University of Minnesota Athletics
Sara Groenewegen Blog Update #2
4/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sara Groenewegen took time to provide us with another update. This week she talks rain delays and rivals! The Gophers play a doubleheader against Wisconsin on the Big Ten Network tomorrow with first pitch set for 1 p.m. They just cracked the top-5 for the first time in program history but enough from us, lets hear from Sara...
Hello again Gophers fans!
There was one common theme from this past weekend: unpredictable weather. But when that happens in college softball, players and coaches need to find a way to deal with it, especially being an outside sport.
Rain Friday, the weather wasn't looking so nice on Saturday and Sunday was a tossup on the forecast. However, we were able to get our entire game in without one pull of the tarp on Saturday. Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day, but the wind was howling and when balls were hit in the air there was no telling where they would end up.
The biggest story of the weekend was our game on Friday. Our game took four hours and seventeen minutes to complete with three rain delays. You read that right, FOUR hours!! We always joke about it, but we are not the best at tarping our field, so it was nice to get some practice this weekend.
I feel that rain delays can either make or break a team. They are all a matter of how you handle them. If you make them a big deal, then they become a big deal.
You could say that we have some experience in rain delays. The Big Ten tournament last year consisted of multiple rain delays on the championship day. However, we were able to stay loose throughout the entire day.
On Friday, our team was able to go to our locker room and sit down and hangout with each other. We never know when we're going to get the call to come back to the field, so we have to stay loose and relaxed, but still keep our focus on the game that lies ahead of us. The best part is taking over the aux on the stereo and playing our favorite music.
Shoutout to Sam for setting the tone right after the delay…again!
Deja Vu! @smacken7 has now homered twice in her career coming out of rain delays against Northwestern! pic.twitter.com/cyDar5SxaD
- Minnesota Softball (@GopherSoftball) April 15, 2017
Now onto rivals week. It is always in interesting vibe. Before coming to the University of Minnesota, I truly didn't know the full extent of a 'rival'. Maybe that is because high school sports in Canada are not really a serious thing compared to what they are down here in the U.S., or maybe it is because the Badgers and the Gophers' rivalry trumps all.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have historically had one of the biggest rivalries in college athletics. The two states border each other and there is always such a conflict of pride when the two schools play each other. Our football team battles for Paul Bunyan's axe annually (a tradition that started in 1948), but the rivalry goes as far back as 1890 when the teams first played. Now that is it 2017, the rivalry goes beyond the football team.
But when comes the point where border battle overpowers friendship? As many know, the softball community is small and with that comes games where many players know each other or have played with each other.
This week, we have multiple people on our team who are friends with the Wisconsin softball players. Is that weird? Maybe. The most uncomfortable part is stepping on the mound and holding back an awkward smile as someone you know steps into the box and smiles right back at you.
Looking ahead into this week, we are excited to see some familiar faces against Wisconsin on Wednesday. We get to play on the Big Ten Network, so make sure you tune into that. (first pitch changed to 1 p.m.) We also are playing a home series against Iowa this upcoming weekend, so we would love to see you there!
Thanks for following this incredible season so far, it means the world to us!! Go Gophs!
We tried to have Sara add that she was named a top-10 Senior CLASS Award finalist but she is too humble. Make sure to vote for Sara here!
