Gopher Softball 2017

8-0. She sure took care of business today! 10 strikeouts, 4 ground outs, 2 fly outs and no walks. 69 pitches, 49 strikes, 17 batters faced and 17 first pitch strikes. AND she had 3 hits! Whoa, that is some efficient work. When she is on, she is so good. (Dang, wasn't able to watch the game.)
That game wasn't even close today. It was fun to watch. The NU slappers were back to back outs to lead off the first. That was a big help compared to the last two games.

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Watched the game today. Sara was really locked in, which made things fun. Also starting to notice how careful opposing pitchers are being with Lindaman. They're all either trying to jam her up inside or are going far outside hoping she'll chase. Thankfully, she has a really good eye and even with the NW pitchers blatantly trying to jam her up inside, she blasted a bases-clearing double in the second.

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Brought my 15 year old fastpitch playing daughter to the NW game yesterday. We've been watching the Gophies play on TV all spring so we knew Lindaman was a power hitter...but the TV doesn't replicate how hard she swings in person. My gosh, my daughter and I were amazed at her swing.

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Looks like the Gophers moved up one spot to #5 in the rankings and moved up 2 spots to #11 in the RPI. Very good!
Just take care of business.
 

Looks like the Gophers moved up one spot to #5 in the rankings and moved up 2 spots to #11 in the RPI. Very good!
Just take care of business.

Not sure how softball RPI is calculated, but I imagine strength of schedule is a factor. If so, I guess we should root for Illinois, LSU, Washington, and Cal to finish strong.
 


Not sure how softball RPI is calculated, but I imagine strength of schedule is a factor. If so, I guess we should root for Illinois, LSU, Washington, and Cal to finish strong.
Gophers win the marathon game against Becky!

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Gopher bats stay hot to start game two with a nice 5-0 lead for Fiser.

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Lindaman had five walks in the first game. The announcers said that was a B1G record.
 



Sara was super in game one and Fiser is dealing in game two. First game was a weird one in that it felt like once the ladies scored one, they were going to score a bunch. It just so happened they didn't plate that first one until the 12th.

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First game took 12 innings to score, and we win 6-0. Second game, in every inning the leadoff hitter got a hit. We end up with two big innings and finally give up our only run of the day in the bottom of the 5th as they win 12-1. I have a feeling if we'd have lost the first game, we'd have lost the second. But the big inning in the 12th was enough to win them both...
 


First game took 12 innings to score, and we win 6-0. Second game, in every inning the leadoff hitter got a hit. We end up with two big innings and finally give up our only run of the day in the bottom of the 5th as they win 12-1. I have a feeling if we'd have lost the first game, we'd have lost the second. But the big inning in the 12th was enough to win them both...

Have to give UW some credit for game one. They used a pitcher by committee trying to take advantage of specific matchups, which I think threw the ladies for a loop early on. I also think they tried so hard to win game one that they gave a huge advantage to the Gophers for game two.

The Badgers used three pitchers at different times in the first game, which gave the ladies a really good look at each. By the end of game one, they were getting really good swings at Menz, who is Wisconsin's ace and is a little dinged up apparently. They also saw plenty of Stevens in game one, which hurt the Badgers in game two since she had to come in really early for Watts. The pitcher by committee thing therefore seemed effective in game one, but by game two, the Gophers looked much more comfortable at the plate.

I also think the emotional drain of losing game one really wore on Wisconsin. They looked like they spent it all on that first game. Fiser's speed also was a tough adjustment. All and all, I felt like the two games highlighted how good this Gopher team really is. Wisconsin did absolutely everything they could to win game one and still lost. And by game two, they had nothing left.
 



Have to give UW some credit for game one. They used a pitcher by committee trying to take advantage of specific matchups, which I think threw the ladies for a loop early on. I also think they tried so hard to win game one that they gave a huge advantage to the Gophers for game two.

The Badgers used three pitchers at different times in the first game, which gave the ladies a really good look at each. By the end of game one, they were getting really good swings at Menz, who is Wisconsin's ace and is a little dinged up apparently. They also saw plenty of Stevens in game one, which hurt the Badgers in game two since she had to come in really early for Watts. The pitcher by committee thing therefore seemed effective in game one, but by game two, the Gophers looked much more comfortable at the plate.

I also think the emotional drain of losing game one really wore on Wisconsin. They looked like they spent it all on that first game. Fiser's speed also was a tough adjustment. All and all, I felt like the two games highlighted how good this Gopher team really is. Wisconsin did absolutely everything they could to win game one and still lost. And by game two, they had nothing left.

Interesting to me that Fiser appears to have locked down the number 2 spot. I expect her to start Friday and give Sara another day of rest since she pitched 12 full innings yesterday. Haven't seen as much of Finucane as I expected...
 

Interesting to me that Fiser appears to have locked down the number 2 spot. I expect her to start Friday and give Sara another day of rest since she pitched 12 full innings yesterday. Haven't seen as much of Finucane as I expected...

She's been out with an injury...
 




Lindaman hits #15 and Groenewegen and Finucane combine on a 3-hitter. Gophers beat Iowa 5-0.


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Michigan gives up a homer in the bottom of the 11th to lose 1-0 to Sconnie.

2 game lead in the conference.
 


Michigan gives up a homer in the bottom of the 11th to lose 1-0 to Sconnie.

2 game lead in the conference.

Just looked up the box score on this one. Quite the pitchers duel. Freshman Kaitlyn Menz, from Wisconsin threw all 11 innings. Betsa went 10 since they were the visitors and it was a lead off home run. 18 strikeouts and 2 hits given up by Betsa on 199 pitches. Menz now at 19-5. She had 22 ground outs this contest. What a game.
 

Just looked up the box score on this one. Quite the pitchers duel. Freshman Kaitlyn Menz, from Wisconsin threw all 11 innings. Betsa went 10 since they were the visitors and it was a lead off home run. 18 strikeouts and 2 hits given up by Betsa on 199 pitches. Menz now at 19-5. She had 22 ground outs this contest. What a game.

Which one was Menz? Assuming she pitched against us.


Looked it up. She was the one in the boot who came in late in game 1 and ended up with the loss.
 


Which one was Menz? Assuming she pitched against us.
Menz pitched against us. She is a freshman from Iowa who has been their best pitcher this season. She is #16. She pitched the last 5+ innings of the first game.

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Illinois is now in 2nd place with only 2 losses (both to the Gophers).

I see that now. I did mention at the time Illinois beat us that it wasn't a bad loss. They are a good team and I was happy to take 2 of 3 at their place. Our consistency through the lineup this year has been really good and our roster is very young. If we can find another pitcher for next year, we should be a top 10 team again. Anyway, we can worry about that once this season's over. I'm enjoying it every game. I predicted (tongue in cheek) 53-1 near the beginning of the year, and amazingly 51-3 is still in play. I'm hoping to see Washington one more time this year, because we owe them...
 

Gophers with a 6-1 lead over Iowa in today's game. Top of the 3rd. Fiser is pitching.
 

43-3. Groenewegen with another shutout 3-0.
 

Nebraska hammered Illinois 14-0 so the 2 game lead in the loss column is now alive!
 





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