University of Minnesota Athletics
Groenewegen Earns Big Ten Honor
3/31/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 31, 2014
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Minnesota softball pitcher and infielder Sara Groenewegen was named the Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday afternoon. The weekly award is the fourth won by a Gopher this season after senior pitcher Sara Moulton collected three Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Awards in the first two months of play. The Minnesota freshman shares the honor with Purdue's Katy McJunkin.
Groenewegen is the first Gopher to receive the accolade since now-junior Kaitlyn Richardson earned it for the week of April 2, 2012.
Last weekend, Groenewegen starred both offensively and defensively in the Gophers' first home series of the season play at the University of St. Thomas' South Field in St. Paul, helping lead the team to a three-game sweep of Illinois.
The White Rock, B.C. native recorded a hit in all three games and posted a .429 batting average and a .556 on-base percentage. She hit home runs in the teams first two games and earned a complete-game shutout win in the circle in the second game, allowing just four hits and a pair of walks while striking out 10 in six innings.
She is now 7-0 with 85 strikeouts on the year and has hit seven home runs. Her 11.8 strikeouts per seven innings ranks her second in the nation and her seven home runs are second on the team.
With the sweep of the Fighting Illini, the Gophers are now a program-best 27-4 on the season and are 5-1 in conference action.
The Gophers are slated to host Border Battle rival Wisconsin this weekend at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series.
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