The ‘U’ continues their travels as they head to Beaumont, Texas. The Gophers will take on McNeese State on the campus of Lamar University. Minnesota will stay in the central time zone for the rest of the season after traveling to each time zone in the United States to start the season. Minnesota vs. McNeese State will start at 1:00 PM CT
Minnesota (11-12, 0-0 B1G) vs. McNeese State (13-12, 1-2 Southland)
Date: Tuesday, March 11
Time: 1:00PM (CT)
McNeese State
The Gophers continue their 51st season of competition against McNeese State. The Cowboys are 13-12 on the year and 1-2 in the Southland conference. McNeese comes into the matchup with the ‘U’ having lost 2 straight. Minnesota went 2-2 over the weekend to come into the game on a 1 game losing streak
Checking Out the Field
Minnesota continues their run of facing stiff competition. The Gophers and Cowboys have only 2 common opponents. Both teams were run ruled by #6 Tennessee and both teams have beaten South Alabama. McNeese is hitting .285 on the year and allowing opponents to hit .298 against them. The Cowboys have hit 11 homeruns on the year and are slugging .420 as a team. McNeese likes to run when they get on the base paths. They have stolen 53 bases in 66 attempts to begin the year. The Cowboys have struck out 100 times and have a team on-base percentage of .371
History
The Gophers and Cowboys will meet this week for the first time since McNeese State beat the ‘U’ twice in the Seattle Regional in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. McNeese beat the Gophers 5-4 in 13 innings to begin the regional. Current Gopher Sydney Schwartz ended up taking the loss in that contest when she came in from the Gopher bullpen. McNeese then defeated the ‘U’ 1-0 to end their season in the NCAA Tournament. That tournament loss was the last time the Gophers appeared in the NCAA Tournament having not made the field last season. McNeese ended the Maroon and Gold’s 10 year streak of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Current Gophers Kayla Chavez, Taylor Krapf, Nani Valencia, Breezy Burnett, and Sydney Schwartz were all on the 2023 team that fell to McNeese twice
Stats Highlights From Last Weekend
The Gophers went 2-2 beating South Alabama twice and falling to #4 LSU twice. Taylor Krapf was one of the standout players at the plate as she hit .273 with 3 hits and 2 of those were solo home runs. She recorded 10 putouts in the field and slugged .818 for the weekend. Margaret Tobias was another standout performer on the weekend. She hit .600 with 6 hits in 10 at-bats. She scored 1 run, had 2 RBI, and walked 3 times. Her on-base % was .692 for the weekend. Freshman Tinley Easton had a good weekend at the plate as well. She hit .308 with 4 hits, 1 RBI, and an on-base % of .308. Only 2 Gophers hit over .300 this weekend. Highlighted by Tobias hitting .600. In the circle, Sydney Schwartz had another standout weekend. She posted a 1.50 ERA going 1-1 with 1 save as well on the weekend. She threw a 9-inning complete game shutout against South Alabama to help the ‘U’ secure the win. She appeared in 3 games, having started 2 of them. She had 7 strikeouts and held opponents to a .217 average over her 3 appearances.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
