The Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team heads into the 2019 Big Ten Softball Tournament on a roll and tyring to lock up a home NCAA Regional next weekend. The Gophers have one the last three Big Ten Tournaments and will try and make it four in a row in Bloomington, Indiana. They kick off play in the quarterfinals on Friday night against Purdue. Minnesota comes into the Big Ten Tournament with the #3 seed. The Gophers finished with a Big Ten record of 20-2 on the season, behind regular season champion Michigan who went 22-1, and #2 seed Northwestern who despite losing two of three games in the last weekend of the regular season to the Gophers ended the season as 21-2. Minnesota lost out on one game earlier in the season to last place Michigan State due to weather, and a win in that game would have vaulted them over the Wildcats into the #2 seed. The real number that matters for the Gophers is #8. That is Minnesota’s current RPI. If the Gophers can make it through the Big Ten Tournament relatively unscathed, that number should stay pretty steady, which should in theory lock up at minimum a home NCAA Regional at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium next weekend. The Gophers hosted in 2015 and advanced through to the NCAA Super Regional where they lost to the Washington Huskies. If, and it’s a big if given the knowledge of how the NCAA likes to seed teams and reward western and southern teams, but if Minnesota can stay at that #8 slot or above, they would have the potential to host their first ever home Super Regional as well. We will all find out how that ends up during the NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show in ESPN 2 at 8 PM Sunday night. If the Gophers want to get to that point, they need to win their initial game Friday night against Purdue. Minnesota swept a three game series from the Boilermakers in late March by scores of 5-1, 5-1 and 8-2. The #11 seed Boilermakers upset #6 seed Rutgers in a first round game that did not start until nearly 10:30 CDT Thursday night due to a rain delay. It will be interesting to see how Gopher head coach Jamie Trachsel plays their game against the Boilermakers. She would most likely love to start Sydney Smith and try to avoid needing to use Amber Fiser at all on Friday night. Assuming the Gophers win they would either play Northwestern or host Indiana at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon in the semifinal, with the championship game against either Wisconsin, Michigan , or Illinois immediately following. If you can save as many Fiser bullets for Saturday as possible, you need to do it. Offensively the Gophers will have a question of if second baseman and First Team All-Big Ten player Makenna Partain can go. She has been battling injuries and has both an injured shoulder and was seen wearing a boot on her foot earlier this week. It’s expected she will play, but if not Minnesota will have a rather large hole in it’s leadoff spot. The Gophers still have two of the best power treats in the country in their three and four holes. Hope Brandner led the conference in home runs in 2019 and has the second highest single season total in Gopher history. In the cleanup spot Natalie DenHartong continues to shine, and she was just named one of ten finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year award. DenHartog leads the conference in RBIs, is second in slugging percentage, third in home runs and sixth in batting average. She is 11th in the country in RBIs and 15th in slugging percentage. We have seen that the Gophers can match up against the best of the Big Ten. They took two of three from previously undefeated Northwestern last week. Michigan who won the regular season championship did not have to play the #2, #3, or #4 seeds in the regular season due to the Big Ten’s unbalanced schedule. But Minnesota has been in this position before. In 2018 the #2 seeded Gophers won the tournament defeating #3 seed Indiana and #4 seed Northwestern. #1 Michigan lost their quarterfinal game. In 2017 the Gophers ran the table as the #1 seed, but missed #2 Michigan as they....once again lost in their first round game. In 2016 Michigan tore through the first two rounds winning by a combined score of 16-1. Then the #2 seeded Gophers would knock off the Wolverines in the championship game on a walk-off hit in the 10th inning by Sam Macken. Minnesota plays very well in this tournament, and is ready to make another run. Hopefully the Gophers can take care of business, earn that home regional/Super regional and try to make an epic run to the College World Series in Oklahoma City. But it all starts Friday night against Purdue. HOW TO WATCH: Big Ten Softball Tournament Quarterfinal—Bloomington, Indiana #11 Purdue Boilermakers vs #3 Minnesota Golden Gophers Time: 6PM Friday TV: BTN Stream BTN2GO B1G Softball Semifinal vs Northwestern/Indiana Time : 1:30 PM Saturday TV: BTN Stream: BTN2GO B1G Softball Championship Game vs WI/MI/ILL Time 4PM Saturday TV: BTN Stream: BTN2GO<doc-sep>The Detroit News The Michigan softball team defeated Maryland 12-3 on Sunday in College Park, completing a three-game sweep and capturing the Big Ten regular-season championship. The Wolverines (40-11, 22-1) will be the No. 1 seed when the Big Ten tournament begins this week in Bloomington, Ind. They have a bye in the first round and will open on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of the Nebraska vs. Illinois game. The tournament format is single-elimination and all games are on the Big Ten Network. Michigan entered the weekend one game behind Northwestern in the Big Ten standings but the Wildcats lost two of three at Minnesota. Michigan has won two consecutive regular-season championships and 21 of the last 28. In Sunday’s victory, Michigan had a season-high 18 hits by 10 players. Katie Alexander had four hits, Faith Canfield had three and Natalie Peters had two hits and four RBI. Big Ten tournament At Bloomington, Ind. All games on Big Ten Network THURSDAY No. 12 Iowa vs. No. 5 Wisconsin, 11 a.m. No. 9 Illinois vs. No. 8 Nebraska, 1:30 p.m. No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 7 Indiana, 4:30 p.m. No. 11 Purdue vs. No. 6 Rutgers, 7 p.m. FRIDAY Iowa-Wisconsin winner vs. No. 4 Ohio State, 11 a.m. Illinois-Nebraska winner vs. No. 1 Michigan, 1:30 p.m. Penn State-Indiana winner vs. No. 2 Northwestern, 4:30 p.m. Purdue-Rutgers winner vs. No. 3 Minnesota, 7 p.m. SATURDAY Semifinals, noon and 2:30 p.m. SUNDAY Championship, 5 p.m.<doc-sep>Michigan’s softball team clinched the Big Ten regular-season title on Sunday by wining its 11th straight game. The 22nd-ranked Wolverines (40-11, 22-1) recorded a season-high 18 hits to beat host Maryland, completing a three-game weekend sweep. They entered the weekend second in the conference, but Northwestern (42-9, 21-2) dropped its final two games to Minnesota. Michigan, which has won two straight Big Ten titles and 10 of the past 12, begins conference tournament play Friday and will face the winner of No. 8 seed Nebraska and No. 9 seed Illinois in Bloomington, Indiana. Full BTN highlights from today's 12-3 win in the regular-season finale at Maryland. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/WHQvmrrqKf — Michigan Softball (@umichsoftball) May 5, 2019 The Wolverines' seniors led the way Sunday, with catcher Katie Alexander finishing with a career-high four hits. Second baseman Faith Canfield was 3 for 5 to increase her average to .406, while outfielder Natalie Peters had two hits and four RBIs. Meanwhile, sophomore Meghan Beaubien improved to 25-4, allowing three runs on five hits in four innings. The team outscored the last-place Terrapins 26-4 during the series. Michigan also was the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament last year, but it lost its opening game to Michigan State.<doc-sep>The Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team will close out the Big Ten regular season this weekend with their toughest task of the conference season. The #13/8 Gophers will host the #19/14 Northwestern Wildcats in a three game series at Jane Sage Cowles stadium with the Big Ten title on the line for both teams. It is still very possible that neither team will win the conference and the Michigan Wolverines will steal the title away from both schools. All in all it should be a crazy weekend of Big Ten softball. Minnesota comes into the weekend off of a three game sweep of Iowa last weekend that saw ace pitcher Amber Fiser earn her fifth Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award on the season, and her third consecutive award. Additionally Gopher freshman Natalie DenHartog earned her third Big Ten Freshman of the Week nod. The Gophers are currently 18-1 in the Big Ten and are in third place behind Northwestern who is 20-0 and Michigan who is 19-1. The Gophers are at a major disadvantage due to the fact that they did not get to play one game earlier this season against Michigan State when weather mucked up the schedule. Thus, Minnesota loses tiebreakers to both the Wildcats and Wolverines if any of the teams end up with just one loss. To win the Big Ten regular season championship, Minnesota will need to sweep Northwestern and have Michigan lose at least one of three games to the Maryland Terrapins. Unfortunately for the Gophers, Maryland is 4-16 in the Big Ten this season. But, even if the Big Ten regular season crown can’t be won, this weekend is huge for both Minnesota and Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament futures. The Gophers come into the weekend ranked #10 in the RPI. Northwestern is #11. A sweep by either team would have huge implications on their placement in the RPI ranking and could potentially determine if one or both teams would be able in theory to host an NCAA Regional in two weeks. A bad weekend for either team and they are probably resigned to the fact that they will need to hit the road for the NCAA Tournament.....again. As for this weekend it should be a doozy. Northwestern and Minnesota are 1-2 in the Big Ten in pitching. Northwestern has a team ERA of 1.58 and has allowed just 33 runs in 133 innings. The Gophers are right behind with an ERA of 1.92 and have allowed just 41 runs in 127.1 innings. Offensively the Gophers have the advantage. As a team they are hitting .342 to the Wildcats .305. The Gophers .611 slugging percentage leads the conference. In the circle it will be a battle of aces this weekend. Minnesota will throw Fiser twice most likely. In Big Ten play Fiser is 12-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 131 strikeouts. The only pitcher in the conference with better numbers than Fiser is Northwestern’s Danielle Williams. Williams is 13-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 129 strikeouts. Both teams secondary pitchers have been good as well in conference play. Minnesota’s Sydney Smith is 6-1 with a 2.53 ERA while Northwestern’s Kenna Wilkey is 3-0 with a 3.11 ERA. Minnesota will need to use their advantage at the plate to win the series this weekend. The Gophers have three of the top six hitters in the conference in Makenna Partain, DenHartog, and Hope Brander. Partain leads the Big Ten in runs, DenHartog in RBIs and Brandner in home runs. If the Gophers can get to Williams and take advantage of the top of their lineup, it would be a big boon for Minnesota’s chances to sweep. Game 1 will be at 6Pm Friday night and will stream on BTN+. Saturday’s game will begin at 3PM and will air live on ESPN2. Sunday’s finale will begin at 3PM and will air live on BTN. No matter what happens this weekend Minnesota is locked into a top three seed in the Big Ten Tournament next weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. Minnesota has won the tournament three consecutive years and in four of the last five seasons.<doc-sep>
Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins has a way of boiling things down to the nitty-gritty and the fine details. But there is an amusing term she likes to use that she believes makes a team hard to beat in the postseason. The top-seeded Wolverines (40-11, 22-1 Big Ten) earned the outright Big Ten championship last Sunday in a 12-3 win at Maryland and with Northwestern’s shutout loss at Minnesota. Michigan gets a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament that begins Thursday at Indiana, and will play the winner of Nebraska-Illinois on Friday afternoon. The 12-team single-elimination tournament concludes with Saturday’s championship game at Indiana’s Andy Mohr Field. The champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan moved up a spot to No. 21 in the national rankings after winning the program’s second straight regular-season title. The Wolverines have won 21 of the last 28 conference regular-season championships. For Hutchins, in her 35th season as Michigan head coach, this time of year is when the fun truly begins. “I told our kids the other day, the reasons we do everything we do all year, it’s to get to the postseason,” Hutchins said Tuesday on the Big Ten softball conference call. “ I think the greatest thing about postseason play is regardless what’s gone on all year, your team becomes one big selfless amoeba. Everybody just playing together.” Selfless amoeba. Selfless amoeba? That’s sort of difficult to process, and then when you really think about it, this Hutchism makes total sense in this context. After a rough start to the season, playing on the road and trying to find an identity, the Wolverines began to click in a big way. They won games in which they needed to come back, and they dominated teams they should have dominated. Their one league blemish was a loss at Ohio State. So how does a team become a selfless amoeba? Does it always become one in the postseason? “Honestly, I feel from the minute we got back from our preseason travels, our team had kinda found its way through some difficult early season games, and the seniors put the team on their back and said, ‘We’re going to get this done.’ And they’ve done it for us on the field,” Hutchins said. “When somebody isn’t getting it done, because inevitably every game, some people are on, some aren’t, they’ve picked each other up, they’ve stepped up for each other and they’ve never quit. “This team has reminded me all season, especially our last 20 games, that they’re just one big selfless amoeba. That’s often what happens in postseason. We’ve been postseason ball for a good portion of the year.” That’s a significant statement for a coach whose goal is to win the Big Ten tournament and host an NCAA Regional. That might be a tall task, but more than likely the Wolverines will have to beat either No. 2 seed Northwestern (42-9, 21-2 Big Ten) or No. 3 Minnesota (39-11, 20-2), the three-time defending tournament champion, and a win over either would give the Wolverines' RPI a boost. Whether that would be enough would be for the NCAA Tournament committee to decide. More: Michigan softball turned season around, hits stretch drive on a roll Pitching is always key in the postseason and Michigan has a one-two punch in sophomore Meghan Beaubien and freshman Alex Storako. Storako entered the final regular-season game at Maryland last Sunday with bases loaded and no outs. After walking the first batter, she finished the game with three straight strikeouts. “I have to say that Alex Storako has done the one thing coaches enjoy -- she gets better every week,” Hutchins said. “She’s given us a whole different look. She’s given us an added arm when we needed one, and we have needed that. Meghan has had some fantastic games, and she’s had some games we needed to give teams a different look. Storako has stepped it up, especially the last month. And going into this postseason, we’re going to need it. We’re very pleased with her emergence, and I credit her work ethic and her complete trust in our pitching coach, Jen Brundage.” The Wolverines’ journey to success this season has been about the team’s five seniors, Hutchins said. “This year’s team has been extremely player-driven, and I would say very much led by our senior class,” she said.