University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set for Diamond Devils Tournament
2/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| #21 Minnesota at Diamond Devils Tournament | |
| Game 1 | vs. Mount St. Mary's | Friday, Feb. 26 | 2:30 p.m. |
| Game 2 | at #19 Arizona State | Friday, Feb. 26 | 5:30 p.m. |
| Game 3 | vs. St. Francis | Saturday, Feb. 27 | 11 a.m. |
| Game 4 | vs. Houston | Saturday, Feb. 27 | 1:30 p.m. |
| Game 5 | vs. Houston | Sunday, Feb. 28 | 10 a.m. |
| Location | Farrington Stadium | Tempe, Ariz. |
| Live Video | Minnesota vs. Arizona State |
| Live Stats | | | | | |
| Game Day Live | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| Social Media | @GopherSoftball | Facebook | Instagram |
Weekend Notes
The No. 21/22 University of Minnesota Gophers travel to Tempe, Ariz. this weekend for five more games.
The Gophers will take on Mount St. Mary's, No. 19/17 Arizona State, Saint Francis (PA) and Houston twice. Minnesota is 5-4 overall on the season. Three of the four losses have come against top-ranked teams.
Last Time Out
At the first ever ACC/B1G Challenge Minnesota took two big wins over Virginia Tech before taking two down to the wire losses to No. 13/15 Florida State. They won 8-0 in five innings and 9-3 the second game over VT. They lost 5-4 and 2-0 to FSU with FSU coming away with game winning runs in the seventh both times.
Sara Groenewegen was dominant on the mound for the weekend going 2-1 while throwing 15 straight innings without allowing a run. She also tossed a no-hitter against Virginia Tech and was named the B1G Pitcher of the Week for the seventh time in her career.
Through the Order
Sam Macken has hit leadoff in all nine of the Gophers games and is leading the team in batting average with a .433 while smacking a team leading 13 hits, six doubles and eight RBI. She also has two home runs.
Danielle Parlich is hitting second and sits with a batting average of .267 with eight hits. Groenewegen has been hitting third and has two doubles with five runs this season. She has been walked nine times already. Taylor LeMay has been solid in the cleanup spot going .320 with eight hits and four RBI.
Paige Palkovich has hit a .286 primarily hitting five. She is second on the team with seven RBI and has recorded eight hits. Maddie Houlihan has had a nice start to her collegiate career mostly hitting six in the lineup. She is hitting .316 with six hits and has scored five runs. She has shown great patience in the box getting walked six times.
Rounding out the lineup has Sydney Fabian, Sydney Dwyer and Kayla Wenner with Brandi McGregor getting a start as well. Fabian hit .500 last weekend and is now second on the team with a .375 racking up six hits while scoring four runs.
Dwyer is hitting a .273 with six hits and has scored five runs. The biggest of those hits was a walk-off home run to top Oklahoma. Wenner is third on the team with a .360 and is second on the team with nine hits.
As a team the Gophers have hit .299 so far this year.
On the Mound
Groenewegen has started of the Gophers nine games and is 4-2 on the mound. She has thrown five complete games, has two shutouts and has struck out 52 batters in 36 innings of work. She is throwing a 2.14 ERA.
Kylie Stober has made three appearances and is 1-1 overall with a save. She is throwing a 2.17 and had struck out eight batters. Nikki Anderson has made two appearances including pitching a complete game against No. 13/15 Florida State. Despite taking the loss, Anderson looked good on the mound. As a unit the Gophers pitching staff is throwing an ERA of 2.55.
About Mount St. Mary's
Ended the 2015 season with a 11-33 record. The Mountaineers open their season against Houston, just one game before playing Minnesota. Mount St. Mary's was ranked eighth out of nine in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Mountaineers return junior Rachel Heinze and sophomore Morgan Alisauckas, who both ranked in the top three on the team in home runs, RBI, OBP and slugging. This will be the first match-up between the two teams.
About Arizona State
Opened the season ranked No.22 after finishing the season with a 36-22 record. The Sun Devils have since moved up to No. 17 after dropping only one game this season, holding an 11-1 record. Junior Chelsea Gonzalez has gone 11-for-18 in the past seven games, holding a 1.389 slugging percentage. On the mound, Kelsey Kessler holds a team-best 31 strikeouts on the season. The Gophers defeated ASU 4-1 last year and are 2-2 against them under Coach Allister, with ASU leading the overall series 10-5.
About Saint Franics (PA)
Finished the 2015 season with a 31-19 overall record, going 9-7 in conference play. The Red Flash are currently 6-5 in the spring. In their season opener, SFU defeated UNC Wilmington on a run rule, with Ethel Santai and Ketarah DeVries also establishing the program's first no-hitter since 2008. Sophomore Jordan Seneca was recently named Northeastern Conference Player of the Week. The Gophers have only faced SFU once, taking the win.
About Houston
Ended their season with a 28-27 overall record, going 10-7 in conference play. The Cougars are currently 6-4. Houston was ranked third out of seven in the American Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Cougars have shut out four out of six teams this season. Maya Thomas and Brooke Vannoy are tied for a team-best seven runs. Freshman Elise LeBeouf holds a team-best three homeruns. The Gophers have only played Houston once, and defeated the Cougars.
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