University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Purdue on Senior Weekend
4/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| No. 13/9 Minnesota (43-8, 17-3 B1G) vs. Purdue (30-21, 7-11 B1G) | |
| Dates and Times | Friday, May 1, 2015 · 6:00 p.m. CT (BTN+) Saturday, May 2, 2015 · 1:00 p.m. CT (BTN+) Sunday, May 3, 2015 · 1:00 p.m. CT (BTN) |
| Location | Jane Sage Cowles Stadium · Minneapolis, Minn. |
| Live Blogs | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Notes/Previews | Minnesota | Purdue |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Purdue |
| Social Media | @GopherSoftball | Facebook | Instagram |
April 30, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota softball team will wrap up its regular season with a three-game series against Purdue at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The teams will play Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. The Gophers will celebrate their seven seniors as they play in the final home games of their career.
LAST TIME OUT
Minnesota swept a midweek doubleheader against Wisconsin by scores of 7-2 and 12-1 in five innings. The wins were the Gophers' 18th and 19th on the road this year, a school record.
AGAINST THE BOILERMAKERS
After winning three of four meetings against Purdue last year, the Gophers are 25-21 all-time against the Boilermakers, including 6-3 under head coach Jessica Allister.
IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN
The Gophers' senior class, enters the weekend with 154 wins, the fifth-most in school history. The have the best win percentage of any Minnesota senior class at .716 and have helped lead the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, the team's first-ever NCAA super regional and the school's first Big Ten Tournament title since 1999.
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
Danielle Parlich has made an impact in her first season in Maroon and Gold. The Queen Creek, Ariz. native has started all 51 games and has reached base in 48 of them. She leads the team with a .405 batting average and was named a top-25 finalist for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award.
HAVE A WEEK
Three Gophers have combined for eight Big Ten weekly accolades. Sara Groenewegen has been named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week four times, including this week, while Danielle Parlich has been named the conference's top rookie three times. Erica Meyer became Minnesota's first Big Ten Player of the Week since 2013 the week of Feb. 23.
NO HITS FOR NU, NDSU
Sophomore Sara Groenewegen threw her second and third-career no-hitters 10 days apart against Northwestern and North Dakota State April 12 and 22. She struck out 19 batters in 10 innings of work in those two games. Entering the week, Groenewegen has allowed the 13th-fewest hits per seven innings in the nation at 4.23. That mark in the best in the Big Ten thus far.
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 298 strikeouts in 187.1 innings (11.1 strikeouts per seven innings) so far.
RUN-RULE WINS
The Gophers have piled up 19 run-rule wins in their first 51 games. Last year, 11 of the Gophers' 44 wins were by run-rule decision.
RECORD ROLL
Before dropping a 5-3 contest to Nebraska March 29, the Gophers had won a program-record 15 straight games. Previously, their longest win streak was 12 games. They have had three winning streaks of eight or more games this season.
IN THE RANKINGS
After starting the season with its highest preseason ranking in program history at No. 15 (in both polls), Minnesota is now No. 13/9 after starting 43-8. The Gophers are currently No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, a program-best.
