University of Minnesota Athletics
SOFTBALL TEAM ENDS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON
5/24/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NCAA REGIONAL RESULTS - The top-ranked UCLA Bruins outscored their opposition 38-5 in four games to advance to the 1999 Women's College World Series. The Bruins are one of five Pac-10 teams to qualify for the eight-team national tournament, which begins Thursday in Oklahoma City. The results from Los Angeles:
Thursday, May 20 Game 2 Cal State Northridge 7, Missouri 3 Game 1 UCLA 7, Alabama 0 Game 3 Minnesota 2, Creighton 0 Friday, May 21 Game 4 Missouri 1, Alabama 0 (Alabama eliminated) Game 5 UCLA 14, Creighton 0 (Creighton eliminated) Game 6 Minnesota 2, Cal State Northridge 1 Saturday, May 22 Game 7 UCLA 5, Minnesota 0 Game 8 Missouri 3, Cal State Northridge 1 (CSUN eliminated) Game 9 Missouri 3, Minnesota 0 (Minnesota eliminated) Sunday, May 23 Game 10 UCLA 12, Missouri 5 (UCLA advances) MINNESOTA'S CO-COACHES - Minnesota co-head coach Lisa Bernstein is in her eighth season at the school. Her overall record is 288-202-1 (.588). Bernstein won her 250th game in the Triangle Classic, defeating Ball State in the Gophers' first game Feb. 21. She won her 100th Big Ten game April 24 in the nightcap against Indiana. In the last three-plus seasons, Minnesota has won 70 percent of its games and qualified for three NCAA tournaments.
Minnesota co-head coach Julie Standering was elevated to her current position Jan. 22, and has a Minnesota career record of 48-20 (.706). Standering was an assistant coach at Minnesota from 1992-96 and had been the associate head coach of the Gophers for the past two seasons.
Game 65: Minnesota 2, Creighton 0 - The Gophers scored two unearned runs in the third inning to defeat the Bluejays. It was the first time in five regional appearances that Minnesota won the first game of the regional. Jordanne Nygren drove in the first run on a groundout that was mishandled for an error. Angel Braden (Chino, Calif./St. Lucy's) singled in the second run. Steph Klaviter threw her 23rd career shutout and second in NCAA tournament play, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out eight batters.
Game 66: Minnesota 2, Cal State Northridge 1 - Minnesota moved into the winner's bracket final with a last-inning victory over the Matadors. Shannon Beeler drove in Steph Midthun with a first-inning double, but Northridge tied the game in the third inning. Dana Ballard (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) lined a two-ball, two-strike, one-out pitch over the left field fence in the seventh inning for the decisive blow. Michelle Harrison (Anaheim, Calif./Orange Lutheran) pitched the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing no runs and two hits, to earn her 10th victory of the season.
Game 67: UCLA 5, Minnesota 0 - The Gophers' eight-game winning streak was snapped by the top-ranked team in the country. UCLA's Lyndsey Klein and Stacey Nuveman hit back-to-back home runs off of Steph Klaviter in the third inning to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Two innings later, Nuveman hit her 30th home run of the season, a three-run blow, to close the scoring. Minnesota managed two seventh-inning singles against Courtney Dale, who improved to 29-1 for the season.
Game 68: Missouri 3, Minnesota 0 - The Gophers left four runners on base in the first three innings, and Missouri scored in the last two innings to end Minnesota's season. Steph Klaviter struck out 10 batters in her final Minnesota appearance, the first time that Klaviter have fanned double digits in 160 appearances and 124 starts as a college pitcher. The Gophers were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since Iowa blanked the Gophers twice on April 14, 1998.
BEELER ENDS THE RECORD CHASE - Minnesota shortstop Shannon Beeler shattered many of the records in the Gopher record book, both single season and career. No Gopher hit more home runs than Beeler, and no Gopher drove in more runs than Beeler, either in a single season or a career. Since that measure of comparison is gone, she must now be compared to the greatest players in Big Ten and NCAA history. Beeler finishes in fifth place on the NCAA all-time RBI list with 239 career RBI, two shy of fourth place. With her two home runs at the Big Ten Tournament, Beeler hit 43 home runs in her career, a mark that only eight former NCAA Division I athletes have surpassed. The RBI data:
NCAA DIVISION I CAREER LEADERS Runs Batted In 1.Jenny Dalton, Arizona, 328 2.Leah Braatz, Arizona, 322 3.Laura Espinoza, Arizona, 315 4.Leticia Pineda, Arizona, 240 5.Shannon Beeler, Minnesota*, 239 * denotes active players OTHER BEELER NUMBERS - A career .358 hitter, Shannon Beeler finishes fourth on the Minnesota all-time list for batting average. She has 281 career hits, and she collected her 100th extra-base hit April 24 against Indiana. She is second on the Gopher all-time chart with 165 career runs scored. A 1998 NFCA first-team All- American, Beeler was named to the all-Big Ten second team this season.
THE DEUCE DRIVES ON - Minnesota center fielder Steph Midthun got overlooked on a team that hits as many home runs as the Gophers do. However, do not underestimate the impact that the Minnesota leadoff hitter had on the Gopher offense. Midthun led the team with 82 hits and 24 stolen bases, and is second among Gophers with a .345 batting average and 45 runs scored. Midthun singled in her first at bat against MSU, Mankato on March 31, the 200th hit of her career. She is the seventh Gopher in history to accumulate 200 hits. A career .338 hitter, Midthun is second on the all-time career list with 75 stolen bases and is third with 152 runs scored. A 1998 NFCA third-team All-American, Midthun was named to the all-Big Ten second team and is a first-team all-region selection.
KLAVITER LEADS GOPHER ARMS - Steph Klaviter, finishes her career as Minnesota's all-time winningest pitcher. She won the first two games of the 1999 Big Ten Tournament for Minnesota and retired the final two Michigan batters for a save in the final victory. Klaviter is Minnesota's all-time winningest pitcher with 84 wins and is second on Minnesota's career list with 774 1/3 innings pitched, 412 strikeouts and 23 shutouts. This season, Klaviter is 23-9 with a 1.39 ERA. She has struck out 162 batters in 236 1/3 innings and opponents are batting .218 against her. Klaviter led the conference with 11 Big Ten wins and six Big Ten shutouts, and was second with a 1.38 Big Ten ERA. She has earned her first all-Big Ten first team selection and her first all-region first team honor.
"GOPHER BALL" NOTES - Minnesota set a new school record with 43 home runs this season, the most by any Big Ten team in any season. Jordanne Nygren, a first team all-region selection, hit 14 home runs this season, tying the school record for a season set by Shannon Beeler in 1998. Beeler hit 13 round-trippers in 1999, the third consecutive season that she has reached double digits in home runs. Erin Brophy added six home runs, which is tied for sixth on Minnesota's single-season list, and has 11 career dingers, which is tied for fourth on the all-time Minnesota list.
KLAVITER, BEELER TO PARTICIPATE IN USA SOFTBALL NATIONAL TEAM FESTIVAL - Steph Klaviter and Shannon Beeler have been chosen to participate in the 1999 Coca- Cola USA Softball Women's National Team Festival from June 8-14 in Fresno, Calif. Klaviter and Beeler will be two of 60 players in the Festival. Ten players in the group have been chosen to participate as a member of the United States team at the 1999 Pan American Games. Klaviter and Beeler will compete for one of the five remaining positions.