University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, February 8
Orlando, FL
4:00 PM
University of Minnesota
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North Florida
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Players Mentioned
RHP
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INF
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UT
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RHP
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OF
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OF
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P/UT
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INF
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RHP
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Preview: Friends of Jaclyn Tournament
2/6/2019 8:27:00 AM | Softball
No. 21/23 University of Minnesota travels to Orlando, Fla. for the Friends of Jaclyn Tournament this weekend.
The Maroon and Gold open the season against North Florida and host Central Florida on Feb. 8. They will take on Ole Miss on Feb. 9 and close out the weekend meeting George Mason for the first time in program history on Feb. 10. The Gophers have gone 10-0 on opening weekend in the past two seasons and have won five straight opening games.Â
The Gophers enter the 2019 season as three-time defending Big Ten Tournament champions. They went into the tournament as the No. 2 seed after posting a 13-3 Big Ten record in the regular season. Minnesota made their program record sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with a 41-17 record. They played in the Seattle Regional before falling to the eventual national runner-up Washington Huskies in the regional final. The Gophers also added on to a 32-game home winning streak at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium which is the longest home winning streak in program history.
The Gopher pitching staff recorded a 1.90 ERA which was the second lowest in the Big Ten and 14th lowest in the NCAA a season ago. The entire pitching staff: Amber Fiser, Sydney Smith, Carlie Brandt, Hannah Bailey and Rachel Lowary, return for the 2019 season. Fiser has been named a preseason All-American by Fastpitchnews.com, Justin's World of Softball and landed a spot on the USA Softball Top-50 Player of the Year Watch List. Fiser had a dominant sophomore campaign for the Gophers in her first year as the ace. She earned First Team All-Great Lakes Region and First Team All-Big Ten honors going 27-10 with a 1.69 ERA. Her nine shutouts ranked 17th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten and her 237 strikeouts ranked 24th in the NCAA and second in the conference.Â
At the plate, Minnesota held the fourth best average in the conference with a .289 mark last year. The 55 long balls was the second highest in the conference as well as the 293 runs batted in. Scoring 5.69 runs/game, the Gophers ranked third in the Big Ten and 26th in the NCAA. Â Returning to that core is past All-Region honorees Maddie Houlihan, MaKenna Partain and Ellee Jensen. Oregon State transfer Hope Brandner is also expected to bring power to the lineup this season.Â
Houlihan has already etched her name into the Gophers history books. She is nearing top-five all-time in RBI, doubles and runs. She is also currently in the Minnesota top-10 for batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Jensen led the team with a .401 average as just a freshman last season. Partain has started 115 games at second base the past two years and led Minnesota in multi-hit and multi-RBI games last season. Brandner recorded 12 HRs, 36 RBIs and had a .530 slugging percentage. She was named to the NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team and garnered Pac-12 All-Conference Third Team and All-Freshman Team honors.
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA
North Florida went 24-30 overall and 4-14 in conference play a season ago. The Ospreys welcome back their two first team All-Conference selections from the past season in seniors Navia Penrod and Dominica Cocuzza.Â
Penrod led the ASUN in batting average (.432) and hits (70) in 2018. Seeing action at three infield positions as a utility player, she put up a .983 fielding percentage and topped the league in putouts. Cocuzza, the starting center fielder, owned a .966 fielding percentage with 52 putouts last year. The duo also landed a spot on the ASUN Preseason All-Conference team. Sydney Matzko appeared in 33 games in the circle for the Ospreys where she posted a 2.17 ERA and 142 strikeouts.
ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA
The Knights ended the 2018 season 34-22 overall and 12-9 in the AAC. They fell 3-0 to Memphis in the first round of the AAC tournament.
UCF returns senior catcher Cassady Brewer, who was tabbed AAC First-Team and NFCA First Team All-Region. She recorded a .429 batting average with 24 hits and 14 RBIs. Denali Schappacher was also named to the AAC First-Team, as well as the All-Rookie Team. The outfielder notched a .340 batting average with 50 hits and 30 runs.Â
Junior pitcher Alea White will make a return to the circle for the Knights. A 2018 AAC Second Team honoree and member of the NFCA All-Region team, she finished the regular season ranked fourth in wins among Div. I pitchers with 25. She posted a 2.34 ERA and struckout 175 batters.Â
ABOUT OLE MISS
The Rebels clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament where they fell 4-1 against LSU in the first round. For the third year in a row, Ole Miss received a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels eventually fell to host Arizona State in the Regional Final. They ended the season 32-25 overall and 7-17 in the SEC. Ole Miss graduated two key players after the 2018 season, outfielder Elantra Cox and Infielder Paige McKinney.Â
Senior outfielder, Kylan Becker was named to the Preseason All-SEC team and to USA Softball's 2019 Player of the Year Watch List. Becker led the team with a .329 batting average and produced six doubles and 29 RBIs. Sophomore Anna Borgen returns to the circle for the Rebels. Last season she struck out 32 batters in 23 appearance and posted a 2.75 ERA.
ABOUT GEORGE MASONÂ
George Mason went 22-28 overall and 12-11 in the A-10 Conference last season. The Patriots advanced the the A-10 Championship, but fell to Saint Louis University and the University of Dayton on the first day. George Mason is tied for fifth place in the Atlantic-10 Preseason Poll. The team returns all but one starter to their 2019 roster.Â
The 2019 squad will be led by two lone seniors, Jess Curbeira and Liz Seymour. Curbeira, a first base/outfielder, started all 50 games of the 2018 season and led the team in hits (46), total basbes (69) and RBIs (24). Seymour spent most of her time in centerfield and led the team in at-bats with 167. She also set a personal best .980 fielding percentage.Â
In the circle, Junior Bekah Ansbro and Sophomore Haellie Gordon both make returns. In 31 appearances, Ansbro struckout 127 and had an ERA of 2.79. Gordon led the pitching staff in appearances with 33, while posting a 3.53 ERA and and 65 strikeouts. The team hit .251 with 59 doubles and 20 home runs. The 20 home runs ranked as second most in school history.
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The Maroon and Gold open the season against North Florida and host Central Florida on Feb. 8. They will take on Ole Miss on Feb. 9 and close out the weekend meeting George Mason for the first time in program history on Feb. 10. The Gophers have gone 10-0 on opening weekend in the past two seasons and have won five straight opening games.Â
The Gophers enter the 2019 season as three-time defending Big Ten Tournament champions. They went into the tournament as the No. 2 seed after posting a 13-3 Big Ten record in the regular season. Minnesota made their program record sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with a 41-17 record. They played in the Seattle Regional before falling to the eventual national runner-up Washington Huskies in the regional final. The Gophers also added on to a 32-game home winning streak at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium which is the longest home winning streak in program history.
The Gopher pitching staff recorded a 1.90 ERA which was the second lowest in the Big Ten and 14th lowest in the NCAA a season ago. The entire pitching staff: Amber Fiser, Sydney Smith, Carlie Brandt, Hannah Bailey and Rachel Lowary, return for the 2019 season. Fiser has been named a preseason All-American by Fastpitchnews.com, Justin's World of Softball and landed a spot on the USA Softball Top-50 Player of the Year Watch List. Fiser had a dominant sophomore campaign for the Gophers in her first year as the ace. She earned First Team All-Great Lakes Region and First Team All-Big Ten honors going 27-10 with a 1.69 ERA. Her nine shutouts ranked 17th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten and her 237 strikeouts ranked 24th in the NCAA and second in the conference.Â
At the plate, Minnesota held the fourth best average in the conference with a .289 mark last year. The 55 long balls was the second highest in the conference as well as the 293 runs batted in. Scoring 5.69 runs/game, the Gophers ranked third in the Big Ten and 26th in the NCAA. Â Returning to that core is past All-Region honorees Maddie Houlihan, MaKenna Partain and Ellee Jensen. Oregon State transfer Hope Brandner is also expected to bring power to the lineup this season.Â
Houlihan has already etched her name into the Gophers history books. She is nearing top-five all-time in RBI, doubles and runs. She is also currently in the Minnesota top-10 for batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Jensen led the team with a .401 average as just a freshman last season. Partain has started 115 games at second base the past two years and led Minnesota in multi-hit and multi-RBI games last season. Brandner recorded 12 HRs, 36 RBIs and had a .530 slugging percentage. She was named to the NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team and garnered Pac-12 All-Conference Third Team and All-Freshman Team honors.
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA
North Florida went 24-30 overall and 4-14 in conference play a season ago. The Ospreys welcome back their two first team All-Conference selections from the past season in seniors Navia Penrod and Dominica Cocuzza.Â
Penrod led the ASUN in batting average (.432) and hits (70) in 2018. Seeing action at three infield positions as a utility player, she put up a .983 fielding percentage and topped the league in putouts. Cocuzza, the starting center fielder, owned a .966 fielding percentage with 52 putouts last year. The duo also landed a spot on the ASUN Preseason All-Conference team. Sydney Matzko appeared in 33 games in the circle for the Ospreys where she posted a 2.17 ERA and 142 strikeouts.
ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA
The Knights ended the 2018 season 34-22 overall and 12-9 in the AAC. They fell 3-0 to Memphis in the first round of the AAC tournament.
UCF returns senior catcher Cassady Brewer, who was tabbed AAC First-Team and NFCA First Team All-Region. She recorded a .429 batting average with 24 hits and 14 RBIs. Denali Schappacher was also named to the AAC First-Team, as well as the All-Rookie Team. The outfielder notched a .340 batting average with 50 hits and 30 runs.Â
Junior pitcher Alea White will make a return to the circle for the Knights. A 2018 AAC Second Team honoree and member of the NFCA All-Region team, she finished the regular season ranked fourth in wins among Div. I pitchers with 25. She posted a 2.34 ERA and struckout 175 batters.Â
ABOUT OLE MISS
The Rebels clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament where they fell 4-1 against LSU in the first round. For the third year in a row, Ole Miss received a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels eventually fell to host Arizona State in the Regional Final. They ended the season 32-25 overall and 7-17 in the SEC. Ole Miss graduated two key players after the 2018 season, outfielder Elantra Cox and Infielder Paige McKinney.Â
Senior outfielder, Kylan Becker was named to the Preseason All-SEC team and to USA Softball's 2019 Player of the Year Watch List. Becker led the team with a .329 batting average and produced six doubles and 29 RBIs. Sophomore Anna Borgen returns to the circle for the Rebels. Last season she struck out 32 batters in 23 appearance and posted a 2.75 ERA.
ABOUT GEORGE MASONÂ
George Mason went 22-28 overall and 12-11 in the A-10 Conference last season. The Patriots advanced the the A-10 Championship, but fell to Saint Louis University and the University of Dayton on the first day. George Mason is tied for fifth place in the Atlantic-10 Preseason Poll. The team returns all but one starter to their 2019 roster.Â
The 2019 squad will be led by two lone seniors, Jess Curbeira and Liz Seymour. Curbeira, a first base/outfielder, started all 50 games of the 2018 season and led the team in hits (46), total basbes (69) and RBIs (24). Seymour spent most of her time in centerfield and led the team in at-bats with 167. She also set a personal best .980 fielding percentage.Â
In the circle, Junior Bekah Ansbro and Sophomore Haellie Gordon both make returns. In 31 appearances, Ansbro struckout 127 and had an ERA of 2.79. Gordon led the pitching staff in appearances with 33, while posting a 3.53 ERA and and 65 strikeouts. The team hit .251 with 59 doubles and 20 home runs. The 20 home runs ranked as second most in school history.
Â
Minnesota (4) - Michigan (0) Highlights
Friday, May 02
Sydney Schwartz Throws No-Hitter
Tuesday, April 29
Gophers (8) - North Dakota (0) Highlights
Sunday, April 27
Gophers (5) - North Dakota (3) Highlights
Saturday, April 26