Minnesota softball closes out the regular season this weekend as it welcomes in Michigan to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium for a three-game series.
Action starts Friday night at 6 p.m. followed by first pitches Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon. All games will be streamed on B1G+ with live stats on StatBroadcast.com.
Entering the Weekend
Minnesota holds a 19-28 record overall and a 4-15 mark in Big Ten play entering this weekend’s action.
After winning the final game of their series at Wisconsin, the Gophers took all four games against Pitt and North Dakota last weekend, including three shutouts. The five-game win streak is tied for the team’s longest of the season, matching a five-game streak from late February into early March. Minnesota is looking for its first six-game win streak since winning six straight last season from March 29 to April 6.
The Golden Gophers shut out Pitt Friday and Saturday, marking the team’s first back-to-back shutouts since blanking Ohio State (4/30) and Michgian (5/5) in 2023. That was also the last time the Gophers had three shutouts in a four-game span, like this past weekend as Minnesota posted shutouts in the opener and finale with the Wolverines.
Minnesota is 8-7 in home games this season, including 4-6 at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The Gophers were 4-1 when hosting opponents at U.S. Bank Stadium for the Gopher Indoor Classic.
Weekend Promotions
Friday: Fan Appreciation Bingo Day – The first 500 fans receive a bingo card for a chance to win a variety of prizes.
Saturday: Youth/Gopher Kids Club Day – The first 100 kids receive a Gophers headband, and the Gophers will sign autographs post-game. In addition, it’s Anoka/Ramsey Community Day celebrating Ramsey native, Brooklyn Jones!
Sunday: Senior Day – Help celebrate all the Gopher Softball seniors during their final game at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
Schwartz in the Circle
Junior Sydney Schwartz has been the team’s go-to pitcher this season, appearing in 36 games (fourth in the Big Ten) with 24 starts (third in the league) and tallying a team-high 143.0 innings, good for fifth in the Big Ten. Sporting a 9-14 record, she’s got a 2.84 earned run average and 113 strikeouts to 57 walks. She’s got three saves on the year, which rank fourth in the Big Ten, while her 11 complete games rank fifth in the conference. Schwartz has thrown five shutouts this season to rank second in the Big Ten and 15th nationally. Three of her five shutouts came last weekend, highlighted by her first career no-hitter.
For her performance against Pitt and North Dakota, Schwartz took home the first weekly conference honors of her career when she was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Monday. She went 3-0 and added a save in 16.0 scoreless innings over four appearances to help Minnesota to a pair of wins over both Pitt and North Dakota. Schwartz struck out 15 on the weekend with just six hits allowed and four walks issued. She limited opponents to a .105 batting average. She also helped her cause at the plate by going 4-for-9 with a home run, five runs batted in, three walks and a pair of runs scored.
Friday against Pitt she threw a three-hit shutout and followed the next day with a two-hit shutout against the Panthers. Saturday, she came on in relief and got the final three outs to get the save against North Dakota. Sunday, she wrapped up her outstanding weekend with a no-hitter against the Fighting Hawks, the first of her career and the second for the Gophers this year after Presley Hosick and Natalie Susa combined to throw one against Wagner on Feb. 28. Schwartz struck out four with one walk allowed in the weekend finale. Schwartz became the 13th individual to throw a no-hitter in team history and it was the 34th overall in program annals.
Schwartz’s win was the first weekly conference honor for Minnesota since Jess Oakland was named Player of the Week twice last year on April 1 and 30. Autumn Pease is the last Gopher to be named Pitcher of the Week, earning the accolades on May 8, 2023.
Taylor on a Tear
Senior Taylor Krapf has provided the power for Minnesota this season, leading the team and ranking 11th in the Big Ten with a career-high 15 home runs. That number is tied for seventh in program history, surpassing the 14 she hit in in 2023 and tying Natalie DenHartog, who reached the number in 2021.
In addition to home runs, Krapf also leads the team in runs scored (31), doubles (14), RBI (38), slugging percentage (.822), walks (27), hit by pitch (13) and on-base percentage (.488). Krapf’s hit by pitch total ranks third in the Big Ten and 25th nationally.
With a home run Saturday against Pitt, Krapf became the seventh Gopher to reach 40 career homers, tying Kendyl Lindaman and Kaitlyn Richardson.
Valuable Valencia
Fellow senior Nani Valencia leads the team with a .356 batting average. She’s also one of three Gophers to have more walks (19) than strikeouts (15) this season along with Krapf (27-to-19) and Kayla Chavez (10-to-8). In fact, Valencia has more extra-base hits (16) than punchouts (15) this season.
Facing Michigan
Minnesota is 30-80 all-time against Michigan as the teams meet for the first time since a three-game series in Minneapolis in 2023.
The last time the Wolverines visited, Minnesota posted a three-game sweep. It was the first series win against Michigan since 2012 and just the third sweep in program history. In 1999 the Gophers took both games of a doubleheader in Ann Arbor, while in 1983 they swept a four-game series in Minneapolis.
Michigan enters the game with an 32-18 record overall and a 9-10 mark in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have lost six of their past seven games, however, including three-game sweeps at the hands of Ohio State and UCLA sandwiched around a 6-1 win over Oakland on April 22.
The Gophers and Wolverines have seven common opponents this year, including Duke, Louisville, Missouri and NC State out of conference and Michigan State, Oregon and Wisconsin within Big Ten play. Minnesota went 4-9 against those teams, while Michigan was 5-7. Both the Gophers and Wolverines beat NC State and lost to Duke once in early season tournaments. In addition, both lost matchups with Louisville (two for the Gophers) and were swept in a three-game series with Oregon. Minnesota defeated Missouri, while the Wolverines lost to the Tigers. The Gophers split a two-game series with Michigan State, while Michigan took two-of-three. Michigan also won both games versus Wisconsin, while Minnesota lost two-of-three.
As a team, Michigan is hitting .315 with a .389 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. Indiana Langford leads the team in batting average (.407) and is tied for the lead in stolen bases (14). Jenissa Conway has a team-high 16 home runs and is also tops in runs (50), hits (64), triples (2) and RBI (44). Meanwhile, Lauren Putz has Michigan’s best slugging percentage (.755) and OBP (.486) to go with a team-high 14 doubles and 23 walks.
Michigan’s pitching staff sports a 3.21 earned run average as a team with 272 strikeouts to 130 walks in 318.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .227 against the staff. Lauren Derkowski has a team-high 149.1 innings pitched this year, striking out 141 batters and issuing 63 walks along with a team-best 2.95 ERA. Tallying a 12-12 record with five saves, opponents are hitting .216 off her.
Highlights From Last Weekend
In going 4-0 last weekend, the Gophers outscored Pitt and North Dakota by a combined 30-3.
As a team, Minnesota hit .346 with a .464 on-base percentage and .551 slugging percentage, drawing 17 walks compared to 14 strikeouts. Conversely, Gopher opponents were limited to a .159/.207/.207 slash line with 21 strikeouts to five walks. Home runs from Taylor Krapf, Sydney Schwartz and Jessa Snippes highlighted the offensive output. Nani Valencia finished with a team-high seven RBI in the series, while Krapf was 6=for-9 with two doubles and a home run.
As noted earlier, Schwartz was outstanding in the circle, throwing 16.0 scoreless innings with a .105 average against and 15 strikeouts to four walks. She recorded wins in three of the four games and got the save in the other. Freshman Natalie Susa got the win out of the bullpen for Minnesota Saturday against North Dakota. She threw a career-high 5.1 innings in relief, giving up two hits, one walk, no runs and tied a career high by striking out six.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
