Positive Numbers: Gopher softball (First Time Ever!). I have never warmed up to softball. I had a friend from USC do softball up in Fresno for a season, and my comments to him basically remain today: That all you really need are a pitcher and a catcher because it seems as if there the pitcher is able to strike out 20 batters per game. And if you strike out 15, you probably lost because chances are the opposing pitcher struck out 20. Softball seems way too skewed towards pitching, let alone being one-dimensional, to be considered a competitive "sport."
Well, after seeing the Minneapolis Regional at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in the heart of the sports complex at the U., maybe that assessment is a bit harsh. I still have many reservations with the portions of two games I saw. There are way too many strikeouts for my liking, even though seeing Sara Groenewegen mow down the first eights she faced in relief in Saturday afternoon's eventual victory over North Dakota St. in ten innings was pretty fucking awesome. And the shrunken field (at least shrunken compared to baseball dimensions) means that a fast batter could reach first on a slow grounder and, like, five strides, tipping the game way too much towards situational ball, such as bunt-and-gos. But I did see the need for all nine players on the field, for the ball was hit to all parts of the stadium. Even better, the games (at least the parts I saw before I had to leave, to have dinner with Mother Saturday and to catch the Lynx game Sunday) were good and competitive. In particular, Sunday evening's winner-take-all contest featured five lead changes, the last of which came in the bottom of the sixth where Gophers Infielder Sam Macken launched a three-run homer to right-center to put Minnesota ahead for good. Best of all, the Gopher won both games I was present to watch, even though they were tied with the Bison when I left Saturday and they trailed Auburn 2-0 when I left Sunday afternoon's game. I don't know if I would volunteer myself a convert if the Gophers lost.
Regardless, congratulations to Minnesota. They followed up only their second time hosting a Regional (the first one was in 2002) and their first time in the NCAA Tournament since 2003 by advancing to their first Super Regional since Super Regionals began. They face the overall number-one seed in the tourney, Oregon, in a best-of-three series this Memorial Weekend. So they might get drubbed. So what? Reaching this point already makes this program's season a success. Now, I don't know if I know enough about U. softball to put them into the WMNSS on the regular, but I have to respect the standing-room-only crowd (me being one of those standing) of the albeit "cozy" Cowles Stadium as evidence that there are a lot of people who love softball. That's an impressive point to consider with regard to begin following them.
#0: Twins (Last Week: -2). With their late Tuesday evening win over San Diego at Petco by a score of 5-3, they finish this screening week with a 4-1 record and a 22-21 record overall. (Why only five games? Last week's survey was filed after their loss Wednesday night and Monday was an off day.) When was the last time they were above .500 this far into the season? That's encouraging.
What's not encouraging? Haven't heard much from Joe Mauer lately. Brian Dozier has been the best hitter in the lineup. On the bump, Phil Hughes has been the Twins' best starting pitcher, but his numbers (compared to those when he was playing for the Yankees and playing against the American League East) may be skewed because of the, um, prairie-like dimensions of Target Field. He may not be as good as his numbers say, is what I'm saying. But hey, at least they're not totally awful this season, at least so far. They finish the back half of their annual weirdo two-game mid-week series against the Padres, then begin a weekend trio in San Francisco before coming back home for a four-game series against the Texas Rangers starting Memorial Day.
#-1: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1). Well, at least they didn't get swept. It took ten innings, but they took the first game of their three-game series at Indiana, the class of the B1G, 2-1 on Thursday. Sure, they bombed out to the Hoosiers by 7-3 and 8-0 scores to lose the series, but they made the conference tournament.
And so did a lot of others. I have to correct what I kind of wrote last week: For the longest time only the top six teams in the conference could play in the tourney. But for some reason, this year they allowed eight teams in. It remains double-elimination, however. It's a format that leads to quick eliminations, which I don't like because I think it's kind of cruel to have two teams that lost their first game to face each other in a loser-goes-home situation. But the main drawback to this particular format is the eight teams. To try and crown a tournament champeen in five days, they are going to try and cram in four games each day. The first game on Wednesday and Thursday (and, if circumstances warrant, Saturday, even though that day may not see four games and may see only two) will begin at 10 a.m. Central Time, which to me is way too early in the morning to play a game.
At least it's not the Gophers doing this. They actually get the late game; the fourth-seeded Gophs play five-seed Michigan in a game scheduled for 10 p.m. (wow, 10 at night??? Another reason why an eight-team double-elim tournament may not be a good idea) Wednesday night. The rest of their journey through the tourney depends on whether they win or lose that opening game versus the Wolverines.
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