University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head South for Mizuno Classic
3/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 6, 2014
 | (17/20) Minnesota at the Mizuno Classic |
| Date | Friday, March 7-Sunday, March 9 |
| Location | Cowgirl Stadium (Stillwater, Okla.) |
| Last Meeting | Missouri State: Lost 2-1 (3/17/11) Oklahoma State: Won 1-0 (2/9/14) Drake: Lost 5-0 (2/2/10) |
| Opponent Previews | Missouri State | Oklahoma State | Drake |
| Gopher Game Day Live | Fri.: Missouri State | Oklahoma State Sat.: Missouri State | Drake Sun: Drake |
After posting its best 17-game start since 1975 at 15-2, the No. 17/20 Minnesota softball team will travel south to Stillwater, Okla. to take part in Oklahoma State's Mizuno Classic. Play begins Friday with a 1:30 p.m. game against Missouri State, followed by a 7 p.m. tilt against the host Cowgirls. Saturday, the Gophers play the Bears again at 11 a.m. and will take on Drake following that game. The weekend will conclude for the Maroon and Gold Sunday at 10 a.m. with another meeting against the Bulldogs.
About Minnesota
No. 17/20 Minnesota is 15-2 for the first time in 39 years after a 5-0 trip to Baton Rouge for LSU's Tiger Classic, a 3-1 visit to UNLV's Easton Desert Classic, and 4-0 stint at UNC-Greensboro, and a 3-1 weekend last week at Arizona State's Louisville Slugger Classic. The Gophers have five players who have played in all 17 games who are hitting better than .300 on the season and team a team ERA of 1.91.
About Missouri State
Missouri State enters Friday's game against the Gophers with an 11-4 record with an 8-1 ledger in neutral site contests. Last week, the Bears split two games at the weather-shortened Missouri Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in Cape Girardeau, Mo. MSU's 8-0 win over host Southeast Missouri State was the team's fifth shutout of the season. Bethany Sullinger leads the Bears at the dish with a .381 average, 15 RBI, and three home runs, while Erin Struemph has pitched her way to a 5-1 record and 1.76 ERA.
About Oklahoma State
OSU is off to a 12-7 start to the season after going 2-2 in its first weekend at home last week. Shelby Davis leads the Cowgirls with a .435 batting average, as six others on the team are hitting .300 or above on the year. Simone Freeman is Oklahoma State's ace in the circle with a 9-3 record along with a 1.09 earned run average and 115 strikeouts. She conceded just four hits and one unearned run while striking out eight against the Gophers in the teams' previous meeting.
About Drake
The Bulldogs got off to an 0-10 start to the season, but have righted the ship since, going 5-4 with their last win coming over then-No. 24 Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. Megan Sowa (.364), Liz Buck (.333), and Courtney Wood (.300) are all .300-plus hitter for Drake, while Rebekah Schmidt has accumulated four wins in the pitching circle over the last two weeks.
Against the Field
All-time the Gophers have a 25-25 record against their three opponents at the Mizuno Classic. Versus Missouri State (formerly known at Southwest Missouri State), Minnesota has won just one of nine meetings, dropping 2-1 decisions on consecutive days March 16 and 17, 2011 in Springfield, Mo. The Gophers improved to 7-7 all-time against Oklahoma State with a 1-0 win against the Cowgirls Feb. 9 in Baton Rouge, La. and are 17-10 against Drake, last having played the Bulldogs Feb. 2, 2010. Drake won that game, 5-0.
In the Polls
The Gophers are ranked in the top-25 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll for the first time since 2003 and are currently the highest they've been (17th) since March 10, 1999. Minnesota is No. 20 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 and have held that position for three weeks. The Gophers have played three ranked teams this year, downing then-No. 17/19 LSU and then-No. 3 Arizona State (both on the road) and falling to top-ranked Florida.
Hot Start in the Circle
Adding to a solid 4-0 start to the year for freshman Sara Groenewegen and a 1-1 start for sophomore Nikki Anderson, Sara Moulton has been one of the top pitchers in the nation thus far in 2014. Moulton, 10-1, has 90 strikeouts in 11 starts and has yielded just four extra-base hits in 65.1 innings of work. Her eight complete games and seven shutouts have helped her maintain a 1.18 ERA. In addition to a no-hitter, she has pitched a perfect game into the seventh inning of two games, helping her to two Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Awards.
Resetting the Records
Sara Moulton's hot start has her moving up in the school's record books. Her 10 wins gave given her 95 for her career, moving her past pitching coach Piper Ritter for the most all-time (Ritter had 88). She also leads Gopher softball with 42 shutouts and 99 complete games. Her 1,030 career strikeouts are second-most all-time behind Ritter's 1,122. Moulton and Ritter are the only two Gopher pitchers to surpass 1,000 Ks.
Walker Richardson Dangerous at the Plate
First Team All-Big Ten junior infielders Kaitlyn Richardson and Tyler Walker have stormed out of the gate in 2014. Richardson is hitting .444 with a .574 on-base percentage and 19 RBI through 17 games. Walker, who has hit .404 with a .484 OBP has upped her career run total to 117 with a team-high 18 on the young season and has three triples. Both players have 22 career home runs, tied for fourth in program history and Richardson now has 100 career RBI. Walker has led off each weekend tournament for the Gophers by being hit by a pitch, stealing a base, and coming around to score.
100 for Allister
Minnesota head coach Jessica Allister surpassed 100 wins three weeks ago in Baton Rouge with the team's 1-0 win over the host Tigers. Her ledger as the team's head coach now stands at 113-67. She is in her fourth season.
On the Docket
Next week, Minnesota will conclude its pre-tournament schedule with a trip to the Chanticleer Showdown in Conway, S.C. with games against Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, and two games against Troy. The Gophers will then travel to South Carolina for one game before heading to Nebraska for their first Big Ten series.
