Minnesota Softball Opens 2008 Season Thursday against Jacksonville

The Minnesota Golden Gopher softball team will embark on its 2008 season Thursday evening when they take on the Jacksonville University Dolphins beginning at 4 p.m. Central in Jacksonville, Fla. Minnesota will play six times during the four-day event, which takes place at the JU Softball Complex in Jacksonville.

FOLLOW THE GOPHERS LIVE
Live stats of Minnesota's games against Jacksonville University (Thursday and Friday) will be available on Gametracker through Jacksonville's website at JUDolphins.com.

Live video coverage of the Gophers-Dolphins contests will also be available via the JU website by clicking here. The games are available on a pay-per-view basis.

LAST YEAR (AND THIS YEAR) AT THE JU INVITE
2007 will mark the second straight season that Minnesota has opened at the annual Jacksonville Invitational. Last year, the Gophers started out by winning their first four games (including two wins over the host Dolphins and two more over UNC-Greensboro) before losing to Southern Illinois on the tournament’s final day. Minnesota is 4-0 all-time against Jacksonville, 1-1 against Coastal Carolina, 7-0 vs. UNC-Greensboro and 2-3-1 vs. Southern Illinois.

COMPLETE JACKSONVILLE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Time (CST)
Thurs., Feb. 7	Jacksonville	4:00 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 8	Coastal Carolina	1:45 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 8	Jacksonville	4:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 9	Southern Illinois	9:00 a.m.
Sat, Feb. 9	UNC-Greensboro	11:15 a.m.
Sun., Feb. 10	Southern Illinois	8:00 a.m.

A FRESH START IN 2008
After showing marked improvement in 2007, the Golden Gopher softball will look to take another step forward this spring. However, the team will have to do so without a number of key players from last year Minnesota lost five players to graduation last spring, including four members of the starting lineup.

Leading the charge on offense will be returning junior captain and leadoff hitter Colleen Conway, along with returning outfielders Colleen Powers, Casey Wheeler and Sila Fernandez. Catcher Shannon Stemper will also be counted upon to produce with the bat this spring, as will newcomers Sammie Howard (second base), Brianna Sudenga (shortstop) and Malisa Barnes (first base).

While some uncertainty exists on the offensive side of the diamond, there is little doubt who will lead the Gophers in the pitching circle this season. Juniors Briana Hassett and Katie Dalen make up one of the best one-two punches in the Big Ten. Last season, the duo combined to make 36 starts and limited opponents to a paltry .233 batting average, striking out 230 hitters in 216.2 innings pitched.

Even though the Gophers will field a relatively young team this year, everyone involved in the program has high hopes for a successful season. 2008 could be a turning point for co-head coaches Lisa Bernstein and Lisa Standering’s program if the corps of talented freshman can merge with the veterans already in place (led by solid pitching from Hassett and Dalen), it could produce a winning formula that will allow Minnesota to regain its former glory.

GOPHERS TO HOST METRODOME CLASSIC
The uncertain nature of Minnesota’s spring weather turns the Golden Gophers into road warriors on an annual basis the team traveled over 11,000 miles during the first two months of 2007 and will accumulate another 9,000 this season before opening Big Ten play on March 29. But the squad will enjoy a nice mid-winter break from their hectic travel schedule next week when they host the Metrodome Classic Feb. 14-17. Six top programs from around the country (Western Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Northern Iowa, Iowa, Drake and Arkansas) will descend on downtown Minneapolis for the four-day, 18-game event that is sure to feature plenty of hard-hitting softball action. This marks the first time since 2005 that the Gophers have hosted the tournament.

Click here for a complete Metrodome Classic Schedule.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW
The University of Minnesota softball team came within one win of advancing to postseason play for the first time since 2004 last year. The Golden Gophers entered the final weekend of the regular season needing to sweep arch-rival Wisconsin to advance to the Big Ten Tournament but managed just a split. Still, the Gophers had their most successful season in three years, finishing above the .500 mark witha 24-22 overall record.

Minnesota’s season was highlighted by a number of quality efforts against top-ranked teams, along with some remarkable individual performances. The Gophers shut out No. 9 Michigan, 2-0, on April 27 for thier first victory over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 24 Pacific on March 11, 2005. UM also took a number of other top teams to the wire, establishing a reputation of playing their best softball against the stiffest competition. Individually, the highlight of the season came on sophomore pitcher Briana Hassett’s no-hitter against South Dakota State on April 24.

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