LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Athletics Press Release) – The Nebraska softball team travels to Minneapolis this weekend for a three-game series against Minnesota to close out the regular season. Friday’s opener will start at 6 p.m. with Saturday’s game slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch and Sunday’s finale set for Noon.

Nebraska (27-21) and Minnesota (26-22) are both battling to be one of the four teams that receives a bye for next week’s Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers enter the final weekend in fourth place in the Big Ten standings with a 12-8 conference record. The Huskers are just a half game behind in fifth place with a 10-8 Big Ten record.

It should be a close series as Nebraska and Minnesota are similar on paper. Both teams boast one of the top offenses in the Big Ten. The Huskers are hitting .290 as a team and average 5.7 runs per game while the Gophers are batting .292 and score an average of 6.1 runs per game. Nebraska has hit 86 doubles and 52 home runs while Minnesota has totaled 83 doubles and hit 51 home runs.

In the circle, Minnesota’s team ERA of 4.22 is nearly identical to Nebraska’s 4.26 ERA, and the Gophers allowed 4.8 runs per game compared to 4.9 runs per game by the Huskers. The teams are also the top two fielding teams in the Big Ten as Minnesota leads the league with a .972 fielding percentage and Nebraska ranks second, fielding at a .971 clip.

The first two games of the series will air on the Big Ten Network while Sunday’s final game can be seen with a subscription to Big Ten+, with subscriptions starting at $9.99 a month.

Scouting Minnesota (26-22, 12-8 Big Ten)

Minnesota is 26-22 on the season and enters the weekend in fourth place in the Big Ten standings with a 12-8 conference record. The Gophers are coming off a three-game sweep at Iowa last weekend.

Nebraska and Minnesota share six common opponents this season in Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, San Diego State, Washington and Wisconsin. The Huskers posted a 7-4 record against that group while the Gophers also went 7-4.

Minnesota is batting .292 as a team while averaging 6.1 runs per game, a total that ranks 27th nationally. The Golden Gophers lead the Big Ten and rank 12th nationally in walks. Defensively, Minnesota owns a 4.22 ERA and a .972 fielding percentage while allowing 4.8 runs per game. The Gophers lead the Big Ten and rank 30th nationally in fielding percentage.

• Jess Oakland is Minnesota’s top hitter and is among the best hitters in the country. Oakland is hitting more than .100 higher than any other Gopher, as she leads the team with a .455 average, 71 hits, 16 doubles, 19 homers, 64 runs and 54 RBI.
• Oakland has put up remarkable statistics in Big Ten play. She is batting .523 in the conference season with 34 hits, 11 doubles, 11 home runs and 34 runs.
• With three conference games still remaining, Oakland already ranks second in Big Ten history for home runs in a conference season (11, one shy of tying the record) and runs in a conference season (34, four shy of tying the record). Oakland’s 11 doubles currently rank as the fourth-most in conference season in Big Ten history.
• On the season, Oakland leads the Big Ten in batting average, hits, home runs, runs, on-base percentage (.552) and slugging percentage (.923) while ranking second in the conference in RBI.
• Nationally, Oakland ranks third in runs per game and slugging percentage, sixth in batting average, home runs and on-base percentage and 19th in RBI.
• Morgan DeBord is batting .354 this season and has produced eight doubles, three home runs and 27 RBI.
• Taylor Krapf owns a .306 average and has 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 45 RBI.
• Sydney Strelow is hitting .299 and has tied Oakland for the team lead with 35 walks.
• Breezy Burnett has started every game and is a perfect 13-of-13 on stolen bases.
• In the circle, Bri Enter has seen the most action but she has not pitched since April 17. Enter is 12-7 on the year with a 3.16 ERA in 110.2 innings. She leads the Gophers in wins, ERA, innings, starts (19), complete games (4) and strikeouts (67) while tying for the team lead with one save.
• Jacie Hambrick is 6-8 on the year with one save and a 4.80 ERA in 89.0 innings. She leads Minnesota with 30 appearances and ranks second in starts (16) and innings.
• Macy Richardson and Sydney Schwartz have also seen significant time in the circle. Richardson is 5-4 with a 5.30 ERA over 27 appearances, 10 starts and 67.1 innings. Schwartz is 3-2 with one save and a 3.21 ERA in 28.1 innings over 10 appearances.
• Jessa Snippes (0-1, 6.66 ERA in 13.2 IP) and Cameron Grayson (0-0, 3.50 ERA in 8.0 IP) round out the Gopher staff.
• Piper Ritter is in her fourth season as Minnesota’s head coach. She has guided the Gophers to a 122-80-1 record. Prior to becoming the head coach, Ritter spent the previous 13 seasons as Minnesota’s pitching coach.

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