University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Close Tournament Season in Louisville
3/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
After traveling on consecutive weekends to take on some of the top programs in the West, the Gophers bring their tournament season to a close this weekend when they participate in the Courtyard by Marriott Cardinal Invitational, hosted by the University of Louisville. The host Cardinals have proven to be one of the nation’s surprise teams, sliding up the national polls each week to their current position of No. 17 after starting the season unranked by most national outlets.
Minnesota’s weekend in the Bluegrass State is the first stage of a stretch that has the team scheduled to play 11 games in nine days. After playing five games over the weekend in Louisville, the Gophers will trek north to Indianapolis where they have a pair of mid-week doubleheaders scheduled. The Gophers will meet IUPUI on Tuesday, March 17 and Butler on Thursday, March 19. Those games will be the last non-conference contests of the season, as the team begins Big Ten play against Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday, March 21.
Bernstein, Standering Reach Milestone
Co-head coaches Lisa Bernstein and Julie Standering presided over their 1,000th game at Minnesota last weekend at the Hillenbrand Invitational on the campus of their alma mater, the University of Arizona. After dropping the first two games of the tournament against the nationally-ranked Wildcats, the Gophers rallied for three consecutive shutout wins. Minnesota defeated St. Joseph’s twice and 2008 Missouri Valley Conference champion Creighton, 1-0 in eight innings, to even their season record at 13-13.
Phoenix native Malisa Barnes had a big weekend, connecting on her first two home runs of the season and knocking in four runs.
Minnesota Tangles With Elite Foes
Minnesota posted a 2-3 mark against an elite field at the DeMarini Invitational hosted by Cal State-Fullerton, Feb. 27 through March 1. The Gophers dropped their first two contests, but bounced back with a pair of shutout victories on Feb. 28. Minnesota closed out action in Fullerton with a 4-1 loss to Oregon State on Sunday.
Briana Hassett recorded complete game shutouts in the Saturday wins over UC Riverside and host Cal State-Fullerton. Hassett struck out 14 UC Riverside hitters and eight more in her shutout of the host Titans, as she padded her conference lead in strikeouts.
Colleen Conway and Malisa Barnes led the Gophers at the plate in Fullerton, combining to go 13-for-37 (.351) with three doubles.
Conway Leading Minnesota Offense
Senior third baseman Colleen Conway has been leading the Minnesota offense literally and statistically thus far in 2009. After pacing the team in hitting with a .331 average as a junior in 2008, the Gophers’ leadoff hitter hit her stride during a solid weekend at the DeMarini Invitational two weekends ago.
Conway’s 7-for-19 (.368) showing in Fullerton lifted her season average over the .300 mark. Her big weekend in Fullerton coincided with a five-game hitting streak and capped a stretch that saw her hit safely in nine of 10 games.
The Woodbury, Minn., native also ranks among Big Ten leaders in hits (26, 4th), walks (eight, t-9th) and at-bats (90, 1st). She has also seen a lot of action playing the hot corner and leads the conference by a wide margin with 63 assists.
Get 'Em Over, Get 'Em In
Redshirt freshman second baseman Sammie Howard leads the team, and is second in the Big Ten, with six sacrifice bunts this season. Howard’s ability to get bunts down and move up runners has contributed to her holding down the second spot in the Gophers' order for the majority of the season.
The Gophers are fifth overall in the Big Ten, through games played last weekend, with 17 sacrifices.
