University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Hit Road for Fresno State Classic
3/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| No. 16 Minnesota at the Fresno State Classic | |
| Tournament Central | Fresno State Classic Home Page |
| Location | Margie Wright Diamond | Fresno, Calif. |
| Gophers' Schedule | Game 1: vs. South Dakota State (Fri., Mar. 13 • 11:00 a.m. CT) Game 2: vs. Pacific (Fri., Mar. 13 • 1:15 p.m. CT) Game 3: at Fresno State (Sat., Mar. 14 • 8:00 p.m. CT) Game 4: vs. Montana (Sun., Mar. 15 • 11:00 a.m. CT) Game 5: vs. Cal Poly (Sun., Mar. 15 • 2:00 p.m. CT) |
| Live Blogs | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| Weekend Notes | Minnesota |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | South Dakota State | Pacific | Fresno State | Montana | Cal Poly |
| Social Media | @GopherSoftball | Facebook | Instagram |
FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 16 Minnesota softball team will travel to Fresno, Calif. this weekend to compete in the Fresno State Classic. The Gophers open play at the event Friday with games against South Dakota State at 11 a.m. CT and Pacific at 1:15 p.m. CT. The Maroon and Gold's lone Saturday game will be against host Fresno State at 8 p.m. CT. The weekend comes to a close Sunday with an 11 a.m. CT game against Montana and a 2 p.m. CT clash with Cal Poly.
LAST TIME OUT
The Minnesota softball team bounced back from a 1-3 week at the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla. by winning all four of its games at the Louisville Slugger Classic in Stanford, Calif. last weekend. The Gophers defeated host Stanford three times and downed Santa Clara, 9-6 in their other game.
MILESTONE WINS
The Gophers' victory over UMass Lowell Feb. 15 was fifth-year head coach Jessica Allister's 150th win at Minnesota. Her current record with the Maroon and Gold is 160-81, good for a .664 winning percentage. The Maroon and Gold, in its 42nd season, hit the 1,200 all-time win mark with its last win over Stanford last weekend.
GRANGER DANGER
Senior Hannah Granger is picking up where she left off as a junior, when she led the Gophers with a .415 batting average in Big Ten play. The Wheaton, Ill. native has hit for a team-best .508 average with a team-best .583 on-base percentage. She opened the season with a team-best 15-game hitting streak and a 16-game on-base streak.
GETTING ON BASE
Minnesota's offense has aided greatly in its 18-4 start. The Gophers have hit for a .360 average and have accrued a .449 on-base percentage. The team has averaged 7.27 runs per game.
RUN RULE WINS
The Gophers have piled up seven run-rule wins in their first 22 games. Last year, 11 of the Gophers' 44 wins were by run-rule decision.
STRIKING THEM OUT
Sara Groenewegen, who led the nation with 11.6 strikeouts per seven innings last season, has kept fanning hitters in 2015. The reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year has 133 strikeouts in 80 innings (11.6 strikeouts per seven innings) so far. She has had seven double-digit strikeout showings and has matched her career-high with 14 strikeouts two times. She enters the weekend ranked fourth in the nation in batters struck out.
BEST IN THE B1G
Through five weeks of play, three Gophers have combined for five Big Ten weekly accolades. Sara Groenewegen was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week twice, while Danielle Parlich was the conference's top rookie in the first weekend of the season and last weekend. Erica Meyer became Minnesota's first Big Ten Player of the Week since 2013 the week of Feb. 23.
AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
All-time, the Gophers are 14-22 against this weekend's opponents. Under Jessica Allister, Minnesota is 2-0 against Pacific, the only Fresno State Classic team it has played in her tenure.
IN THE RANKINGS
After starting the season with its highest preseason ranking in program history at No. 15 (in both polls), Minnesota now sits at No. 16 after starting 18-4. The Gophers reached as high as No. 11 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, a program-best.
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