Gopher Softball Fall Season

[ClassOf98Gopher]

I think we will have a Big Ten championship batting order, but a big question as to what part of the Big Ten our pitching would rank.

I forgot that we have Snippes as well, I wonder how Snippes and Richardson will compare to one another and potentially compliment one another on the mound.

 

[Gopher68]

I was there for both games (all 3 in fact: MN, ISU, NDSU). The Gophers arre stacked with 6 pitchers, all of whom saw some action. It seemed Enter was throwing harder (by her standards) than last year & more confident. Richardson impressed me for a first-yr player. Remains to be seen who, if anyone, will be the "ace", but they all threw lots of strikes and few BOB. Gophers played very good defense in the infield. Chavez was her usual reliable self & Strelow also made a couple of excellent plays on hard grounders.Oakland was even better than last year in covering to her right & left and with a quicker ball release on throws. Kinda minor-league spectacular defense by her (considering it was Fall Ball.) Burnett & DeBord made some good catches in LF, but the outfielders made some ill-advised throws to the wrong bases. Homers by Oakland (2), Chavez, Leshber, can't remember who else. Elke lined a smash off the right center field wall, which drove in a run but only went for a single. LOL, I liked that for some reason. Some of the seasoned veteran hitters puzzle me. They continue to dribble meek grounders back to the circle or hit easy popups to the infield off pitches that would seem cinches to be driven deep to the outfield. Krapf didn't play, but I saw Piper & asked about nr. 13. Piper smiled and said she'll be ready. Piper said the team looks pretty good: some strengths but also holes to fill. She warned about their having a tough schedule. They may be pitching by committee, but a committee of 6 ain't bad.

Thank you!

 

[Hrothgar]

I think we will have a Big Ten championship batting order, but a big question as to what part of the Big Ten our pitching would rank.

I forgot that we have Snippes as well, I wonder how Snippes and Richardson will compare to one another and potentially compliment one another on the mound.

I hesitate to venture a reply, but I thought Richardson was more poised in the circle and showed a wider array of pitches.

 

[Hrothgar]

I went out last night and watched Gophers softball v. Concordia St. Paul. MN won 3-2 in 8 innings. CSP had only 13 players, but they were pretty good and outplayed & outhit MN most of the game. Their starter pitched all 8 innings.

MN used all 3 Freshmen pitchers. They did well, made batters hit their way on. MN's infield pulled 3 sparkling double plays on ground balls. Chavez hit well/also got thrown out on the bases twice by a good CSP right fielder. Oakland & Elke hit well, too, but nobody else.
In fact, what also stood out was the very weak swings the other MN hitters showed. No bat speed or drives to the outfield, lots of squib grounders to the infield or weak popups. The lower 5 hitters in the MN lineup were pretty much sure outs. Mystifying why they can't drive the ball.

MN's freshmen pitchers looked at home in the circle as though they belonged. Hope they turn out well in the spring.

 

[Gopher68]

I went out last night and watched Gophers softball v. Concordia St. Paul. MN won 3-2 in 8 innings. CSP had only 13 players, but they were pretty good and outplayed & outhit MN most of the game. Their starter pitched all 8 innings.

MN used all 3 Freshmen pitchers. They did well, made batters hit their way on. MN's infield pulled 3 sparkling double plays on ground balls. Chavez hit well/also got thrown out on the bases twice by a good CSP right fielder. Oakland & Elke hit well, too, but nobody else.
In fact, what also stood out was the very weak swings the other MN hitters showed. No bat speed or drives to the outfield, lots of squib grounders to the infield or weak popups. The lower 5 hitters in the MN lineup were pretty much sure outs. Mystifying why they can't drive the ball.

MN's freshmen pitchers looked at home in the circle as though they belonged. Hope they turn out well in the spring.

Thanks!