While our chances would be enhanced had Enter and Schwartz not gone down, I really like this draw for the Gophers. They have been susceptible to dominant aces all year, but Illinois and Nebraska would be the first two games, and neither team has a dominant ace. Playing the extra game against Illinois isn’t really that much of a disadvantage IMO because if we capitalize on their penchant for giving up the long ball, we would go into the Nebraska game with confidence, plus the fact that Kinney couldn’t get us out, and we saw so much of Harness that we should know how to beat her again. If we aren’t able to outscore Illinois, we weren’t advancing much farther anyway because our bats will need to be on fire to win pretty much any game we play.
If you make the semifinals, assuming Northwestern beats Purdue or Indiana (watch out for Indiana) you have Ashley Miller, but she would have to pitch back-to-back games, and durability has plagued her throughout her career, so riding her hard in the tourney despite her great numbers probably isn’t what Drohan wants to do.
The Gophers might only need to win only one game against one of the top five pitchers in the conference to take home the crown this year.