University of Minnesota Athletics
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Trachsel Announces 2020 Schedule
11/21/2019 11:50:00 AM | Softball
The University of Minnesota released the 2020 softball schedule, head coach Jamie Trachsel announced Thursday.
The Gophers played the toughest nonconference stretch in the entire country last year according to strength of schedule and are setup for another tough schedule in 2020. Throughout the entire season Minnesota will play 27 games against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament, seven against 2019 NCAA Super Regional teams and two against teams that made the Women's College World Series including a matchup against the defending national champions, UCLA.
Note: These numbers can still increase as the Gophers are scheduled to play five games in Auburn for a tournament. The schedule for that tournament has not been finalized. Auburn was also an NCAA Tournament team in 2019.
The Gophers will take on a challenging Big Ten schedule in 2020. They will travel to Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State who all finished top-4 in the conference and made the NCAA Tournament. Michigan and Northwestern each hosted NCAA Regionals.
"We are excited about the balance and level of competition our entire 2020 schedule presents," Trachsel said. "We look forward to the challenge of our preseason opponents and the schedule presented by our Big Ten conference. There's no doubt this schedule will prepare us for what it takes to not just compete for championships, but to win in postseason at home or on the road. We look forward to the opportunities in front of us as we grow stronger together as a team and as we go hunt the dreams of the 2019-2020 Minnesota softball team."
The Gophers will start the season with back-to-back national tournaments at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. Opening weekend the Maroon and Gold will compete in the NFCA Division 1 Leadoff Classic. They followup it up with a second straight appearance in the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. The invite premiered last year showcasing some of the top teams in the entire country across the ESPN family of Networks and is already sold out for this year. That weekend the Gophers will face prominent programs in Oklahoma State, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Missouri.
Minnesota will close out February with tournaments at Baylor University and Auburn University. The Auburn Tournament schedule has not been released yet.
The Gophers will play 10 games in a nine-day span over spring break. They will start at the UCLA/Long Beach State Tournament before heading to Hawaii for five more games. In the spring break stretch the Gophers will play the 2019 National Champions in UCLA and will have two games against NCAA Tournament team Texas Tech.
Minnesota opens Big Ten play at Ohio State before returning to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium March 27-29 against Nebraska. The Gophers are 42-2 at home in the past three seasons and are fresh off hosting a regional and super regional right here in Minneapolis. Minnesota will also host Illinois and Rutgers for weekend series matchups and Wisconsin and North Dakota State for doubleheaders in 2020. They will close out the regular season with a trip to Northwestern to start May.
The Big Ten Tournament takes place in Champaign, Ill. this season and will be held May 7-9. NCAA Regionals are scheduled for May 15-17, Super Regionals on May 22-24 and the Women's College World Series will take place May 28-June 3.
Ticket Information
Fresh of a historic trip to the Women's College World Series and a season that saw the Gophers set five out of the top-10 all-time home attendance marks, season ticket renewals for the 2020 campaign will become available in Mid-December. Keep a close eye on gophersports.com and Twitter for more information.
The Gophers played the toughest nonconference stretch in the entire country last year according to strength of schedule and are setup for another tough schedule in 2020. Throughout the entire season Minnesota will play 27 games against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament, seven against 2019 NCAA Super Regional teams and two against teams that made the Women's College World Series including a matchup against the defending national champions, UCLA.
Note: These numbers can still increase as the Gophers are scheduled to play five games in Auburn for a tournament. The schedule for that tournament has not been finalized. Auburn was also an NCAA Tournament team in 2019.
The Gophers will take on a challenging Big Ten schedule in 2020. They will travel to Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State who all finished top-4 in the conference and made the NCAA Tournament. Michigan and Northwestern each hosted NCAA Regionals.
"We are excited about the balance and level of competition our entire 2020 schedule presents," Trachsel said. "We look forward to the challenge of our preseason opponents and the schedule presented by our Big Ten conference. There's no doubt this schedule will prepare us for what it takes to not just compete for championships, but to win in postseason at home or on the road. We look forward to the opportunities in front of us as we grow stronger together as a team and as we go hunt the dreams of the 2019-2020 Minnesota softball team."
The Gophers will start the season with back-to-back national tournaments at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. Opening weekend the Maroon and Gold will compete in the NFCA Division 1 Leadoff Classic. They followup it up with a second straight appearance in the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. The invite premiered last year showcasing some of the top teams in the entire country across the ESPN family of Networks and is already sold out for this year. That weekend the Gophers will face prominent programs in Oklahoma State, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Missouri.
Minnesota will close out February with tournaments at Baylor University and Auburn University. The Auburn Tournament schedule has not been released yet.
The Gophers will play 10 games in a nine-day span over spring break. They will start at the UCLA/Long Beach State Tournament before heading to Hawaii for five more games. In the spring break stretch the Gophers will play the 2019 National Champions in UCLA and will have two games against NCAA Tournament team Texas Tech.
Minnesota opens Big Ten play at Ohio State before returning to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium March 27-29 against Nebraska. The Gophers are 42-2 at home in the past three seasons and are fresh off hosting a regional and super regional right here in Minneapolis. Minnesota will also host Illinois and Rutgers for weekend series matchups and Wisconsin and North Dakota State for doubleheaders in 2020. They will close out the regular season with a trip to Northwestern to start May.
The Big Ten Tournament takes place in Champaign, Ill. this season and will be held May 7-9. NCAA Regionals are scheduled for May 15-17, Super Regionals on May 22-24 and the Women's College World Series will take place May 28-June 3.
Ticket Information
Fresh of a historic trip to the Women's College World Series and a season that saw the Gophers set five out of the top-10 all-time home attendance marks, season ticket renewals for the 2020 campaign will become available in Mid-December. Keep a close eye on gophersports.com and Twitter for more information.
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