All Things 2015 Gophers Softball Thread

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Northwestern advances with a 3-0 win over Purdue. Real good job of managing the game by the Northwestern coach.
 

Penn State against Michigan. Megan Betsa throwing for the Wolverines. Penn State sends out yesterday's starter, Jessica Cummings. Cummings went 3 innings against Maryland giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, on 5 hits, 4 walks and 1 strikeout.
Michigan just dumped Penn State 3 times, 8-0, 9-1 and 10-2.
Michigan already up 13-1 in the 2nd inning over the Nittany Lions. (Michigan is one of those teams, as you watch them, scratch your head as to how anyone can beat them. Freaking good.) 16-1 final.

Couple more news items for the team.
Groenewegen Tabbed Player of the Year Finalist http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/050615aad.html (She's the Dave Winfield of Gopher women's softball.)

Parlich Named Top-10 Freshman of Year Finalist http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/050715aab.html
 

Ohio State and Nebraska just started. (Erika Leonard with 10 RBI's in yesterday's slaughter.)
Huskers advance. Nebraska 5, Ohio State 2.
 

Groenewegen against the Hawkeye starter from yesterday, Starkenburg.
Ouch, Gophers down 2-0 in the 3rd. Groenewegen a little too much of a good pitch on an 0-2 count. Dang.
 

Horrible play by the ourfielder. She didn't turn and go back to the wall. Gopher sticks were silent in the Purdue series also. Lay off the low pitch ladies!
 




Always a good sign when you're final outing before the NCAAs is a shutout loss against an awful Iowa team.
 




Michigan handled Northwestern 9-0 in 5 innings. Wolverines came back with Betsa. She allowed only one hit.
Nebraska beating Iowa 9-3 in the 5th. Looks like Wolverines and Huskers in tonight's championship game.
Michigan 6, Nebraska 1 for the championship.
 

Gophers are placed in the Tucson regional with New Mexico State, Arizona and St. Johns. Will play New Mexico State first. I have to say I am surprised they aren't hosting a regional.
 

Kinda figured the Gophers would be on the road after the loss to Iowa so no real surprise there for me. The Gophers did face New Mexico State back in February and came away with a 6-1 win. Would be huge to get Walker back for this weekend but don't know how realistic it is noticed she was still on crutches during the Iowa game.
 

Gophers play New Mexico State Friday in the opening game of the Tucson Regional. As Goldy Gopher mentioned, the Gophers played the Aggies Feb, 20th in Tempe, Arizona. Groenewegen beat the ace of their staff, Karysta Donisthorpe, 6-1, striking out 11 in the process. Arizona, the host, is the #12 seed overall. They will play St. Johns in the 4 team, double elimination.

Looking at who is hosting the regionals, they didn't go strictly by RPI. Notre Dame hosting, lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC tourney, they are #19 RPI, behind the Gophers. (Minnesota sits at #18 as of today.) Georgia, #17 in the RPI, hosting a regional. Hofstra, #13 in RPI, not hosting. UCF, #15, not hosting.

Big Ten with four teams in the tourney, Michigan, #3 seed overall and hosting. Nebraska, heading down to Baton Rouge, where they draw Arizona State. Northwestern, sent right next door to South Bend and will play Kentucky.

North Dakota State has to go to Eugene, Oregon. They will face Fresno State.
 



dannygopher9100 said:
Gophers are placed in the Tucson regional with New Mexico State, Arizona and St. Johns. Will play New Mexico State first. I have to say I am surprised they aren't hosting a regional.
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Played themselves right out of hosting a regional with the loss to Iowa at the Big 10 Tournament. Probably needed a good showing at the conference tourney to ensure hosting a regional anyway. Instead, they laid a giant egg and now have to hit the road.
 

MRJ said:
Always a good sign when you're final outing before the NCAAs is a shutout loss against an awful Iowa team.
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MRJ said:
Instead, they laid a giant egg and now have to hit the road.
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I don't think we need to be so dramatic. Tyler Walker replaced by a true freshman who they don't let hit was going to hurt this team at some point.

One of Michigan's six losses was against Iowa. Iowa also lost one run games against #6 Lafayette and #1 Oregon.
 

Arizona-PAC 12-RPI #16-Record 38-17-Ranked 16 and 18 (Winners of 8 National Championships. Most recent, 2007.)
Minnesota-Big Ten-RPI #18-Record 46-9-Ranked 11 and 15
New Mexico State-WAC-RPI #46-Record 46-14-Not ranked
St Johns-Big East-RPI #88-Record 28-17-Not ranked
 

Maximus said:
I don't think we need to be so dramatic. Tyler Walker replaced by a true freshman who they don't let hit was going to hurt this team at some point.

One of Michigan's six losses was against Iowa. Iowa also lost one run games against #6 Lafayette and #1 Oregon.
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They didn't lose to Iowa because Tyler Walker wasn't in the lineup. They lost because they managed two hits against a pitcher that has an ERA at nearly five. And yes, Iowa was a horrible team. They finished 19-40 for the season and it wasn't because they were a solid team.

It really is okay to call them out for a poor performance. Obviously, they haven't had very many. In fact, they've had barely any until now. But when you drop a game to a team like Iowa with a potential home regional game on the line, you are going to face criticism. That's the way big-time sports works.
 




Twinsfan007 said:
So what happened to Tyler Walker? Did she break her leg or something??
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Hoping someone will fill us in on it.

North Dakota State picked up a win yesterday, beating Fresno State 4-0. Menke with 10 strike outs and only 2 hits. They get #2 seeded Oregon today. Hawkins threw for Oregon in their 8-0 victory over BYU. 1 hit, 12 strikeouts.

New Mexico State offense features heavy hitting Fiana Finau, with 24 home runs and 71 RBI'S. (Nation's leader is 29 on home runs and 79 for RBI's.)
Staci Rodriquez has scored 70 runs (Nation's leader is 81.) to go along with a team leading.408 average. Leads the team in doubles with 15 and base on balls with 47.
5 hitters in the lineup hitting over .350 and over 150 at bats. 6th in the nation in team batting average at .354
Team hit 102 home runs on the year. Only Louisiana-Lafayette and Michigan hit more.
Karysta Donisthorpe, Dallas McBride and Makayla McAdams did all the throwing for the Aggies this year. Freshman McBride being the lone lefthander.
Donisthorpe has thrown 144 innings, 136 hits, 72 walks and 138 strikeouts.
McBride with 142 innings, 165 hits, 90 walks and 111 strikeouts.
McAdams, 95 innings, 135 hits, 60 walks and 45 strikeouts.
 


A look at the 4 coaches in Tucson.

Minnesota is led by Jessica Allister in her 5th season as head coach. Overall record is 188-86. Last coaching stint before being hired by the Gophers was as an assistant under Michael White at Oregon. (White was, in his prime, arguably one of the top 3 or 4 pitchers in the world.) She caught at Stanford earning All America honors. Played in 2 College World Series. Spent a couple of seasons in National Pro Fastpitch league. Gophers have climbed the ladder in conference wins under her tutelage. 9, 10, 14, 16 and 20 victories this year.

New Mexico State's Kathy Rodolph has held the top spot for 12 seasons. She's compiled a career record of 565-410 and 368-317 while with the Aggies. Was named WAC Coach of the Year for 2015. Second time winning it. Spent time at Angelo State as head coach, starting the program. High water mark was a 50-9 record. Prior to that ran a JC program at El Paso Community College. UTEP grad.

St. John's Amy Kvilhaug has been in the position since the 2007 season. Prior to St. John's she held the same spot at Radford for 4 seasons. Topped out with a 40 win season in 2006. She was 127-115 overall at Radford. Records by season in her current job, 20-35, 24-26, 18-33, 20-30, 23-34, 17-35-1, 28-23 and this year with 28-17. Amy tossed the ball for the Providence Friars while in college. Holds Friar records for appearances, starts, innings pitched, earned run average, wins, complete games and shut outs. Also coached there, Seton Hall, Rutgers and Florida Southern.

Last but not least, Mike Candrea of Arizona. This is his 30th season as the Wildcats head coach. 24 trips to the World Series, winning it 8 times. 1425 wins under his belt. He's 59, probably has quite a few seasons left in him. Has his own website. http://www.candrea.com/ (Much better job than I could do.)

So it appears Jessica is not quite as seasoned as the other three, but then again, she can run Sara out to the rubber to throw the ball and anything can happen. 6:30 Central Time. Gophers versus Aggies. Looks like it's on BTN and http://pac-12.com/videos/university-arizona-2?DB_OEM_ID=30700
 

Northwestern lost 5-4 to Kentucky. Had the lead 4-2 going into the bottom of the 5th.
North Dakota State lost to #2 overall seed Oregon 4-3. Hawkins against Menke. The Bison play again today against either Fresno State or BYU.
Paige Parker for Oklahoma throwing a no-no into the 5th for #12 seeded Sooners. She did surrender a base on balls. They're up 7-0. The lefty freshman already has 4 perfect games this year. (Looks like they just replaced her.)
 


Gophers end it in the bottom of the 6th. 10-2 victory.

#1 seed Florida 2-0
#2 seed Oregon 3-0 advances
#3 seed Michigan 2-0
#4 seed Auburn 2-0
#5 seed LSU 1-1
#6 seed Alabama 2-0
#7 seed UCLA 2-0
#8 seed Tennessee 2-0
#9 seed Florida State 2-0
#10 seed Missouri 2-0
#11 seed Oklahoma 2-0
#12 seed Arizona 2-0
#13 seed La-Lafayette 2-0
#14 seed Georgia 1-1
#15 seed James Madison 1-1
#16 seed Notre Dame 1-1
Arizona State 2-0
Western Kentucky 2-0
Kentucky 2-0
North Carolina State 2-0



Gophers lose their second game 5-1. Take on the winner of St. John's- New Mexico State tonight, 7:30.
 

Last night the Wildcats threw 6'3" sophomore right hander Michelle Floyd. She has started 31 of the 56 games. 5' 8" right handed freshman Trish Parks has started the majority of the rest. Neither pitcher's stats jump out at you.
Floyd, 172 innings, 171 hits, 100 base on balls, 134 strikeouts, .255 average against.
Parks, 112 innings, 130 hits, 58 base on balls, 83 strikeouts, .283 average against.

Hitting is another story. 101 home runs as a team. (Gophers with 77) Mauga and Goodacre with 25 and 23 respectively. (Groenewegen, the Gopher leader at 12) 80 RBI's for Goodacre and 72 for Mauga. (Walker leads the Gophers with 50)
Kellie Fox leads the team in average with a .402 to go along with her 15 home runs. Everyone that gets regular at bats averages over .300 (As do the Gophers)
Very successful team on steals, but don't run much. (Must wait for the long ball, although they do almost have double the number of sac bunts as the Gophers) with 48 out of 49 (Gophers are 99-118). Suitos leads with 18-18 on steal attempts.
Richardson and Parlich hail from Arizona.

I'm guessing Coach Allister's plan is to........send Sara out and see what's what.

Gophers and Wildcats 2:30, http://pac-12.com/videos/university-arizona-2?DB_OEM_ID=30700
 


Was good to see the offense come back in a big way yesterday. Hopefully they can keep it up against a tough Arizona team. Should be a good one!
 


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