B1G Quarterfinals MINNESOTA SOFTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS NFCA DIVISION 1 LEADOFF CLASSIC Date Opponent Result Feb. 7 NC State Feb. 7 Missouri State No. 8/7 Minnesota Missouri Feb. 8 Missouri Feb. 8 South Alabama Feb. 8 • 11:30 a.m. Feb. 9 Kentucky 2019: 46-14 Feb. 14 Oklahoma State Feb. 14 Florida State 2019 Record ................................................ 35-25 Feb. 15 Virginia Tech Returning hitter ...................Brooke Wilmes (.356) Feb. 16 Missouri VS Returning pitcher ................ Eli Daniel (2.71 ERA) Feb. 21 Texas State Feb. 21 Tulsa Feb. 22 Texas State NC State South Alabama Feb. 22 at Baylor Feb. 23 Tulsa Feb. 7 • 1:30 p.m. Feb. 28 Binghamton Feb. 8 • 2:00 p.m. Feb. 28 at Auburn Feb. 29 Georgia Southern 2019 Record ................................................ 31-27 2019 Record ................................................ 18-31 Feb. 29 at Auburn Returning hitter .......................... Sam Russ (.326) Returning hitter .......................Victoria Ortiz (.357) Mar. 1 Binghamton Returning pitcher .........Devin Wallace (3.47 ERA) Returning pitcher ..............Jamie Finnical (50 IPs) Mar. 6 Cal State Fullerton Mar. 6 at Long Beach State Mar. 7 Cal Poly Missouri State No. 15/16 Kentucky Mar. 7 at UCLA Mar. 8 UCF Feb. 7 • 4:00 p.m. Mar. 11 at Hawaii Feb. 9 • 10:00 a.m. Mar. 12 Texas Tech Mar. 13 Drexel 2019 Record ................................................ 30-21 2019 Record ................................................ 36-24 Mar. 13 at Hawaii Mar. 14 Texas Tech Returning hitter ................... Payton Minnis (.344) Returning hitter ................ Alex Martens (66 RBIs) Mar. 20 at Ohio State (B1G) Returning pitcher............Steffany Dickerson (20 Ws) Returning pitcher ........ Autumn Humes (23 starts) Mar. 21 at Ohio State (B1G) Mar. 22 at Ohio State (B1G) Mar. 27 Nebraska (B1G) Mar. 28 Nebraska (B1G) Weekend Info Following History Mar. 29 Nebraska (B1G) The No. 8/7 University of Minnesota Gophers begin The Gophers are coming off a historic season in head Apr. 3 at Michigan (B1G) Apr. 4 at Michigan (B1G) the season at the NFCA Div. 1 Leadoff Classic. coach Jamie Trachsel’s second season coaching in Apr. 5 at Michigan (B1G) They open with NC State and Missouri State. On Dinkytown. After playing the nation’s toughest non- Apr. 10 Illinois (B1G) conference schedule and going 20-2 in Big Ten play, Apr. 11 Illinois (B1G) Saturday the Maroon and Gold will take on SEC foe Apr. 12 Illinois (B1G) Missouri who is receiving votes in both major polls Minnesota earned the No. 7 overall seed and went 5-0 Apr. 15 Wisconsin (B1G) and South Alabama. Sunday’s matchup will feature through the Minneapolis Regional and Super Regional. Apr. 15 Wisconsin (B1G) Led by Amber Fiser in the circle, the Gophers earned Apr. 17 at Indiana (B1G) a battle with 2019 Super Regional team Kentucky. Apr. 18 at Indiana (B1G) The Wildcats open at No.15/16 in both major polls. their first ever trip to the Women’s College World Series Apr. 19 at Indiana (B1G) in the NCAA era. Apr. 22 NDSU Apr. 22 NDSU The tournament will take place at the Eddie C. Apr. 24 Rutgers (B1G) Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. The classic is Minnesota also set five top-10 all-time attendance Apr. 25 Rutgers (B1G) back after a five-year hiatus. All five of the Gophers numbers as Jane Sage Cowles Stadium shined on the Apr. 26 Rutgers (B1G) May 1 at Northwestern (B1G) games will be available on a free stream courtesy of national stage. The Gophers ended the season No. 8 in May 2 at Northwestern (B1G) the NFCA Youtube page. Check gophersports.com both major polls, a program record, and open the 2020 May 3 at Northwestern (B1G) and head to the softball schedule page for links. season with high expectations at No. 8 in the NFCA May 7 B1G Tournament Begins Coaches Poll and No.7 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball The Gophers will be back in Clearwater the second poll. Softball America and FloSoftball have the Gophers May 15 NCAA Tournament Begins at No. 6 and D1Softball puts Minnesota No. 7. weekend of the season for the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational. Preseason Honors 2019 LEADERS Softball America’s Top-100: Fiser (7), DenHartog (40), Batting Average....................MaKenna Partain (.383) Brandner (46), Partain (57) Runs..........................................MaKenna Partain (66) Home Runs............................. Hope Brandner (19) Softball America All-Americans: Fiser (1st), DenHartog RBI..........................................Natalie DenHartog (64) (3rd), Partain (3rd) Stolen Bases............................MaKenna Partain (13) ERA...........................................Amber Fiser (1.27) USA Softball Top-50 Collegiate POY Watch List: Fiser Strikeouts....................................Amber Fiser (346) 2020 GOPHER SOFTBALL @GOPHERSOFBALL 2019 Record When Overall...................................................46-14 Fiser’s Finest Home.......................................... 15-1 Amber Fiser has already cemented herself as one of the top players in Gopher softball history and Away........................................... 15-6 is making a case for one of the top players in all of NCAA softball going into the 2020 season. She Neutral........................................ 16-7 is fifth all-time in program history in wins (72) and strikeouts (666). With UCLA’s Rachel Garcia Big Ten.................................................... 20-2 taking an Olympic redshirt, Fiser is the NCAA active leader in strikeouts going into the season. Home.......................................... 10-1 Away........................................... 10-1 In 2019, Fiser was named a First Team NFCA All-American, was a Honda Cup Award Finalist and Non-Conference....................................24-11 was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. She ranked third in the NCAA in wins, fifth in strike- Home.......................................... 5-0 outs and 12th in ERA. Her 31 wins on the season tied for second all-time in program history and Away........................................... 5-5 346 strikeouts was third all-time. She set a school record and matched a conference record with Neutral........................................ 14-6 six Big Ten Pitcher of the Week awards. She also picked up two NFCA Division I Pitcher of the vs. Ranked opponents...........................10-11 Week awards. vs. Unranked opponents..........................6-3 vs. Left Hand Starter............................... 5-6 Fiser hit double-digit strikeouts in 14 games including a career high 13 strikeouts five times. She vs. Right Hand Starter............................ 41-8 also pitched four complete game one-hitters in 2019. She has thrown two no-hitters in her career, One-run games .......................................4-4 both in 2018. Her last one was a perfect game at Purdue on Apr. 27, 2018. Two-run games .......................................4-6 Five or more run games .........................23-3 The Van Horne, Iowa native opens the season as the No. 7 ranked player on Softball America’s In extra innings .......................................1-1 Top-100 list. She is also a Softball America Preseason All-American and was named to the USA Shutouts ................................................20-4 Softball Top-50 Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List. Scoring 0-2 runs .....................................2-10 Scoring 3-5 runs .....................................21-3 Run MaKenna, Run! Scoring 6-9 runs .....................................16-1 MaKenna Partain has etched her name into Gophers history and has a chance to leave as one Scoring 10+ runs ....................................7-0 of the most productive offensive players in team history but has done so quietly when it comes to Allowing 0-2 runs ....................................35-4 national attention. She has already made 175 career starts with the majority of her action coming Allowing 3-5 runs ....................................11-7 at second base. She spent last season as the Gophers leadoff batter and broke the program Allowing 6-9 runs ....................................0-2 single season record with 66 runs. She also set program and Big Ten record with five runs scored Allowing 10+ runs ...................................0-1 at Maryland on Mar. 23. Scoring first .............................................39-4 Opponent scores first .............................7-9 Partain led Minnesota in batting average (.383), runs (66), hits (72), triples (4) and on base per- Has more hits........................................ 42-3 centage (.484) in 2019. She is 22 doubles and 34 rusn away from owning Gophers career records Opponent has more hits .........................4-10 in both categories. Her .379 batting average would place her in the top-5 all-time right now (record Hits are tied ............................................0-1 is .399 by Amber Hegland). Partain is a two-time All-Big Ten honoree and a three-time NFCA All- Leading after four innings .......................37-1 Great Lakes All-Region selection. She was named a Preseason All-American by Softball America. Trailing after four innings ........................2-11 Tied after four innings .............................7-2 Leading after five innings ........................36-0 Fresh Faces Trailing after five innings .........................1-12 Last year the Gophers were boosted in a big way by freshman Natalie DenHartog and transfer Tied after five innings .............................5-2 Hope Brandner. DenHartog was an NFCA