Golden Gopher softball finds controversy again in walk-off loss
The Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team finds controversy again in NCAA softball with controversial strike call and a weather-forced screwed up schedule.
Controversy follows the Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team everywhere that they go in the NCAA Tournament it seems. First the Gopher team was snubbed from a top 16 seed in the tournament which effectively denied the Gophers a series of home playoff games. Now the Gophers lost on a walk-off walk on a pitch that surely looked like a strike.
The Gophers played tough with the 16th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide all game long. So toughly played that the Gophers and Crimson Tide entered extra innings scoreless.
It took nine innings, NCAA softball is scheduled to only go seven innings, for Gopher pitcher extraordinaire Sara Groenewegen to issue a walk. The sad story is that the first walk issued was with the bases loaded resulting in a walk-off walk for Alabama.
If the Gophers were seeded properly, they should’ve never had to play Alabama, nonetheless have one of these teams not get through the first weekend of NCAA play. To make matters worse, the weekend in Tuscaloosa has now been thrown amuck due to Mother Nature.
Minnesota was supposed to play a second game on Saturday, an elimination game, against either Louisiana Tech, a team the Gophers beat on Friday, or Albany. That game was storm-delayed in Alabama which pushed back the Gopher game. Tech defeated Albany, 8-1, setting up a rematch between them and the Gophers on Sunday.
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The next game for the Gophers is scheduled for 1:30 Central Sunday from Tuscaloosa against Louisiana Tech. If the Gophers happen to win, they will again play Alabama in the double-elimination tournament. That’s not enough though! If the Gophers happen to beat Alabama in a potential second matchup, they’d have to play a third time.
Yup.
That third potential game with Alabama was supposed to be on Sunday, but Saturday’s postponements pushed that potential regional championship to Monday.
Did you follow that? I’m not sure that I did. The Gopher Softball Twitter account has you covered with up-to-the-minute details with what is going on in the world of Gopher softball.
So a recap of what is set in stone for Gopher softball:
The Gophers will play at least once on Sunday and that game is against Louisiana Tech. The game is scheduled for 1:30. A win means another game for the Gophers on Sunday against Alabama. Visual coverage can be found on the ESPN family of networks.