University of Minnesota Athletics
Wednesday, May 11
East Lansing, MI
3:30 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Wisconsin
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/1B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
'U' Begins Postseason at B1G Tournament May 11-14
5/10/2022 12:00:00 PM | Softball
MINNEAPOLIS - The postseason starts Wednesday as the Golden Gophers softball team heads to East Lansing, Mich., for the 2022 Big Ten Conference Tournament May 11-14. Minnesota opens as the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 Wisconsin in the first round May 11 at 3:30 p.m. (CT).
Every game of the 12-team tournament will be aired live on BTN from Secchia Stadium.
TOURNAMENT QUICK HITS
B1G TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This will be the Golden Gophers' 15th all-time appearance in the B1G Tournament where they have posted a record of 23-15, including a mark of 16-3 since 2013. Minnesota has totaled five tournament titles, including three straight from 2016-18, and won four of the previous six events dating back to 2014. The Gophers are 1-1 against their first-round opponent, Wisconsin, with a 6-0 win in the last meeting on the Badgers home field in 2018.
POSTSEASON TIME
The Gophers begin the conference tournament needing to win four games in four days to claim the league's automatic bid to ensure another NCAA Regional appearance. The ninth-place finish in the regular season is the lowest by Minnesota since 2012 as it had not finished outside the top three in the last decade.
WEEKLY DOUBLE
Emily Leavitt's impressive final week of the regular season caught the attention of the league as she concurrently was named Big Ten Conference Pitcher and Freshman of the Week Monday. The Chino, Calif., native was dominant in the circle posting a 3-0 record with a minuscule 0.70 earned run average appearing in all five outings of a 4-1 week. She struck out 22 batters in 20.0 innings of work, including a career-best 10 in a complete game win over the Badgers Wednesday. Leavitt followed that effort by recording a three-hit shutout of nationally-ranked Northwestern Friday and then pitched five more scoreless frames to close the series.
RESUME BUILDER
The Gophers non-conference schedule ranks as the No. 2 most difficult in all of NCAA softball as they have played 14 games against opponents inside the top 50 of the RPI, including 10 in the top 25. Minnesota has posted a 15-11-1 record when facing a team outside of the Big Ten Conference this season, while its overall strength of schedule ranks eighth in the nation playing 28 games against the top 50, 16 of which were in the top 25.
NATALIE AT THE TOP
On the third pitch she saw in the fourth inning Mar. 27 at Rutgers, Natalie DenHartog sent a deep fly high over the center field fence and circled the bases for the 52nd time in her career. That set a Minnesota record as she became the all-time home run leader passing Jordanne Nygren's mark of 51 from 1999-2003. She matched Nygren on a solo shot against Drake Mar. 12 capping an incredible stretch where she belted eight home runs in a span of 28 at-bats. With a solo home run Sunday, DenHartog moved into a tie for fifth in program history recording her 170th RBI across 178 career games played as she pulled even with her former teammate Maddie Houlihan (2015-19). She also is 13th in the country launching 18 home runs, 14 of which have come in Gopher victories, and ranks 30th in the NCAA registering 117 total bases.
CHLOE IN CHARGE
Chloe Evans has reached base safely in 40 of 50 games played this season and been a run-producing machine for Minnesota. The sophomore paces the team with 44 RBI and ranks just outside the country's top 100 averaging 0.9 RBI per game, including four, four-RBI performances. She has a hit in 26 of her last 33 outings, including her first career triple against South Dakota State April 13, and scored at least one run in 18 of those contests.
RECOMMEND A DINGER (OR MORE) A DAY
Minnesota has launched 64 home runs in 48 games this season to sit 29th in the NCAA averaging 1.3 home runs per game. Ten different players have hit a long ball, led by 18 from DenHartog, 10 by Evans and at least seven from Megan Dray, Sara Kinch and Strelow. The Gophers have posted a 23-9-1 record when hitting at least one home run in 2022. The team's six home runs Mar. 27 at Rutgers were the most in a single game since hitting six against Kent State Mar. 1, 2019, and just the second time hitting that mark over the last decade.
STRONG START TO THE INNING
Minnesota continues to excel when leading off an inning leading to early base runners as it has recorded a .396 batting average (129-for-326) as the first hitter in a frame. Lauren Espalin has a team-best 36 hits in that position and a .462 average, while DenHartog is hitting .625 as the lead-off batter (20-for-32). Kayla Chavez, Ellee Jensen, and Strelow also are all hitting .400 or better.
PLAYING IN FRONT
Getting out to an early lead has been vital to Minnesota's success in 2022 as it holds a 20-5-1 record when leading after four innings. The Gophers are 19-10-1 when scoring first in a game and have posted a 22-7-1 mark when scoring at least four runs.
POSTSEASON PUSH
The Gophers have reached a NCAA Regional each of the last eight times it was conducted, including an epic run to the Women's College World Series in 2019. That streak was continued in 2021 under first-year head coach Piper Ritter when Minnesota advanced to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final before falling to UCLA. Ritter is no stranger to the postseason event as she helped the team to seven NCAA appearances as an assistant coach and pitched in two NCAA regionals during her time wearing the Maroon and Gold in the circle.
Every game of the 12-team tournament will be aired live on BTN from Secchia Stadium.
TOURNAMENT QUICK HITS
B1G TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This will be the Golden Gophers' 15th all-time appearance in the B1G Tournament where they have posted a record of 23-15, including a mark of 16-3 since 2013. Minnesota has totaled five tournament titles, including three straight from 2016-18, and won four of the previous six events dating back to 2014. The Gophers are 1-1 against their first-round opponent, Wisconsin, with a 6-0 win in the last meeting on the Badgers home field in 2018.
POSTSEASON TIME
The Gophers begin the conference tournament needing to win four games in four days to claim the league's automatic bid to ensure another NCAA Regional appearance. The ninth-place finish in the regular season is the lowest by Minnesota since 2012 as it had not finished outside the top three in the last decade.
WEEKLY DOUBLE
Emily Leavitt's impressive final week of the regular season caught the attention of the league as she concurrently was named Big Ten Conference Pitcher and Freshman of the Week Monday. The Chino, Calif., native was dominant in the circle posting a 3-0 record with a minuscule 0.70 earned run average appearing in all five outings of a 4-1 week. She struck out 22 batters in 20.0 innings of work, including a career-best 10 in a complete game win over the Badgers Wednesday. Leavitt followed that effort by recording a three-hit shutout of nationally-ranked Northwestern Friday and then pitched five more scoreless frames to close the series.
RESUME BUILDER
The Gophers non-conference schedule ranks as the No. 2 most difficult in all of NCAA softball as they have played 14 games against opponents inside the top 50 of the RPI, including 10 in the top 25. Minnesota has posted a 15-11-1 record when facing a team outside of the Big Ten Conference this season, while its overall strength of schedule ranks eighth in the nation playing 28 games against the top 50, 16 of which were in the top 25.
NATALIE AT THE TOP
On the third pitch she saw in the fourth inning Mar. 27 at Rutgers, Natalie DenHartog sent a deep fly high over the center field fence and circled the bases for the 52nd time in her career. That set a Minnesota record as she became the all-time home run leader passing Jordanne Nygren's mark of 51 from 1999-2003. She matched Nygren on a solo shot against Drake Mar. 12 capping an incredible stretch where she belted eight home runs in a span of 28 at-bats. With a solo home run Sunday, DenHartog moved into a tie for fifth in program history recording her 170th RBI across 178 career games played as she pulled even with her former teammate Maddie Houlihan (2015-19). She also is 13th in the country launching 18 home runs, 14 of which have come in Gopher victories, and ranks 30th in the NCAA registering 117 total bases.
CHLOE IN CHARGE
Chloe Evans has reached base safely in 40 of 50 games played this season and been a run-producing machine for Minnesota. The sophomore paces the team with 44 RBI and ranks just outside the country's top 100 averaging 0.9 RBI per game, including four, four-RBI performances. She has a hit in 26 of her last 33 outings, including her first career triple against South Dakota State April 13, and scored at least one run in 18 of those contests.
RECOMMEND A DINGER (OR MORE) A DAY
Minnesota has launched 64 home runs in 48 games this season to sit 29th in the NCAA averaging 1.3 home runs per game. Ten different players have hit a long ball, led by 18 from DenHartog, 10 by Evans and at least seven from Megan Dray, Sara Kinch and Strelow. The Gophers have posted a 23-9-1 record when hitting at least one home run in 2022. The team's six home runs Mar. 27 at Rutgers were the most in a single game since hitting six against Kent State Mar. 1, 2019, and just the second time hitting that mark over the last decade.
STRONG START TO THE INNING
Minnesota continues to excel when leading off an inning leading to early base runners as it has recorded a .396 batting average (129-for-326) as the first hitter in a frame. Lauren Espalin has a team-best 36 hits in that position and a .462 average, while DenHartog is hitting .625 as the lead-off batter (20-for-32). Kayla Chavez, Ellee Jensen, and Strelow also are all hitting .400 or better.
PLAYING IN FRONT
Getting out to an early lead has been vital to Minnesota's success in 2022 as it holds a 20-5-1 record when leading after four innings. The Gophers are 19-10-1 when scoring first in a game and have posted a 22-7-1 mark when scoring at least four runs.
POSTSEASON PUSH
The Gophers have reached a NCAA Regional each of the last eight times it was conducted, including an epic run to the Women's College World Series in 2019. That streak was continued in 2021 under first-year head coach Piper Ritter when Minnesota advanced to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final before falling to UCLA. Ritter is no stranger to the postseason event as she helped the team to seven NCAA appearances as an assistant coach and pitched in two NCAA regionals during her time wearing the Maroon and Gold in the circle.
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