University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Welcome Illinois for Home Opener
3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| Minnesota (18-13, 1-2 B1G) vs. Illinois (22-11, 3-2) | |
| Gophers (16-9, 2-1 Big Ten) vs. St. John's (15-7, 0-0 Big East) | |
| Date/Time | Friday, March 30 | 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. (DH) Sunday, April 1 | Noon |
| Location | Jane Sage Cowles Stadium | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| Follow Live | Friday (G1): | BTN Plus | Game Day Live Friday (G2): | BTN Plus | Game Day Live Sunday: | BTN Plus | Game Day Live |
| Gameday Info | Tickets | Parking |
| Social Media | @GopherSoftballl | Facebook | Instagram |
MINNEAPOLIS - Following a 31 game road trip to begin the 2018, Minnesota returns to Minneapolis and Jane Sage Cowles Stadium with a three-game Big Ten series on tap against Illinois. Minnesota and Illinois open up the series in doubleheader action Friday, March 30 beginning at 1 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday, April 1 at noon.
Minnesota returns to home dirt where they have had success over the years. The Gophers posted one of their best home records at home last year since the 2003 season going 16-0. Dating back to the 2015, when this year's seniors were freshmen, the Gophers have gone 37-6 at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
HAVE A DAY PARTAIN
Sophomore MaKenna Partain had quite the weekend against Northwestern. The Gophers' leadoff hitter went 7-for-11 with a pair of doubles while driving in a team-best five runs while crossing the plate herself three times.
SAY GOODBYE TO IT
Sophomore Kendyl Lindaman belted a pair of home runs against Northwestern in game two of the series. Launching the go-ahead home run in the fourth before the game entered extras, she started the eighth with another shot over the left field wall. With the pair of long balls, Lindaman now has 11 on the season to rank 13th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten.
BACK, BACK, BACK, GONE!
The Gophers have belted 24 home runs this season as a team. For the second time this season, Minnesota recorded four home runs in a game doing so against Northwestern in game two of the series. The Maroon and Gold also had four home runs against New Mexico State in game three of the series which means they have now belted nine long balls in their last five games.
ROAD WARRIORS
Minnesota closed out its 31 game road trip to begin the season going 18-13 during the stretch away from home. The Gophers traveled to nine different locations playing across all four time zones.
Highlighting the stretch was an upset win over No. 9 Arizona 1-0 in extra innings. The victory was just the fourth all-time against the Wildcats who reached last year's NCAA Super Regionals. The Gophers during the time away from home played 10 opponents that appeared in last year's NCAA tournament.
SCOUTING THE ILLINI
Illinois comes to Dinkytown with an 18-13 overall record and 3-2 mark in the Big Ten. The Illini split with Northwestern on Wednesday, March 28 in a pair of offensive games. The Illini put up seven unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to lose game one 8-7 before taking game two 15-9. Illinois is led offensively by Kiana Sherlund who is hitting .402 with an on-base percentage of .420. In the circle, Emily Oestreich leads the team with 26 appearances and 19 starts going 12-5 with a 3.65 ERA.
INSIDE THE SERIES: ILLINOIS
The Gophers and Illini have each had winning streaks of their own. The Gophers most recently posted a 15 game winning streak before the Illini snapped it in Urbana last season in the mid series game. The Gophers most recent meeting with Illinois was one for the memory books. Thanks to Sydney Dwyer's walk-off home run, the Gophers defeated the Illini 6-5 in the last year's Big Ten Semifinals before winning the Big Ten tournament over Ohio State.
