Minneapolis Region 2014 Softball World Series Breakdown
#16 Minnesota, Green Bay, Auburn and North Dakota State
The surprise winners of the Big Ten tournament, Minnesota clinched its second Big 10 title in program history and the first since 1999 with a 3-2 win over top-seeded Michigan. The win gave the Golden Gophers a 41-9 overall record and a second straight trip to the field of 64. Minnesota lost in last year’s double-elimination tournament to Hawaii and made it to this year’s field despite having the seventh-best batting average (.284) in the conference. Minnesota did have the top home runs per game (1.17), paced by the powerful hitting of Kaitlyn Richardson, Tyler Walker, Sara Groenewegen and Taylor LeMay.
Auburn (39-17-1) finished with a sub-.500 record in the Southeastern Conference and a return trip to the tournament after missing the field in 2013. Auburn made five straight trips to the NCAA between 2008 and 2012 and did not qualify for the super-regional in any of those years. Freshman Kasey Cooper has 17 homers and 71 RBI for Auburn. Green Bay (27-12) led the Horizon League in doubles per game, earned run average and triples per game, and this is the Phoenix’ first trip to the NCAA since 2005. North Dakota State (35-16) did score wins over Notre Dame and Stanford so they can trip up a big team when necessary. The Bison, who are making their first NCAA trip since 2011, led the Summit League in batting average, double plays per game and fielding percentage.
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