Gopher softball 2023

Donate To GopherHole
Panthadad2 said:
Wow. What a butt whoopin after Krapf's second HR (bottom of 2nd 9-1). Granted, I've been too busy watching small college SB this year and not BG10, but Michigan looks to be a shell of it's former self.
Click to expand...
All their best players (Lexie Blair excluded) transferred out after last season.
 


A 9-1 lead, three errors and a couple of hits later and it's tied. You gotta be fucking kidding me.
 

Coaches need to rally the troops. Wrong decision to switch pitchers. Gophers are completely unfocused. It is a shame. Actually..........UGLY.
 

Michigan's relief pitcher comes in and gets outs, ours comes in and gives up 8 fucking runs.
 



Why tf are you celebrating that HR when you guys just gave up 8 runs? Get back to the dugout and just keep trying to add more runs.
 

We have a college softball level ace; a really good ace who makes it so tough for hitters to get their bats on the ball. But, so very obviously, when Pease isn’t pitching we are not nearly as tough to beat.

Pitching matters!
 
Last edited:

Two different offense approaches going on in this game. Gophers swinging away and Michigan just getting their bats on the ball. With our defensive errors, that latter was an obvious call for a HC.
 




ClassOf98Gopher said:
We have a college softball level ace; a really good ace who makes it very tough for hitters to get their bats on the ball. But as I have said for weeks, when Pease isn’t pitching, we are not nearly as tough to beat.

Pitching matters!
Click to expand...
VERY True....however, I also saw a wee bit of an attitude on Enter, when asked to come in that fourth inning. As announcers stated, she appeared frustrated, which didn't help our cause in that situation. Otherwise, yes I totally agree Gophers with Pease very tough to beat.
 

Thank you Oakland......great pickup and throw to get the runner.

Do we see Schwartz in the 7th or Pease comes in?
 

4EverAGopher said:
Thank you Oakland......great pickup and throw to get the runner.

Do we see Schwartz in the 7th or Pease comes in?
Click to expand...
Schwartz has been throwing well. I'd like to see her at least get the opportunity to close it out. If she gives up a couple baserunners, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to see Pease.
 




Gophers got bailed out by their bats this afternoon, if not for their timely hitting and an excellent relief appearance from Schwartz. Jess Oakland has a great eye at the plate, but she definitely needs to work on her defense.
 

WayOfTheGopher said:
Gophers got bailed out by their bats this afternoon, if not for their timely hitting and an excellent relief appearance from Schwartz. Jess Oakland has a great eye at the plate, but she definitely needs to work on her defense.
Click to expand...
Sweep time!
 




rwlarson said:
It might be surprising to people who don’t follow the team and only look at numbers from last year. They might look at Pease’s numbers and conclude that while she was a good #2 pitcher, she couldn’t ever be an effective ace. Of course, those people also wouldn’t have known that last year she was rehabbing and then suffered some setbacks, so she was on a pitch count most of the season, and couldn’t even throw overhand to first base. Coupled with the unfortunate lack of depth that resulted from Dueck’s retirement and Hostettler’s transfer after fall ball, and the brutal non-Conference schedule, it was a miracle this coaching staff somehow got the team into the NCAA tournament last season.

The fact that they did make the tourney shouldn’t have been lost on anyone, yet the prognosticators chose instead to focus on the transfer of Emily Leavitt, our “highest-rated recruit in history,” and our best clutch hitter, Chloe Evans, as evidence that we were trending in the wrong direction.

To me, it felt like last year’s team just got beaten down during the non-conference, and they didn’t have the team unity and culture to pull it back together early in conference play, until the doubleheader sweep of a hot Wisconsin team and that final series against Northwestern barely got them an NCAA bid.

This 2023 team also suffered some inexplicable losses in non-conference, and the sweep at the hands of Northwestern, but they gradually picked up the pieces and slowly gained momentum. Now they are playing the best softball I’ve seen from a Minnesota team since 2019, and are giving us reason to believe their best could be yet to come. If DenHartog and Krapf start getting really hot as we enter postseason, oh my, this team could be WCWS good.
Click to expand...
ClassOf98Gopher said:
We have a college softball level ace; a really good ace who makes it so tough for hitters to get their bats on the ball. But, so very obviously, when Pease isn’t pitching we are not nearly as tough to beat.

Pitching matters!
Click to expand...
In the end pitching did not matter today because we hit the ball. Amazing what happens when you out score your opponent….you win the game! Simple fact today hitting and scoring wins games.
 



I felt MI's play today was sorta schizophrenic. After erasing a 9-1 deficit they could be expected to be higher than a kite, but after their rally they seemed to revert to relative slumber and disappear from the match. Strange. But the better team won. Great!
 

Hrothgar said:
I felt MI's play today was sorta schizophrenic. After erasing a 9-1 deficit they could be expected to be higher than a kite, but after their rally they seemed to revert to relative slumber and disappear from the match. Strange. But the better team won. Great!
Click to expand...
Yes, that certainly was one of the wilder games I can recall. It was some bizarre combination of highlights and bloopers rolled into one game, leading to huge momentum shifts throughout.

The Gophers came out hitting with laser-like focus, and fortunately, they retained that level of offensive focus the entire game, even after Michigan took the lead. It was great to see Krapf cranking up the power again with two 3-run bombs, and for DenHartog to finally get career HR #70.

But, even while they enjoyed a huge lead and it looked like a certain run-rule win, they were in a mental funk defensively. We dropped a fairly easy throw at first to open the game, then later, when a Michigan base runner failed to realize there was only one out and took off to third on an easy fly ball to left, instead of immediately taking advantage and getting the ball to first for the double play, we looked confused and had nobody at first base to receive a throw. Then, we could have just tagged the runner, who had retreated from third to second, but we didn’t. Finally, we got the ball to first to complete the double play. And, our middle infielders didn’t get on the same page as to who would cover on a grounder back to the pitcher and we turned a double play opportunity into zero outs.

But even after the four errors, plus the mental mistakes, we found a way to win the ballgame, even when the Wolverines had all the momentum. After Michigan took the lead, Tholl chose to bring in Derkowski, hoping she could shut the Gophers down and that they could continue scoring against our pitching and defense. Oakland promptly ended that notion by greeting the sophomore ace with a towering home run to center, tying the game and shifting the momentum back in the Gophers’ favor. And credit Schwartz, who finally got us out of the nightmare inning, with keeping the Wolverines at bay while we continued our offensive assault.
 
Last edited:


rwlarson said:
Yes, that certainly was one of the wilder games I can recall. It was some bizarre combination of highlights and bloopers rolled into one game, leading to huge momentum shifts throughout.

The Gophers came out hitting with laser-like focus, and fortunately, they retained that level of offensive focus the entire game, even after Michigan took the lead. It was great to see Krapf cranking up the power again with two 3-run bombs, and for DenHartog to finally get career HR #70.

But, even while they enjoyed a huge lead and it looked like a certain run-rule win, they were in a mental funk defensively. We dropped a fairly easy throw at first to open the game, then later, when a Michigan base runner failed to realize there was only one out and took off to third on an easy fly ball to left, instead of immediately taking advantage and getting the ball to first for the double play, we looked confused and had nobody at first base to receive a throw. Then, we could have just tagged the runner, who had retreated from third to second, but we didn’t. Finally, we got the ball to first to complete the double play. And, our middle infielders didn’t get on the same page as to who would cover on a grounder back to the pitcher and we turned a double play opportunity into zero outs.

But even after the four errors, plus the mental mistakes, we found a way to win the ballgame, even when the Wolverines had all the momentum. After Michigan took the lead, Tholl chose to bring in Derkowski, hoping she could shut the Gophers down and that they could continue scoring against our pitching and defense. Oakland promptly ended that notion by greeting the sophomore ace with a towering home run to center, tying the game and shifting the momentum back in the Gophers’ favor. And credit Schwartz, who finally got us out of the nightmare inning, with keeping the Wolverines at bay while we continued our offensive assault.
Click to expand...
It seemed a mind game. The Gophers play better defense behind Pease bec. she gets KOs, which keeps the ball out of play a lot, and bec. she controls the at-bats by being ahead in the count. Even when she got outs, the gophers' starter seemed jittery and never in control of the at-bats. She was inviting MI back in the game. A 9-1 lead felt shaky for the defense and fans alike. Maybe our SS felt pressure to pull some magical plays to remedy that, which became freshman-like mistakes? (Her plate appearances, on the other hand, were marvelous!) Lucky for MN, Derkowski returned the favor. She looked nothing like the pitcher she was on Friday. In fact, I had to keep checking her nr. 18 to be sure it was the same pitcher. Schwartz made MI swing at her pitches; it put her in control.
 

Schwartz doesn’t throw that hard, but that change of hers is a thing of beauty when she throws it for a strike. Some pitchers need to alter their delivery just a little to throw the change. With Schwartz, same motion, but the ball just floats toward the plate. Michigan hitters just couldn’t identify it and adjust.
 


bigten.org

2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket Released (25786)

2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket Released
bigten.org bigten.org

B1G tournament bracket

ROSEMONT, Ill. (May 7, 2023) – The Big Ten Conference has announced the full 12-team, single-elimination bracket for the 24th Big Ten Softball Tournament that will take place May 10-13 at the University of Illinois’ Eichelberger Field in Urbana, Illinois.

Northwestern (35-11, 20-3 Big Ten) is the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament after earning its ninth Big Ten Championship and second in a row. The Wildcats have won two Big Ten Tournament titles (1982, 2008) and will open this year’s tournament on Thursday with a quarterfinal contest at 4:30 p.m. (CT) live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 8 seed Maryland and No. 9 seed Iowa.

Indiana (40-15, 18-5) is the No. 2 seed for this year’s Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers’ highest-ever seed for the tournament. It follows Indiana’s best conference finish since 2011, when it also finished second in the Big Ten standings, although there was no conference tournament held that year (nor in 1983, 1986 and 1994 when the Hoosiers won their three Big Ten titles). Indiana is seeking its first Big Ten Tournament championship and will begin its postseason schedule at 1:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday with a tournament quarterfinal game live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between No. 7 seed Penn State and 10th-seeded Michigan.

Minnesota (36-16, 17-6) earned the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, the Golden Gophers’ eight top-three seed in the past nine tournaments. Winners of 11 in a row, Minnesota is in search of its sixth Big Ten Tournament title (second-most in tournament history) and will start this year’s quest for the crown at 11 a.m. (CT) Thursday live on the Big Ten Network with a quarterfinal game against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round contest between No. 6 seed Ohio State and 11th-seeded Rutgers.

Rounding out the top four seeds is defending Big Ten Tournament champion Nebraska (33-19, 13-10), which claimed the last of the tournament byes into the quarterfinal round. The Huskers captured their first Big Ten Tournament championship last year with a thrilling 3-1, eight-inning victory over Michigan in the final. Nebraska will open defense of its Big Ten Tournament title at 7 p.m. (CT) Thursday in the last quarterfinal, playing live on the Big Ten Network against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between fifth-seeded Wisconsin and No. 12 seed (and tournament host) Illinois.

All 11 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will not only be televised live to a national audience on the Big Ten Network, but will also be available on the FOX Sports app.

For more information on this year’s tournament, visit the Big Ten Tournament Central page at bigten.org/softball.

The 2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, May 10 (First Round)
Game 1 (#6 Ohio State vs. #11 Rutgers) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 2 (#7 Penn State vs. #10 Michigan) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 3 (#8 Maryland vs. #9 Iowa) – 4:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 4 (#5 Wisconsin vs. #12 Illinois) – 7 p.m. CT (BTN)

Thursday, May 11 (Quarterfinal)
Game 5 (#3 Minnesota vs. Game 1 winner) – 11 a.m. CT (BTN)
Game 6 (#2 Indiana vs. Game 2 winner) – 1:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 7 (#1 Northwestern vs. Game 3 winner) – 4:30 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 8 (#4 Nebraska vs. Game 4 winner) – 7 p.m. CT (BTN)

Friday, May 12 (Semifinals)
Game 9 (Game 5 vs. Game 6 winner) – 5 p.m. CT (BTN)
Game 10 (Game 7 vs. Game 8 winner) – 7:30 p.m. CT (BTN)

Saturday, May 13 (Championship)
Game 11 (Game 9 vs. Game 10 winner) – 3 p.m. CT (BTN)
Click to expand...
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom