University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Host Wildcats in Big Ten Showdown
4/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 10, 2014
 | No. 14 Minnesota vs. No. 23/25 Northwestern |
| Dates/Times | Friday, April 11 • 6:00 p.m. CT Saturday, April 12 • 1:00 p.m. CT Sunday, April 13 • 1:00 p.m. CT |
| Location | Jane Sage Cowles Stadium • Minneapolis, Minn. |
| Last Meeting | Northwestern 4, Minnesota 2 (March 31, 2013) |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Northwestern |
| Gopher Softball Live | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Television | Gopher All-Access |
The No. 14 Minnesota softball team will take on conference foe Northwestern this weekend at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium with games Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
About Minnesota
Off to its best start in school history at 30-5, the Gophers sit in second place in the Big Ten with an 8-2 conference record. The Gophers are coming off a doubleheader split with Wisconsin Sunday in their first games at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium that was followed by a double dip sweep of Iowa in Iowa City Tuesday afternoon.
The Gophers have outscored their opponents 201-62 on a season, averaging 5.74 runs for and 1.77 runs against per game. The team has secured its fourth 30-win season in as many years with Jessica Allister as the head coach.
About Northwestern
The No. 23/25 Wildcats enter the weekend with are the second ranked opponent the Gophers will face in their Big Ten schedule.
Northwestern enters this weekend with a 5-4 Big Ten record with a 22-9 mark overall after winning a series at Iowa last weekend. The Wildcats have gotten their biggest boost to a successful season with one of the nation's most potent offenses. NU is averaging 6.90 runs per game--the eighth-best in the country in 2014--reaching double digits 12 times and run-ruling eight opponents.
The Wildcats have seven players with an on-base percentage of .400 or better, led by Brianna
LeBeau's .471. Emily Allard leads the team with a .419 batting average. Kristen Wood is the team's go-to player in the circle. She is 11-4 with a 3.88 ERA.
Against the Wildcats
All-time, Minnesota is 45-51 against NU after dropping two of three games against the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill. last year. Northwestern is making its first trip to Minneapolis since 2009.
Moulton Drafted
Senior pitcher Sara Moulton, one of Minnesota's most decorated players, was drafted fifth in last week's National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) College Draft by the Chicago Bandits. Moulton will join five former Gophers who have pitch in the professional league: Shannon Beeler, Amber Hegland, Stephanie Klaviter, Wendy Logue, and current pitching coach Piper Ritter.
Moulton is 18-4 on the season with a 1.22 ERA that is good for 16th in the nation. Her win total of 18 leads the Big Ten and is ninth in the country, while her 175 strikeouts rank her 15th in NCAA Division I. She has the school records for wins with 103, innings pitched with 939, complete games with 102, and shutouts with 44. Her 1,115 strikeouts is seven shy of tying Ritter's mark of 1,122.
Playing against Moulton this weekend will be future Chicago teammate Emily Allard.
In the Polls
The Gophers are ranked No. 14 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls for the second-straight week this week and are 19th in the RPI rankings. The No. 14 spot in the USA Today/NFCA Poll is the highest the program has been since the week of April 16, 1997.
B1G Weekly Awards
Entering last week, Sara Moulton had been the only Minnesota player to win a Big Ten Weekly Award in 2014, racking up three Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Awards. First-year player Sara Groenewegen changed that by winning the conference's Freshman of the Week Award.
The White Rock, B.C. native the used an outstanding performance against Wisconsin to add another Freshman of the Week laurel, as well as a Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor.
Against the Badgers, Groenewegen went 3-for-6 at the plate and pitched a complete-game shutout in the circle, yielding just two hits and taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. She struck out nine.
On the Offensive
Junior Kaitlyn Richardson has been Minnesota's top hitter this season, hitting for a .463 average and a team-best 37 RBI. Her on-base percentage of .587 ranks her seventh in NCAA Division I. She has hit six home runs and 14 doubles to aid in a .778 slugging percentage. She enters the weekend on a 10-game hitting streak.
Tyler Walker enters the weekend with an average of .400. Walker leads the team with 35 runs and 12 stolen bases.
Player of the Year Candidates
Sara Moulton and Kaitlyn Richardson were both named top-25 finalists for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
On Deck
The Gophers hit the road next weekend for a three-game series against No. 4/5 Michigan.
