University of Minnesota Athletics
Lindaman, Groenewegen Honored By B1G
2/20/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The Gophers took home a pair of B1G weekly awards this week with Sara Groenewegen earning Pitcher of the Week and Kendyl Lindaman earning Co-Freshman of the Week honors, the conference announced Monday.
The Gophers have now won Freshman of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks. MaKenna Partain won last week. Lindaman posted a .400 batting average with two home runs and a 1.000 slugging percentage at the ACC/B1G Challenge. Both of her home runs came in big moments for the Gophers.
In the sixth against Notre Dame on Friday, Lindaman stepped to the plate and smashed a solo home run to break a 1-1 tie. The very next day Lindaman sparked the Maroon and Gold with one swing of the bat. With the Gophers down 1-0 in the fourth Lindaman launched her third home run of the season. Her three homers and .815 slugging percentage on the season lead the team through the first two weeks.
Lindaman has also been solid behind the plate. She has finished off numerous strikeouts that hit the dirt and has already accounted for 57 putouts and 13 assists.
Unlike Lindaman, Groenewegen is no stranger to bringing in B1G hardware. She has now won 12 B1G Pitcher of the Week plaudits and 17 B1G weekly honors in all.
Groenewegen pitched a gem in the Gophers first win of the weekend over Notre Dame. She pitched a complete game and only allowed three hits and one run while striking out 15 batters. She came into the second Notre Dame game in relief pitching the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. She kept the Fighting Irish off the board while only allowing two hits. The next day Groenewegen only gave up one hit in a start against North Carolina State striking out nine more batters.
In the combined three victories Groenewegen pitched a 0.47 ERA with 25 strikeouts. She is off to another dominant start in the circle this season with a 5-0 record, 0.72 ERA and 40 strikeouts.
Lindaman, Groenewegen and the Gophers will compete in five more games this weekend in Fresno, Calif. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all season long to keep up with the latest news, features, videos and more!
