Gophers softball season preview: New-look squad seeks 11th NCAA tournament trip in a row

The Gophers softball team was red-hot leaving last year’s Big Ten tournament but went cold during its 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

Minnesota finished the season 38-18, third in the Big Ten (17-6).

The road back will prove to be difficult as Minnesota’s schedule is filled with 13 NCAA tournament teams from last season, eight of which finished in the NFCA Top 25.

The Gophers will start their journey on Friday in San Diego against UC-Santa Barbara, as they begin a new era without Big Ten pitcher of the year Autumn Pease and slugger Natalie DenHartog, who hit 71 home runs in her career.

Coach Piper Ritter added catcher Cassie Lindmark and outfielder Morgan DeBord as graduate transfers from Penn State and Loyola Marymount, respectively.

“The identity of this team and what this team is going to be is going to be different from last year,” Ritter said.

Returning players include last year’s team co-leaders in home runs, catcher Taylor Krapf and shortstop Jess Oakland, as well as the dependable bat of third baseman Kayla Chavez.

One of Ritter’s main objectives in retooling the roster was to add infield depth to last throughout the 55-game season.

“I think we have an extremely tough schedule, but I think it’s going to be really good for us and to prepare for the Big Ten play,” Oakland said.

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The Gophers need to replace Pease, who went 27-7 with a 1.46 ERA last season. Their pitching circle now includes three freshmen, one being Minnesota Ms. Softball Jessa Snipes, and a mix of upperclassmen.

As for the bullpen, Ritter said she is deploying a rotating cast of pitchers to start the season.

Pitching will look slightly different this year with NCAA rule changes announced in August, including the shortening of the pitch clock from 25 to 20 seconds.

“There are a lot of people that are concerned … but I don’t see it to be a real problem,” Ritter said.

A theme to watch for the Gophers is their ability to handle failure while maintaining enough energy to last them until the postseason.

Ritter said that the team peaked at the wrong time last season and cannot afford to have its hitting streak fizzle out late.

“We have to figure out how to keep that fight and that burn underneath us past the Big Ten,” Ritter said.

For Oakland and outfielder Breezy Burnett, the battle to push themselves further into the season starts from understanding their own mental state.

Oakland said she did not meet the high expectations she set for herself. While for Burnett, she said she began to understand the importance of mental health in the offseason, learning to cope with failure to make herself stronger.

When asked how to carry the momentum like last season’s into this year, Burnett said it is about “not forgetting how we ended.”

The Gophers have made the NCAA tournament every year since 2013, not counting the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Last season in the Seattle regional, they went 1-2, with the two losses to McNeese State.

“We always talk about it in the locker room,” Burnett said. “We want to go further, want to keep pushing and that motivates us. So we’re not going to let up this year at all.”