Minnesota Golden Gophers softball

Minnesota Golden Gophers softball
2025 Minnesota Golden Gophers Season
Founded	1974 (51 years ago)
University	University of Minnesota
Head coach	Piper Ritter (4th season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	Minneapolis, MN
Home stadium	Jane Sage Cowles Stadium (Capacity: 1,000)
Nickname	Golden Gophers
Colors	Maroon and gold [1]
NCAA WCWS appearances
2019
AIAW WCWS appearances
1976, 1978
NCAA Super Regional appearances
2014, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1999, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
Regular Season Conference championships
1986, 1988, 1991, 2017

The Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team represents the University of Minnesota in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I competition. College softball became a varsity sport at the University of Minnesota in 1974.

History

Coaching history

Years	Coach	Record	%
1974–1975, 1977–1989	Linda Wells	350–264–1	.570
1976	Jenny Johnson	16–4	.800
1990–1991	Teresa Wilson	79–59	.572
1992–1998	Lisa Bernstein	239–182–1	.568
1999–2010	Lisa Bernstein & Julie Standering	356–300–2	.543
2011–2017	Jessica Allister	290–107	.730
2018–2020	Jamie Trachsel	102–40–1	.717
2021–present	Piper Ritter	58–37–1	.609

Championships

Conference Championships

Season	Conference	Record	Head coach
1986	Big Ten Conference	15–9	Linda Wells
1988	Big Ten Conference	15–8	Linda Wells
1991	Big Ten Conference	20–4	Teresa Wilson
2017	Big Ten Conference	22–1	Jessica Allister

Conference tournament championships

Year	Conference	Tournament Location	Head coach
1999	Big Ten Conference	Ann Arbor, MI	Lisa Bernstein & Julie Standering
2014	Big Ten Conference	Evanston, IL	Jessica Allister
2016	Big Ten Conference	State College, PA	Jessica Allister
2017	Big Ten Conference	Ann Arbor, MI	Jessica Allister
2018	Big Ten Conference	Madison, WI	Jamie Trachsel

Coaching staff

Name	Position Coached	Consecutive season at Minnesota in current position
Piper Ritter	Head coach	4th (17th at Minnesota)
Carly Wynn	Associate Head Coach	2nd
Annie Smith	Assistant coach	2nd
Bailey Oetting	Assistant coach	2nd
Brooklyn Daly	Graduate assistant	1st
Reference: [2]

Roster

2024 Golden Gophers Roster ^[3]

#	Name	Position	Year	Height	Hometown	High School/Previous Team
1	Breezy Burnett	OF	SO	5'7	Jacksonville, Florida	Trinity Christian Academy
2	Sydney Strelow	INF	GR	5'4	Kenosha, Wisconsin	Bradford High School
3	Addison Leschber	INF	SO	5'8	Thrall, Texas	Thrall High School
4	Maggie Werner	INF	SO	5'10	Greenville, Wisconsin	Hortonville High School
5	Morgan DeBord	OF	GR	5'2	Hillsboro, Oregon	Loyola Marymount
6	Lucy Hooper	INF	FR	5'2	Valley Center, Kansas	Valley Center High School
7	Cameron Grayson	UT/RHP	FR	5'5	Noblesville, Indiana	Noblesville High School
8	Tara Wolocko	C/UT	FR	5'3	Kingwood, Texas	Kingwood High School
9	Jess Oakland	INF	SO	5'9	San Jose, California	Saint Francis High School
11	Sydney Schwartz	P/INF	SO	5'10	Victoria, Minnesota	Chanhassen, Minnesota
12	Macy Richardson	UT/RHP	FR	5'6	Tecumseh, Nebraska	Sterling Public Schools
13	Taylor Krapf	C	JR	6'0	Oviedo, Florida	Duke
16	Lacie Lilyquist	INF	FR	5'4	Hudson, Wisconsin	Hudson High School
17	Maddy Ehlke	INF	SR	5'10	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Bay Port High School
18	Reili Gardner	OF	SR	5'6	Dyersville, Iowa	Illinois State
19	Delanie Cox	UT	GR	5'6	Aurora, Colorado	Cherokee Trail High School
21	Nani Valencia	INF	JR	5'7	Georgetown, Kentucky	Scott County High School
22	Bri Enter	P	GR	5'4	Jacksonville, Florida	Florida State
23	Jacie Hambrick	P	SR	5'10	Dewey, Arizona	Grand Canyon
33	Brooklyn Jones	OF	FR	5'5	Ramsey, Minnesota	Anoka High School
77	Kayla Chavez	INF	JR	5'6	Chino, California	Chino Hills High School
81	Jessica Snippes	RHP	FR	5'9	Rosemount, Minnesota	Rosemount High School

Notable players

National awards

NFCA Catcher of the Year

• Kendyl Lindaman (2017)

Conference awards

Big Ten Player of the Year

• Barb Drake, 1986 ^[4]
• Kari Blank, 1991 ^[4]
• Sara Groenewegen, 2015 ^[5]
• Kendyl Lindaman, 2017, 2018 ^{[6] [7]}
• Jess Oakland, 2024

Big Ten Pitcher of the Year

• Sara Groenewegen, 2014, 2017 ^{[8] [6]}
• Amber Fiser, 2019 ^[9]
• Autumn Pease, 2023 ^[10]

Big Ten Freshman of the Year

• Brenda Bixby, 1988 ^[4]
• Sara Moulton, 2011 ^[11]
• Sara Groenewegen, 2014 ^[8]
• Maddie Houlihan, 2016 ^[12]
• Kendyl Lindaman, 2017 ^[6]

Big Ten Coach of the Year

• Linda Wells, 1988 ^[4]
• Teresa Wilson, 1991 ^[4]
• Jessica Allister, 2017 ^[6]

References

1. "Colors and Type | University Relations" . Retrieved December 20, 2022.
2. "Minnesota Golden Gophers Softball Roster and Coaches". gophersports.com. University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
3. "2024 Softball Roster". gophersports.com. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
4. "2020 Softball Record Book (PDF) - Big Ten Conference" (PDF). BigTen.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 12, 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
5. "Softball Award Winners Named". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
6. "Big Ten Announces Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
7. "Big Ten Announces 2018 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
8. "Big Ten Honors Softball All-Conference Teams and Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
9. "Big Ten Announces 2019 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
10. "Big Ten Conference Announces 2023 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 10, 2023. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
11. "Big Ten Announces Softball All-Big Ten Teams and Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
12. "Softball All-Conference and Award Winners". BigTen.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-18.