Gopher softball 2023
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ClassOf98Gopher
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Was Hrothgar expressing concern about the trajectory of the Gopher softball (and/or volleyball) program since 2019? Is that how you knew it was Hrothgar in the stands?
Just kidding Hrothgar a little. For years now I have truly enjoyed responding to Hrothgar’s (well-intentioned and usually insightful) posts.
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2nd Degree Gopher
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I like the schedule--first game each day with set starting times not dependent on what happens in an earlier game (unless there are weather issues) and maximum rest between games. Seems like they are set up well to give it their best shot.
2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket Released
Northwestern earns No. 1 seed for tournament to be held May 10-13 at Illinoisbigten.org
B1G tournament bracket
ClassOf98Gopher
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I agree it is a pretty good draw for Minnesota including that I would rather the Gophers face the winner of Ohio State/Rutgers than the winner of Michigan/Bailey Parshall.
Lot of losses yesterday in top spots and Gophers hardly moved with the sweep
| RANK | SCHOOL | CONFERENCE | RECORD | ROAD | NEUTRAL | HOME | NON DIV I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | Big 12 | 49-1 | 14-1 | 20-0 | 15-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | UCLA | Pac-12 | 50-4 | 15-2 | 14-1 | 21-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Stanford | Pac-12 | 39-12 | 13-7 | 7-2 | 19-3 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Florida St. | ACC | 47-8 | 14-4 | 3-2 | 30-2 | 0-0 |
| 5 | Oklahoma St. | Big 12 | 41-13 | 11-6 | 11-1 | 19-6 | 0-0 |
| 6 | LSU | SEC | 40-14 | 10-7 | 4-0 | 26-7 | 0-0 |
| 7 | Duke | ACC | 43-9 | 16-2 | 9-3 | 18-4 | 0-0 |
| 8 | Northwestern | Big Ten | 35-11 | 13-5 | 11-6 | 11-0 | 0-0 |
| 9 | Louisiana | Sun Belt | 43-13 | 16-6 | 8-5 | 19-2 | 0-0 |
| 10 | Tennessee | SEC | 41-8 | 11-3 | 11-1 | 19-4 | 0-0 |
| 11 | Texas | Big 12 | 40-12 | 7-6 | 5-1 | 28-5 | 0-0 |
| 12 | Washington | Pac-12 | 37-11 | 11-7 | 14-2 | 12-2 | 0-0 |
| 13 | Alabama | SEC | 38-17 | 13-5 | 4-4 | 21-8 | 0-0 |
| 14 | Arkansas | SEC | 38-16 | 10-6 | 7-2 | 21-8 | 0-0 |
| 15 | Georgia | SEC | 39-12 | 9-6 | 4-0 | 26-6 | 0-0 |
| 16 | Clemson | ACC | 45-8 | 14-4 | 6-1 | 25-3 | 0-0 |
| 17 | Baylor | Big 12 | 39-15 | 11-7 | 4-2 | 24-6 | 0-0 |
| 18 | Oregon | Pac-12 | 35-14 | 12-3 | 15-4 | 8-7 | 0-0 |
| 19 | Central Ark. | ASUN | 39-9 | 15-4 | 5-1 | 19-4 | 0-0 |
| 20 | Wichita St. | AAC | 43-9 | 13-4 | 8-1 | 22-4 | 0-0 |
| 21 | Auburn | SEC | 39-16 | 8-7 | 5-5 | 26-4 | 0-0 |
| 22 | Florida | SEC | 35-19 | 8-11 | 4-2 | 23-6 | 0-0 |
| 23 | Utah | Pac-12 | 34-13 | 14-7 | 9-2 | 11-4 | 0-0 |
| 24 | Virginia Tech | ACC | 36-17 | 13-6 | 8-3 | 15-8 | 0-0 |
| 25 | Kentucky | SEC | 30-19 | 10-8 | 11-3 | 9-8 | 0-0 |
| 26 | Texas A&M | SEC | 33-18 | 8-7 | 6-5 | 19-6 | 0-0 |
| 27 | Minnesota | Big Ten | 36-16 | 9-10 | 12-4 | 15-2 | 0-0 |
| 28 | Liberty | ASUN | 37-18 | 13-6 | 2-8 | 22-4 | 0-0 |
| 29 | California | Pac-12 | 33-18 | 14-8 | 11-3 | 8-7 | 0-0 |
| 30 | Charlotte | C-USA | 32-19 | 13-7 | 2-5 | 17-7 | 0-0 |
I don't follow closely enough to know for sure, but does the 27 RPI make them a lock for the tournament no matter what happens in conference tournament? I would think so, but I recall softball being filled with more political shenanigans than D.C.
Yes, a lock. 64 teams go.
And my step-daughter's team plays a double header in Champaign on Saturday. Might convince her to go to the championship game afterward if our Gophers are in it.2023 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket Released
Northwestern earns No. 1 seed for tournament to be held May 10-13 at Illinois
B1G tournament bracket
Panthadad2
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I would love to see Stanford as a match. Not just because of the backstory, but also cuz they appear to be beatable as a potential 8-12 seed regional host.
OK State has solid pitchers and Becker from Purdue at leadoff but a lot of walks and errors to get swept by OU. Stanford looks way over-ranked. Run ruled by OU, 2-1 vs Oregon, close 0-3 vs UCLA, 3-0 vs Arizona, 0-3 vs Utah, 1-2 with run rule loss vs Washington.
ClassOf98Gopher
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Could be going to Washington too. Oregon’s bad weekend took that possibility out of contention… unfortunately.
Anyway, the weekend tournament that we have the potential of actually winning begins in just a couple days. Exciting!
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Who would have thought there'd ever be a day when the Gophers would sweep Michigan in three games -- even during the last weekend of the regular season when RPIs don't move as much -- and their RPI would go down?
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Rules question. Here's a blurb from "The Daily Gopher" article - so you can re-enter a game after you've been pulled? Is that true?
The Gophers would score their second run in the bottom of the fifth inning after Claire Ceynowa pinch hit for Breezy Burnett and was hit by a pitch. Burnett reentered the game to run for Cenowa and advanced to second on a Kayla Chavez single. She then used her incredible speed to score from second with a gorgeous slide on a single by Bradley to make it 2-0.
The Gophers would score their second run in the bottom of the fifth inning after Claire Ceynowa pinch hit for Breezy Burnett and was hit by a pitch. Burnett reentered the game to run for Cenowa and advanced to second on a Kayla Chavez single. She then used her incredible speed to score from second with a gorgeous slide on a single by Bradley to make it 2-0.
Panthadad2
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You can re-enter once.
It's always a gamble to pull, say, a very good hitter that's slow (or catcher you don't want getting hurt) for a fast base runner early in the game.
ClassOf98Gopher
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I highjacked the intended point of the above quote just a little, but to me it is to make a more important point.
For those that have thought the sky is falling for the Gopher softball team after Coach Allister left in 2017 because JT and PR were not as good, or something, this Michigan collapse just shows how hard it is for a top-level Big Ten team to stay top-level through a head coaching change. Actually the same type of collapse also happened to Oregon after Coach White left for Texas. It’s so hard to stay near the top, yet JT and PR we were able to lead very good teams throughout this post-Allister period never missing an NCAA tournament.
And, of course, special credit should be given to these players: Amber Fiser, McKenna Partain, and Natalie DenHartog (among many others) for their resiliency and commitment to Minnesota through the multiple coaching transitions as well.
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Make it 3 in a row for Autumn!
gophersports.com
Three In-A-Row! Pease Named B1G Pitcher of the Week - University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNEAPOLIS – After collecting two more shutout wins through 14 innings of work over the weekend against the Michigan Wolverines, fifth year senior Autum...
dlw4gophers
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Amber Fiser
rugger14
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A little dramatic. JA left very late in the summer and the girls had no time to react. JT had her first season with basically everyone returning. She lost Lindaman the next year. Kudos to all those girls for sticking together. 5 years later the transfer portal in like a revolving door. How many Michigan players left before this year?
ClassOf98Gopher
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This is a key point; and to her credit. She gets plenty of debits, but we can give her this one credit.
I’m very thankful the current portal rules weren’t in place in 2017/2018.
ClassOf98Gopher
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Players could still easily transfer if their coach left. And the portal created an ease of transferring just one year later, which Lindaman was one if the first to use the portal. But again, players transferred all the time prior to the 2018 transfer portal, especially if their coach left.
rugger14
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They could but it was not as common as it is now. JA also left late and the players didn't have time to look around.
rugger14
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Exactly. Michigan losing her was like if Minnesota would have lost Fiser.
rugger14
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Updated RPI:
Northwestern 8
Minnesota 27
Indiana 32
Nebraska 36
Penn State 45
Ohio State 46
Maryland 47
Michigan 49
Wisconsin 54
Iowa 65
Rutgers 78
Illinois 85
Purdue 112
Michigan State 142
I think Northwestern, UMN, IU, and the Huskers are probably in the NCAA. That next tightly packed group from PSU to Becky will be interesting to watch. Those teams need to win some games in the B1G tourney. Northwestern should get to host a regional IMO but Supers could be a stretch. They need to play well in the B1G tourney as well.
Northwestern 8
Minnesota 27
Indiana 32
Nebraska 36
Penn State 45
Ohio State 46
Maryland 47
Michigan 49
Wisconsin 54
Iowa 65
Rutgers 78
Illinois 85
Purdue 112
Michigan State 142
I think Northwestern, UMN, IU, and the Huskers are probably in the NCAA. That next tightly packed group from PSU to Becky will be interesting to watch. Those teams need to win some games in the B1G tourney. Northwestern should get to host a regional IMO but Supers could be a stretch. They need to play well in the B1G tourney as well.
But they're going to lose to MN so there's that.
rugger14
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I took this from another
Minnesota:
Record: 36-16 (17-6)
RPI: 27
Non-Conference SOS: 51
Overall SOS: 36
Top 25 Wins: 2 - Oregon (18), Wichita State (20)
Top 50 Wins: 16 - Add Indiana x2 (32), Fullerton (33), Penn State x2 (45), Ohio State x3 (46), Maryland x2 (47), Michigan x3 (49), South Dakota State (50)
Top 100 Wins: 26 - Add Virginia (53), Wisconsin x2 (54), Arizona State (57), Iowa x3 (65), LMU (70), Western Kentucky x2 (81)
Bad Losses: Michigan State (142), Colgate (216)
I took this from another site. This is our resume. Tough to move up from 27 when we didn't have a lot of chances to play highly rated teams in conference play.
Minnesota:
Record: 36-16 (17-6)
RPI: 27
Non-Conference SOS: 51
Overall SOS: 36
Top 25 Wins: 2 - Oregon (18), Wichita State (20)
Top 50 Wins: 16 - Add Indiana x2 (32), Fullerton (33), Penn State x2 (45), Ohio State x3 (46), Maryland x2 (47), Michigan x3 (49), South Dakota State (50)
Top 100 Wins: 26 - Add Virginia (53), Wisconsin x2 (54), Arizona State (57), Iowa x3 (65), LMU (70), Western Kentucky x2 (81)
Bad Losses: Michigan State (142), Colgate (216)
SOS will get a boost with UCLA coming even though they'll go 22-2 in conference every year. Would be beneficial to try to schedule midweek games during April vs ranked non conf teams like Baylor or Kentucky to help pad RPI in future