Gopher softball 2023

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Need improvement from Enter and better defense from Strelow. Next week will be crucial for this team( LSU, Oregon,CS Fullerton).
 

Nipomo 56 said:
Need improvement from Enter and better defense from Strelow. Next week will be crucial for this team( LSU, Oregon,CS Fullerton).
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Oregon and Fullerton both beat very overrated Florida this weekend
 


I didn't see either MN/Baylor game but followed both on live stats. IMO, MN lost game 2 v. Baylor psychologically by 'wasting' Pease's brilliant pitching in game 1. They had home team advantage and numerous baserunners they failed to drive in for a win. So deflating. The Gophers have talent, but to make real headway they need to learn to hit with RISP. Winning teams win games like game 1. The Gophers can be better than that. I think Piper can get them there, but it's a thin line of performing under pressure.
 



mngolf said:
Strelow isn't hitting and has had bad defense this year. Might be time to try someone else.
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Why is it that I see a drop off in hitting capability (at least capacity to drive the ball deep into gaps) at about our 9th hitter? If that sense I have is true, then there really isn’t a plausible replacement in the batting order.
 

mngolf said:
Strelow isn't hitting and has had bad defense this year. Might be time to try someone else.
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Strelow can and needs to play better for this team to be successful. She is a spark plug type player who can energize the entire team. I would be shocked if anyone who could replace her would perform better than she has. That said, she has proven she can play better than this, the season is still young, and there’s no reason to think she won’t step up her play.
 

rwlarson said:
Strelow can and needs to play better for this team to be successful. She is a spark plug type player who can energize the entire team. I would be shocked if anyone who could replace her would perform better than she has. That said, she has proven she can play better than this, the season is still young, and there’s no reason to think she won’t step up her play.
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I don't agree with this. She is a career .219 hitter, flashes good defense once in a while. Not a home run hitter, nor does she steal bases. Strikes out at a 20% of AB's career clip....true we might not have anyone that can replace her( I'd try hard to find anyone at this point---send a message), but to say she's proven to be better than this...not buying it.
 

There has to be at least one aspect to a player's game to keep them in the lineup. Based on the above, what is that? Otherwise pretty much anything would be better. You can't tell me there isn't someone that can play 2nd base at least as well and have 1 more aspect.
 



On roster listed as INF or UTL.
Leschber, Werner, Oakland, Strelow, Schwartz, Ehlke, Cox, Valencia, Chavez. And plenty of "easy" games to experiment with.
 


mngolf said:
On roster listed as INF or UTL.
Leschber, Werner, Oakland, Strelow, Schwartz, Ehlke, Cox, Valencia, Chavez. And plenty of "easy" games to experiment with.
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Well, Leschber, Oakland, Cox, and Chavez are already in the lineup so any up-and-comers would have to come from Werner, Schwartz, Ehlke, and Valencia.

So far this season, none of them have shown more at the plate than Strelow. That’s just a fact.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
Well, Leschber, Oakland, Cox, and Chavez are already in the lineup so any up-and-comers would have to come from Werner, Schwartz, Ehlke, and Valencia.

So far this season, none of them have shown more at the plate than Strelow. That’s just a fact.
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They've had less opportunities too.
 



Chase the Rise said:
I don't agree with this. She is a career .219 hitter, flashes good defense once in a while. Not a home run hitter, nor does she steal bases. Strikes out at a 20% of AB's career clip....true we might not have anyone that can replace her( I'd try hard to find anyone at this point---send a message), but to say she's proven to be better than this...not buying it.
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I’m not arguing that this program can’t have better production at the 2B position. Just that she’s the best we have right now, and her previous numbers indicate she can do better. Currently, through about 30% of the season, she’s hitting 48 points below her career average (55 points if you don’t include this year) and fielding 25 points below last season, the only other season she was used exclusively at 2B. Plenty of time to improve those numbers and regression toward the mean is likely in this case.

As to her overall contribution to the team, it’s interesting that despite only hitting .171, she’s tied for third on the team in runs scored and fifth in RBI. Her extra base hits per at bat are on a par or better than previous years despite the low average. She hit 7 HRs last year, same as Sara Kinch. On a team that rarely steals bases, she is tied for first with two. Yes, she strikes out a lot, but she also draws walks and HBPs. She leads the team in sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies, so despite the high strikeout numbers she does some things right in terms of advancing runners.

We can all see from watching that she is a scrappy competitive player, the type of player coaches love to have on their team. She has earned the right to work her way out of this.

Do I yearn for the days of Parlich and Partain holding down the 2B position? Of course. But she’s the best we have right now, and I’m confident she will improve her numbers while continuing to do the little things that help teams win games.
 
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It appears that Rutgers [!!!] is the only BIG team with a really good W-L percentage. No idea who their opponents have been; no time to look it up. The Gophers need to stay above .500 this weekend at least.
 






Would have been great to see today's game v. Oregon. The offense came from the bottom of the order, and they're fresh[wo]men to boot. This time v. a ranked team the Gophers took charge and played from ahead, not catchup. What's up with DenHartog not hitting?
 



John3298 said:
Wow, congrats to Minnesota for picking up a 4-1 win over ranked Oregon behind a 2 hit outing from Pease and 3 HR by MN freshmen
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Stating the obvious… this really is a big win for our program.

It’s great for Pease, the fifth year Grad Student, to have confidence that she can win big games this year. It’s great for the freshmen to see the potential of the team for the future.
 

Storako no hitter vs Kentucky, good for rest of conference that she's not at Michigan
 



rowdaboat said:
Storako no hitter vs Kentucky, good for rest of conference that she's not at Michigan
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Ehh I disagree. Having a good pitcher like Storako in the conference would make the rest of the teams elevate their game and prepare B1G teams better for postseason softball. It's never a good thing to lose talent from your conference.
 

John3298 said:
Ehh I disagree. Having a good pitcher like Storako in the conference would make the rest of the teams elevate their game and prepare B1G teams better for postseason softball. It's never a good thing to lose talent from your conference.
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The second weekend in May is one of my favorite weekends in the Gophers’ softball season. It is a weekend tournament where the Gophers have a shot at winning the weekend and Big Ten competition is our competition (most Big Ten teams don’t even make the NCAA tournament). If Michigan is down, then that is good for us.
 


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