If the Gophers can make it past McNeese State, Northern Colorado and No. 7-seeded Washington this weekend, they would advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.
GOPHERS SOFTBALL GAMEDAY
NCAA Seattle Regional (double elimination) at UW Husky Stadium
All games streamed on ESPN+
Friday
Game 1: Gophers vs. McNeese State, 5:30 p.m.
Game 2: Northern Colorado vs. No. 7 Washington, 8 p.m.
Saturday
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 6:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 9 p.m.
Sunday
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 3 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch Game 6, 6:30 p.m.
Gophers: After finishing third in the Big Ten, Minnesota (37-17) is making its 10th straight trip to the NCAA tournament, the longest stretch in the conference. Coach Piper Ritter's team has 10 more wins than last season. Big Ten pitcher of the year Autumn Pease saw her 13-game win streak snapped in the Big Ten tournament semifinal loss to Indiana.
McNeese State: The Cowgirls (44-14) are making their third straight NCAA tourney appearance after winning the Southland Conference tournament with a 1-0 victory against Southeastern Louisiana. Senior outfielder Alayis Seneca leads the team with a .373 batting average and 62 hits.
Washington: The No. 7 NCAA overall seed Huskies (38-12) finished second in the Pac-12 but were upset by Utah in the conference tournament semifinals. Washington still managed to host a regional for the seventh straight season. All-league first-team infielder Baylee Klingler ranks second in the Pac-12 in batting average (.406).
Northern Colorado: The Bears (26-21) earned the automatic NCAA tournament bid after winning their first Big Sky tournament title with an upset against No. 1 seed Idaho State last week.
Getting Jaylen Crocker-Johnson to transfer from Colorado State set the tone for the rest of Minnesota's frontcourt rebuild.
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