Minnesota Prepares For Boilermakers in Big Ten Tournament

#4 MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (28-15, 9-7 Big Ten) vs. #5 PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (34-20, 9-9 BIg Ten)

Location: Evanston, Ill.
Facility: Sharon J. Drysdale Field
Date: Friday, May 9, 11:30 a.m.
Television: Friday’s game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network, with Tom Werme and Eileen Canney on the call.
Live Audio: Live audio broadcasts will be available for the Gophers’ postseason run via gophersports.com.
Live Stats: Available via nusports.com

SERIES INFORMATION:
Series: Minnesota leads 17-15
Current Streak: Purdue has won five straight
Longest Minnesota Streak: 4 (twice, last 3/30/01-4/16/04)
Longest Purdue Streak: 5 (4/24/06-pres.)
Last Meeting: Purdue 4-3, 11-4 at Minn., (4/13-4/14/07)

Big Ten Tournament Notes to Know:
The Gophers are making their first Big Ten Tournament appearance since 2004.
Minnesota’s fourth-place Big Ten finish is its highest since placing second in 1999.
The Golden Gophers were over .500 in the Big Ten (9-7) for the first time since 2003.
Minnesota enters the tournament having won four games in a row and six of its last seven.
Briana Hassett ranks third in the league in strikeouts (263) and has fanned 14 or more hitters six times already this year.
Hassett has also thrown 11 shutouts this season, the second-highest total in Minnesota history.
The Gophers have the best fielding percentage in the Big Ten (.977) and are ranked eighth nationally, committing only 29 errors all year.
Freshman first baseman Malisa Barnes is hitting .550 with eight RBIs in her last six games.

GOPHERS DRAW PURDUE IN TOURNAMENT
The Golden Gopher softball team (28-15, 9-7 Big Ten) will enter this weekend's Big Ten Tournament as the conference's fourth seed, setting them up to face the fifth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers (34-20, 9-9 Big Ten) in Friday's first round. The Gophers - Boilermaker match-up will get underway at 11:30 a.m. at Sharon J. Drysdale Field in Evanston, Ill.

Minnesota’s nine wins in Big Ten play is their highest total in four seasons, and their fourth-place finish in the conference is the program’s best since 1999 (when they placed second).

SOFTBALL MEDIA COVERAGE BONANZA
The 2008 Big Ten Softball Tournament will receive the most national exposure in the 13-year history of the event this season, thanks in large part to the Big Ten Network. The BTN is set to broadcast the tournament’s final five games on Friday and Saturday live around the country, including the Gophers’ first round match-up with Purdue at 11:30 a.m. Amanda Scott and Leah Secondo will be on the call for Minnesota’s first postseason contest since 2004; it will be the team’s second appearance on the BTN this year (the other coming April 20 vs. Iowa).

In addition, Gopher fans without access to the Big Ten Network can follow the team live via the web, as live streaming play-by-play audio will be available in the Gold Zone at gophersports.com. In addition, live stats will be available via Northwestern’s website (nusports.com).

THE TOURNEY FIELD
The race for the Big Ten Tournament came down to the final weekend, including who would even host the event. After splitting a doubleheader with each on April 27 and sweeping through their final regular season weekend games, No. 6 Michigan and No. 12 Northwestern finished co-conference champions with identical 18-2 records. But the Wildcats won the tiebreaking coin flip and will host the conference tournament for the second time in three years.

Minnesota clinched its No. 4 seed with a sweep over Wisconsin this weekend, and will take on the Boilermakers, who nailed down the No. 5 spot after sweeping Indiana.

(RELATIVE) POSTSEASON NEWCOMERS
Not a single player on the Golden Gopher roster has ever participated in a Big Ten Tournament postseason game, as Minnesota’s last conference tournament appearance came in 2004 (the year before 2008’s seniors enrolled at Minnesota). In addition, no current Gopher has played in a Division I NCAA Tournament game (Minnesota’s last appearance came in 2003).

Current Minnesota second baseman Amber Nelsen has participated in two postseason conference tournaments. During her two seasons with the Furman University (N. Carolina) Lady Paladins, Nelsen played in two Southern Conference tournaments. The Lady Paladins advanced to the tournament championship in 2006.

Gopher seniors Sila Fernandez and Casey Wheeler have significant postseason experience at the junior college level. Fernandez led the Pima (Ariz.) Community College Aztecs to the 2006 National Junior College National Championship in 2006, and during Wheeler’s two seasons at Phoenix College, the Bears won two NJCAA Division II national titles.

MINNESOTA IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
This is Minnesota’s seventh appearance in the Big Ten Tournament and its first in four seasons. The Golden Gophers also reached the Big Ten Tournament in 1995, ’96, ’98 and ’99, ’03 and 04. Five of the team’s previous six appearances were held in Ann Arbor, Mich.; this will be their first in Evanston. Minnesota won the title in 1999 after defeating Penn State, 1-0, and then beating Michigan twice, including a 3-2 victory in the championship. Overall, the Golden Gophers own a 6-9 record in the tournament. Five of the nine losses have been by one run.

Minnesota’s last tournament appearance in 2004 ended with a 5-2, 11-inning loss to Northwestern in the opening round.

GOPHERS SWEEP BADGERS, ENTER TOURNEY ON ROLL
Minnesota is playing arguably its best softball of the season at exactly the right time. The Gophers have won their last four games and six of their last seven, including four over Big Ten opponents.

Saturday and Sunday in Madison, Wis., the Maroon and Gold concluded their regular season with an impressive two-game sweep of the Wisconsin Badgers. Saturday, the two teams were scoreless for the first 10 innings before Minnesota erupted for four hits and four runs in the top of the 11th. Shannon Stemper had a big two-run double to make a winner of Briana Hassett, who tossed 11 scoreless frames while striking out 15 for her 11th shutout of the season.

Sunday was one long party at the plate for Minnesota, as the Gophers plated 14 runs to top the last-place Badgers 14-4 in just five innings. Wisconsin held an early 3-0 lead only to allow five runs in the second inning, two in the third and seven more in the fourth. Three Gophers had multi-hit afternoons, including senior outfielder Colleen Powers, who went 2-for-3 with a career-high three RBIs. Leadoff hitter Colleen Conway also had three hits and a career-high three RBIs, scoring two runs. Freshman Malisa Barnes had three hits as well.

The 14 runs was a season high and the most the team has scored since topping UC-Davis 19-7 on March 16, 2004. The last time Minnesota scored that many runs against a Big Ten opponent was April 9, 1996 when they beat Wisconsin 19-0 in Minneapolis.

THE SERIES VS. PURDUE
Minnesota leads the all-time series against Purdue by a 17-15 margin. Purdue has won the last five meetings between the schools. The teams have not played yet this season (their scheduled doubleheader April 6 was rained out).

LAST YEAR VS. THE BOILERMAKERS
After seeing the first two home weekends of Big Ten play canceled due to weather and field issues, Minnesota finally was able to play last April 13 and 14 against Purdue at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. Unfortunately, Purdue won both games and knocked the Gophers to 0-4 in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers had a 3-0 lead and appeared to be in control of Friday’s game heading into the sixth inning, but the Boilermakers scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh to force extra innings, scoring the winning run in the top of the ninth.

The Saturday game also went the Boilers’ way, this time by an 11-4 margin. Minnesota fell behind 4-1 after an inning, but clawed its way to a tie game in the third. Despite a three-RBI performance by Mandy Valadez, the Gophers surrendered three runs in the bottom of the third and four more in the fifth.

AGAINST THE FIELD
Minnesota has faced five different teams in previous Big Ten Tournaments (Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State and Illinois). This will mark the first-ever postseason game between the Gophers and Boilermakers.

This season, Minnesota posted a 4-6 record against the other tournament participants. Minnesota swept Michigan State and split with Iowa and Illinois, getting swept by Michigan and Northwestern. The Gophers’ scheduled games with Penn State and Purdue were canceled due to inclement weather.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
The 2008 season is not yet over, but Gopher hurler Briana Hassett has already made her mark in the Minnesota record books. With 263 strikeouts and11 shutouts in 31 games pitched, Hassett currently ranks third and second all-time in those categories, respectively. Below is the up-to-date Gopher single-season record book:

Strikeouts (Single-Season):

1.	311	Piper Marten	2003
2.	301	Piper Marten	2002
3.	263	Briana Hassett	2008
4.	261	Piper Marten	2004
5.	249	Piper Marten	2001
6.	227	Angie Recknor	2000

Shutouts (Single-Season)

1.	14	Vicki Swanson	1978
2.	11	Briana Hassett	2008
	11	Piper Marten	2003
	11	Steph Klaviter	1999
5.	10	Angie Recknor	2000
6.	9	Sarah Maschka	1993
	9	Brenda Bixby	1988

VERITABLE VACUUMS
A hallmark of Gopher teams throughout the years has been excellent defense, a trait co-head coaches Lisa Bernstein and Julie Standering have emphasized once again this year. In 2007, the Gophers committed 53 errors and posted a .962 fielding percentage as a team. This season, Minnesota has taken its reputation for defensive excellence to a whole new level. The Gophers entered this weekend eighth in the nation in fielding percentage (.977) through their first 43 games, committing just 29 miscues in 1,246 possible chances.

By comparison, Gopher opponents have committed 58 errors in 1,302 chances (.955).

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Hurler Briana Hassett has established herself as one of the conference’s top pitchers with a breakout performance in 2008. The Eagan, Minn. native boasts a 20-7 record thus far with a 1.66 ERA. She has struck out a whopping 263 hitters in 186 innings pitched.

Hassett is entrenched in both the national and Big Ten pitching rankings. Below is Hassett’s national and conference ranking in several key statistical categories entering the Big Ten Tournament:

Category	Stat	Big Ten Rank	Nat'l Rank
ERA	1.66	6th	54th
Wins	20	5th	37th
K/7 IP	9.9	2nd	14th

NCAA BOUND?
With a good showing at this weekend's Big Ten Tournament, the Gophers have an outside chance to gain their first NCAA Regional berth since 2003. Under current co-head coach Lisa Bernstein, Minnesota has advanced to the NCAA Tournament five times, posting a 7-14 overall record. Minnesota went 1-2 in the 2003 Regional in Tucson, Ariz. and 1-2 at a Regional they hosted at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in 2002.

Currently, the Gophers’ official NCAA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is No. 70 in the country, according to WarrenNolan.com.

THE BARNES ON FIRE!
Freshman first baseman Malisa Barnes has enjoyed an outstanding first season in a Gopher uniform, leading the Gophers in home runs (four), RBIs (24) and extra base hits (13). Hitting out of the number three spot in the order all season long, Barnes has emerged as one of the league’s top young hitters.

Over her last six games, however, this Arizona product has been on fire. In games with Ohio State (April 27), Wisconsin-Green Bay (April 30) and Wisconsin (May 3-4) Barnes is hitting .550 (11-for-20) with four extra base hits and eight RBIs. She also has

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