Kniesche has had great numbers at SDSU. The Gophers have hit her pretty well when she has faced us though. She’s tough, nonetheless, and would make a great addition if the chips fall into place down the road.
Wouldn't Ehlke or Schwartz be able to take 1B?
I think with UCLA leaving, the PAC becomes much less desirable or something to brag about. And I still go off of what Warren said last year, "he expects we'll be paying players at some point". Something only the B1G and SEC can pull off.
Yes, hopefully, but why hasn't Ehlke played there this season? And how often will Schwartz be in the circle next year? Just thoughts, I know nothing.
In my opinion, this is a very big question for the team next year. Will Schwartz focus on the 1B/DH role or the P/PH/DH role?
I was just thinking about how I love watching Ehlke at the plate. Now, with that being said, what is the outlook for her to continue "pounding the ball" against better pitchers than Ohio States? She is certainly focused and in the zone, IMO. I just love her enthusiasm on this team.
Looks like Ehlke only had 8 at-bats in her first two seasons, which resulted in 4 strikeouts and 3 walks meaning she only put the ball in play once. Now I have no idea why she got so few at bats, but the results she showed in those at bats were not promising. From watching her, I think she's made some adjustments in her swing even since the beginning of this season. At the beginning of the season, I remember commenting about how long her swing was. She always seemed behind on the ball, but she swung with such strength that if she ran into one, she was gonna hit it hard. Seeing her over the last couple months, her swing looks a bit shorter IMO. I think that has helped her dramatically and has resulted in her incredible season. If that is in fact true and not just in my mind, I don't know why it took the hitting coach 3 years to make that adjustment.
Do they have a new hitting coach?
Katie Richardson left after last season to pursue a career outside of softball. I think Katie was the primary hitting coach. Annie Smith was added to the staff.
I kept thinking about it the whole game. As our pitchers we're shutting them down. Must have been going off of season stats and not really knowing about MN this year. I think the success we've had this year is a surprise to the whole conference. Heck, it was to me after much of the non-con season.
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.
An excellent assessment!!! I'd add that with an intact pitching staff the Gophers would surely have won the 2022 BIG title.
No, I cannot get behind this. You're saying that the only thing separating last year's Minnesota team from Northwestern, a WCWS participant and top 8 team nationally, was a healthy pitching staff? Looking at just conference record from last year alone, Minnesota scored 2 runs or less in 8 of their conference games and 7 of those were losses. Even with a healthy pitching staff, Minnesota does not lose only 4 or less games in conference play.
Yes, that's what I'm saying: I've said it before. With Pease pitching at full strength in 2022 and Leavitt and the other pitchers who quit contributing, I feel confident MN would've swept MI (which they almost did anyway) and won the NW series (which they did). They would not have blown an 8-0 lead at Iowa and not a big lead at Nebr either. That's only my opinion, and it's water over the dam at this point anyway. So I'll let it rest there.
m.startribune.com
kstp.com
Please win this series ladies!
Or maybe, "P(l)ease win this series, ladies!"
Michigan's CF literally caught the ball at the wall, collided into the wall, and then dropped it over the wall. That ball would not have gone out of the park on its own.
One thing that is clear, is that our pitching staff was so very thin last year (2022).