.

1) Bradley (7)
2) DenHartog (8)
3) Oakland (6)
4) Strelow (4)
5) Schwartz (3)
6) Krapf (2)
7) Chavez (5)
8) Ehlke (DH)
9) Gardiner (9)

Pitching 1- Pease, 2- Hambrick, 3 Schwartz, 4 Enter

IMO-Biggest question will be who is playing 1B and DH. There are no proven players that have shown they should own those spots. Ehlke won't play 1st, she's a DH only. Valencia and Cox haven't done anything to show they are a lock for those positions and Schwartz is a freshman that pitches. I also think Burnett could push for a starting spot in the outfield. But for a team that graduated or lost what? 9 players from a team that finished 9th. I'd expect the youth movement to be in effect early.

Again, Just my opinion.
 



ClassOf98Gopher said:
I fear my enthusiasm is down quite a bit. In past years I would have jumped on this bait John3298 posted with gusto. Now I’m much more… meh. That ain’t good. Anyway, here’s my guess at the opening weekend batting order :

Batting order / name / (position number)

1 Bradley (7)
2 Oakland (6)
3 DenHartog (8)
4 Cox (DH)
5 Strelow (4)
6 Chavez (5)
7 Krapf (2)
8 Ehlke (3)
9 Gardiner (9)

Pitchers: 1 Pease, 2 Hambrick, 3 Schwartz, 4 Enter

Playing time off the bench in most games: Valencia, Leschber, and Burnett
Click to expand...
ClassOf98Gopher said:
I fear my enthusiasm is down quite a bit. In past years I would have jumped on this bait John3298 posted with gusto. Now I’m much more… meh. That ain’t good. Anyway, here’s my guess at the opening weekend batting order :

Batting order / name / (position number)

1 Bradley (7)
2 Oakland (6)
3 DenHartog (8)
4 Cox (DH)
5 Strelow (4)
6 Chavez (5)
7 Krapf (2)
8 Ehlke (3)
9 Gardiner (9)

Pitchers: 1 Pease, 2 Hambrick, 3 Schwartz, 4 Enter

Playing time off the bench in most games: Valencia, Leschber, and Burnett
Click to expand...
I share your lack of enthusiasm. About the only U teams I expect important wins from these days are M & W hockey and football. Actually the 2023 softball seems to have some potential if they have good pitching and a BIG title should be within reach, but the disappointing results of the past 3 years prepare me psychologically for more of the same underachievement.
 

Hrothgar said:
I share your lack of enthusiasm. About the only U teams I expect important wins from these days are M & W hockey and football. Actually the 2023 softball seems to have some potential if they have good pitching and a BIG title should be within reach, but the disappointing results of the past 3 years prepare me psychologically for more of the same underachievement.
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I think, with healthy pitching, we can be competitive. Northwestern should be the favorite to win the B10, pitching and the lineup returns. I think Illinois and Nebraska will follow them, After that I think it could be a wide open race. The goal is to be competitive in the B10 but making the NCAA tournament has to be the bigger goal. And yes, obviously winning the B10, guarantees you the NCAA's, but I just don't know if this year's team is ready to make that jump into NU's tier this year.
 

I'm feeling the contrarian here lately. Obviously it comes down to pitching, but I think we'll do better at scoring this year. And that will move them up in the standings. I would put us around 4th but I could be convinced of a couple higher or lower.
 

Chase the Rise said:
My guess is a lot of opening day decsions will be decided this week as they open practice down in Florida today.

1) Bradley (7)
2) DenHartog (8)
3) Oakland (6)
4) Strelow (4)
5) Schwartz (3)
6) Krapf (2)
7) Chavez (5)
8) Ehlke (DH)
9) Gardiner (9)

Pitching 1- Pease, 2- Hambrick, 3 Schwartz, 4 Enter

IMO-Biggest question will be who is playing 1B and DH. There are no proven players that have shown they should own those spots. Ehlke won't play 1st, she's a DH only. Valencia and Cox haven't done anything to show they are a lock for those positions and Schwartz is a freshman that pitches. I also think Burnett could push for a starting spot in the outfield. But for a team that graduated or lost what? 9 players from a team that finished 9th. I'd expect the youth movement to be in effect early.

Again, Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
I think you're right. I'd say, though, that they finished 9th last year only because of the pitching disaster. With two solid starting pitchers, the Gophers team in the field would have won the BIG title.
 



Chase the Rise said:
I think, with healthy pitching, we can be competitive. Northwestern should be the favorite to win the B10, pitching and the lineup returns. I think Illinois and Nebraska will follow them, After that I think it could be a wide open race. The goal is to be competitive in the B10 but making the NCAA tournament has to be the bigger goal. And yes, obviously winning the B10, guarantees you the NCAA's, but I just don't know if this year's team is ready to make that jump into NU's tier this year.
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You're most likely right, sadly enough. I think we're watching a Gophers program, which was taking over after MI as the conference power, slide into a middle of the conference also ran.
 

Hrothgar said:
You're most likely right, sadly enough. I think we're watching a Gophers program, which was taking over after MI as the conference power, slide into a middle of the conference also ran.
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I don't think that's true. The freshman class and the recently signed class are all quality players. They are the first two classes recruited by Piper and Carly. Also, the Gopher defense this year looks to be one of the best in the conference.
 

Gopher68 said:
I don't think that's true. The freshman class and the recently signed class are all quality players. They are the first two classes recruited by Piper and Carly. Also, the Gopher defense this year looks to be one of the best in the conference.
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I agree with this. While it takes a special team to win the conference year in and year out. Saying MN is destined for a middle of the road also ran shouldn't be the expectation. Northwestern has a loaded verteran team...Their season hangs on one player. Keep our squad healthy, the younger kids contribute to what the senior class provides....we can be right there.
 


Gopher68 said:
I don't think that's true. The freshman class and the recently signed class are all quality players. They are the first two classes recruited by Piper and Carly. Also, the Gopher defense this year looks to be one of the best in the conference.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, except for the pitching, which is my focus. I've said here before: the Gophers haven't brought in an All-American pitcher since Fiser's senior year in HS, and that's what? seven years ago? Extremely difficult to fnd, but it can be done.
 

And while good defense is always a plus, it falls far behind the importance of pitching and hitting.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I fear my enthusiasm is down quite a bit. In past years I would have jumped on this bait John3298 posted with gusto. Now I’m much more… meh. That ain’t good. Anyway, here’s my guess at the opening weekend batting order :
Click to expand...
The most likely outcome is Denhartog gets walked half the at bats and there's nobody else hitting above .300
 

mngolf said:
And while good defense is always a plus, it falls far behind the importance of pitching and hitting.
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I agree.

The current Gopher roster does not have a dominant pitcher like Moulton, G, or Fiser. They will need to hit their spots and change speeds with precision. I hope they can do it.

In so far as hitting, this year's lineup is not chopped liver. Krapf should be better than Kinch. Bradley will be at least as good as Jensen. Strelow will be the same. Chavez may be better with a year's experience of the college game. Oakland has the potential to produce immediately. Burnett is unlikely to match Chloe, but I hope she will produce at least as well as Chavez did her freshman year. If they can find productivity at 1B and DH, the hitting should be fine.
 

rowdaboat said:
The most likely outcome is Denhartog gets walked half the at bats and there's nobody else hitting above .300
Click to expand...
rowdaboat said:
The most likely outcome is Denhartog gets walked half the at bats and there's nobody else hitting above .300
Click to expand...
I'd put Bradley, Burnett, and DenHartog at the plate, then on base, and let them run,run,run, followed by Oakland at bat,who may be the best player in the conference. Ok, I may be nuts but let's hope I'm not.
 

Hrothgar said:
I'd put Bradley, Burnett, and DenHartog at the plate, then on base, and let them run,run,run, followed by Oakland at bat,who may be the best player in the conference. Ok, I may be nuts but let's hope I'm not.
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Having bats that punish opponents for walking DenHartog is critical. I am looking at Oakland (a freshman… yikes) and others to give that support to DenHartog so she can actually get some swings at pitches over the plate.
 

My tickets are in my account. As I feared, despite be told by the ticket office that season tickets would include games at the Bank. The only tickets that showed up are the Big 10 games
 

dlw4gophers said:
My tickets are in my account. As I feared, despite be told by the ticket office that season tickets would include games at the Bank. The only tickets that showed up are the Big 10 games
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Perhaps they're trying to figure where to seat season ticket holders? They may not know the configuration of the seats.
 

Hrothgar said:
I'd put Bradley, Burnett, and DenHartog at the plate, then on base, and let them run,run,run, followed by Oakland at bat,who may be the best player in the conference. Ok, I may be nuts but let's hope I'm not.
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You do understand that only Purdue stole fewer bases than MN last year...and that we had almost 100 fewer attempts than Indiana and Maryland??? We aren't fast.
 

Chase the Rise said:
You do understand that only Purdue stole fewer bases than MN last year...and that we had almost 100 fewer attempts than Indiana and Maryland??? We aren't fast.
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It does seem clear to me that we have tried to build our team over the past few years as more of a long-ball team than as a manufactured-runs team.

But Hrothgar may very well be right that we should mix in more speed on the basepaths.
 

Chase the Rise said:
You do understand that only Purdue stole fewer bases than MN last year...and that we had almost 100 fewer attempts than Indiana and Maryland??? We aren't fast.
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Looking through the stats posted on Minnesota's website (back to 2018), I'd argue that the problem is not necessarily that they don't have speed but rather they don't attempt steals often enough.
Team Stolen Bases:
2022: 35/36 (97.2%) - (Indiana was 114/143 or 79.7%)
2021: 33/43 (76.7%) - (Indiana was 96/117 or 82.1%)
2020: 19/21 (90.5%) - (Indiana was 55/68 or 80.1%)
2019: 41/50 (82%) - (Indiana was 141/179 or 78.8%)
2018: 64/71 (90.1%) - (Indiana was 112/158 or 70.9%)

Minnesota's percentage of successful stolen bases is quite high. For example, DenHartog is 28/30 in her career. Why isn't she stealing more often if she's so successful?!

IMO this is a coaching issue/philosophy, not simply a lack of speed. A lot of things have to go right to catch a runner stealing.
 

Chase the Rise said:
You do understand that only Purdue stole fewer bases than MN last year...and that we had almost 100 fewer attempts than Indiana and Maryland??? We aren't fast.
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Bradley, Burnett, and Den Hartog are lightning fast on the basepaths (btw also as defensive outfielders & DenHartog as a hitter too, of course). In fall ball Burnett even "stole" first base on a semi-passed ball 3rd strike. That's why I'd put them out there & give a green light to run at every opportunity.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I gotta say, I hate it when softball games are played in stadiums too large for the dimensions of a softball field where they have to erect that silly temporary fence in the middle of the field.
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We make do. In spring 2017 I watched Minnesota State Mankato play a 'home' softball DH on neighboring Gustavus Adolphus College's borrowed D3 football field, in a combo rain/sleet storm. Miserable conditions. 2 months later MSU Mankato swept the D2 national championship. That was the same year another Minnesota team, the Gophers, lost to Alabama. Nobody much noticed the MN natty.
 

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