University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set for Conference Tournament
5/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| No. 12/9 Minnesota (46-8)Â at the Big Ten Tournament | |
| Dates and Times | Friday, May 8, 2015 • 7:00 p.m. CT (BTN) Saturday, May 9, 2015 • 6:00 p.m. CT (BTN) Saturday, May 9, 2015 • 8:30 p.m. CT (BTN) Full Tournament Bracket |
| Location | Buckeye Field • Columbus, Ohio |
| Live Blogs | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Championship |
| Notes | Minnesota Notes | Big Ten Release |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Big Ten Tournament Central |
| Social Media | @GopherSoftball | Facebook | Instagram |
May 7, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 12/9 Minnesota softball team will head to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the 2015 Big Ten Tournament. The second-seeded Gophers will get a bye through the first round and will take on Iowa in quarterfinal round Friday at 7 p.m. CT. Should they advance, both the semifinal and final will be played Saturday evening.
LAST TIME OUT
Minnesota capped its regular season at home with a sweep of Purdue on Senior Weekend. The Gophers defeated the Boilermakers by scores of 1-0, 3-2 in eight innings and 4-2.
AT THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The Gophers won their second Big Ten Tournament and first since 1999 last season in Evanston, Ill. All-time, Minnesota is 12-13 at the event.
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 54 games and has reached base in 51 of them. She leads the team with a .410 batting average and was named a top-10 finalist for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award.
HAVE A WEEK
Three Gophers have combined for nine Big Ten weekly accolades. Sara Groenewegen has been named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week five 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. Groenewegen's efforts last week also earned her National Player of the Week honors from USA Softball, the NFCA and espnW. Tyler Walker also earned espnW's Player of the Week in March.Â
ALL-CONFERENCE
The Gophers had their most All-Big Ten selections since 1991 with five this season. Big Ten Player of the Year Sara Groenewegen, Tyler Walker and Danielle Parlich were first-team honorees, while Sam Macken and Kaitlyn Richardson made the second team.
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 10th-fewest hits per seven innings in the nation at 4.08. 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 2014 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year has 332 strikeouts in 202.1 innings (11.5 strikeouts per seven innings).
RUN-RULE WINS
The Gophers have piled up 19 run-rule wins in their first 54 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. 12/9 after starting 43-8. The Gophers are currently No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, a program-best.
