University of Minnesota Athletics
SOFTBALL TEAM HEADS OUT ON 10-GAME ROAD TRIP
3/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Boilermaker Invitational Preview
The Gophers will play four games in the Boilermaker Invitational, hosted by Purdue University. The six teams will play three games, with the top two teams playing for the championship Sunday afternoon. All six teams in the tournament are regional opponents, but Minnesota will not see Michigan and Purdue unless it is in the bracket game. Minnesota's schedule (All times EST):
Friday, March 9 Minnesota vs. Loyola (Ill.) (4-9), 9 a.m. Minnesota vs. Toledo (10-5), 1 p.m. Saturday, March 10 Minnesota vs. Butler, 9 a.m. Bracket Game, 1/3 p.m. Big Ten Preview
The end of Minnesota's spring break trip is the beginning of the 2001 Big Ten season. This will be the first time in conference history that every member of the Big Ten Conference will compete for the conference title, as Illinois joins the fray this season. Iowa is the defending Big Ten champion and has the best non-conference record of the Big Ten teams to date. The 13th-ranked Hawkeyes recorded the conference's biggest win to date Sunday, defeating No. 3 California, 1-0 in eight innings. Other Big Ten teams that were nationally ranked in the March 14 edition of the USA Today/NFCA poll are No. 21 Michigan and No. 22 Wisconsin. Purdue also received votes in the poll. The Big Ten regular season is a pure round-robin, as each team will play two games against every other team. The regular-season leader is named the Big Ten champion and will host the 2001 Big Ten Tournament from May 10-12. The top six teams in the conference qualify for the tournament, with the winner claiming the Big Ten's automatic berth into the 2001 NCAA Tournament. The 48-team field for the 2001 NCAA Tournament will be named May 13.
Minnesota Team Notes
Scoring first and scoring often has been the bellwether for the 2001 Minnesota softball season to this point. Minnesota has scored first in 12 of the 25 games it has played and has an 11-0-1 record when it does score first, including a 9-0 record when scoring in the first inning. The Gophers are 4-9 when the opposition scores first, but have lost their last seven games in that situation. Two runs has been the magic number for Minnesota offensively. The Gophers are 15-1 when they score two runs or more, with the only loss coming against Pacific in the final game of the Worth Invitational (Pacific 5, Minnesota 3). Minnesota is 0-8-1 when they score one run or fewer, including five shutouts. The numbers are not quite as significant from a defensive point of view. The Gophers are 9-2-1 when allowing one run or fewer, including three shutouts. Minnesota is 6-7 when allowing two runs or more, but the Gophers have lost their last six games in that situation.
Minnesota Individual Notes
Senior infielder Angel Braden (Chino, Calif./St. Lucy's) leads Minnesota with a .348 batting average, a .477 on-base percentage, a .696 slugging percentage, seven doubles, five home runs and 27 runs batted in. She has already matched her career high for home runs in a season and is two RBI shy of her 2000 total of 29 runs batted in. Braden is now fourth on Minnesota's all-time list with 14 home runs and is fifth on the Gophers' all-time list with 97 runs batted in.
First-year pitcher Piper Marten (Farmington, N.M./Farmington) has been the winning pitcher in 11 of Minnesota's 15 wins this season. She leads Minnesota in just about every pitching category, including appearances (22), innings pitched (106), strikeouts (113) and opponent batting average (.157). She is averaging 7.46 strikeouts per 7 innings.
Junior outfielder Tammi Hays (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) leads Minnesota in hits (27), runs (19), and stolen bases (7), and is second on the team with a .411 on-base percentage. She had five hits at the Creighton Tournament, matching teammate Veronica Roberts (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) for the team lead, and hit .357 for the weekend.
Sophomore Allie Fisk (Orono, Minn./Orono) was moved to the leadoff spot for Saturday's three games and had a very successful weekend. Fisk hit .333 (4-for-12) and led Minnesota with five sacrifices. She has quadrupled her hit total of last year and has 20 hits, which is third among Gophers.
About Loyola-Chicago (4-9)
The Ramblers have lost their last three games and have been outscored 58-29 this season. Opponents are hitting .294 against Loyola-Chicago. Against Big Ten opposition, the Ramblers dropped a 3-0 decision to Purdue in their opening game this season.
The Series - Minnesota leads, 2-0.
About Toledo (10-5)
Toledo won its final six games of the Rebel Games Tournament after dropping games to Youngstown State, St. Francis (N.Y.) and IUPUI. The Rockets will play Cleveland State in a doubleheader Tuesday at home before travelling to West Lafayette, Ind.
The Series - Minnesota leads, 4-2.
About IUPUI (12-11)
The Jaguars went 2-3 at the Buckeye Invitational last weekend, losing to Ohio State and splitting two games with Buffalo and Cleveland State. IUPUI will open Mid-Continent play with four games at Southern Utah before its games with the Gophers.
The Series - First Meeting.
About Purdue (18-8-1)
The Boilermakers were 4-2 at the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif., losing to California and New Mexico. Purdue was the final qualifier in the six-team Big Ten Tournament last season. The Boilermakers will host Valparaiso on Wednesday.
The Series - Minnesota leads, 12-7.
About Indiana (9-15)
The Hoosiers were 1-2 at the Missouri Tournament in Columbia, Mo., defeating Pittsburgh and losing twice to Missouri. Indiana will play Evansville, Indiana State, Ball State and Louisville before opening Big Ten play against the Badgers and Gophers.
The Series - Indiana leads, 37-31.
Up Next
The Gophers will attempt to open their home season at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium before heading back to the road to continue their Big Ten season. Minnesota will host Concordia-St. Paul in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, April 3, at 4 p.m. before travelling to Northwestern (April 6 (DH), 2 p.m.) and Iowa (April 7, 2 p.m.; April 8, 1 p.m.).
