University of Minnesota Athletics
Back Home to Face Indiana
4/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Home Again
For the second straight weekend, Golden Gopher Softball gets the friendly confines of Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. In their second home series of the season, they welcome the Indiana Hoosiers, who make their first visit since 2008. The Gophers and Hoosiers will take the field for Big Ten action on Apr. 17 and 18 with each game set for a 1:00 p.m. start.
Hall of Fame
Golden Gopher Softball will induct Rick Benson into their Hall of Fame this weekend, with a ceremony before the game on Saturday. Benson is the long time public address announcer for Gopher Softball, and has been announcing games since 1982 when he was a student at the "U."
The Records
The Gophers enter the weekend with a 15-27 record on the season and a 1-7 mark in Big Ten play. Minnesota is in the midst of their longest losing skid of the season, at seven straight games. Indiana comes to town with a 9-27 mark overall and a 1-5 tally in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers have lost their last two with their lone Big Ten win coming over Michigan State on Apr. 10. Indiana is 2-6 on the road, while Minnesota is 0-2 at home.
The Series
The Gophers lead the all-time series with the Hoosiers by a 47-39 margin. Minnesota won both meetings in Bloomington, Ind. last year and has won eight straight in the series, dating back to an Indiana win in 2004. That loss was also the last time the Gophers lost to the Hoosiers at home. Since the 2001 season, Minnesota has won 14 of 15 match-ups, and has lost just three times since the year 2000.
Last Match-Up
On the road last season, the Gophers earned a pair of shutout wins, claiming 6-0 and 2-0 victories over the Hoosiers to start the Big Ten season 2-0. Briana Hassett earned both wins for Minnesota including a one-hitter in the second game. Malisa Barnes also had a strong weekend to lead the offense, and went 4-for-4 with a homerun in the 6-0 win, before knocking in both runs in the 2-0 win.
Follow Along
For the fans that can't make it to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, they can still follow along with the Gophers and Hoosiers online at www.GopherSports.com. Live Stats will be available for each game, as well as live video pay-per-video. Each link can be accessed under the Audio/Video tab or on the Gophers Softball schedule page.
Last Time Out
On Wednesday the Gophers dropped each end of a doubleheader on the road with Northwestern. Northwestern scored 10 runs in a 10-1 win in the opening game, and completed the sweep with a 9-3 win in the second game.
Next Up
Next weekend, Minnesota gets back on the road for a two game set with Ohio State. The Gophers and Buckeyes square off at 5:00 p.m. on Apr. 24 and at 1:00 p.m. on Apr. 25. Each game will be available on BigTenNetwork.com.
Scouting Indiana
9-27 on the season and 1-5 in the Big Ten ... on a two-game losing streak ... 2-8 in last 10 games ... went 10-39 in 2009 and 4-16 in the Big Ten to finish in 10th place ... led by second year head coach Michelle Gardner ... Jennifer Glueckert leads the team with a .361 average and is joined by Breanna Saucedo as the only players over .300 ... Sara Olson has pitched 92.1 innings and sports a 5-11 record with a 3.64 ERA with 58 strikeouts ... rank 10th in the Big Ten in team average at .243 and team ERA at 4.54.
Get Score Updates on Your Phone
Fans can get scoring updates from all of Golden Gopher athletics through the Twitter page @GopherScores. Just find and follow @GopherScores, then set up your phone or mobile device to receive the text updates. If you are not already on Twitter, you will need to create an account.
Twitter
Follow the Golden Gophers on Twitter. Just search @gophersoftball on Twitter to follow all the news updates.
