
Last season the Gophers softball team played the toughest nonconference schedule in the country.
The first RPI rankings for this season have not come out yet, but suffice it to say that Minnesota's schedule is among the toughest again so far. That's why the Gophers, just above .500 with a 5-4 record through nine games, are still ranked No. 17 in the latest USA Today/NFCA weekly poll.
In the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational last weekend, Minnesota beat then-No. 5 Florida State 7-6 -- best win so far this season -- and then-No. 19 Missouri 10-1 in six innings, and lost to then-No. 16-Oklahoma State 2-0 and Virginia Tech, the defending ACC champion, 2-1.
Five things to know this week about the Gophers:
1. The schedule does not get much easier this week in the Baylor Invitational in Waco, Texas. None of the three teams the Gophers will play -- Texas State (twice), Tulsa (twice) and Baylor (once) -- are ranked, but all have impressive records.
Texas State is 7-2, on a five-game winning streak, and the Bobcats have only lost to then-No. 15 Kentucky 2-1 (the Wildcats beat Minnesota 7-0) and then-No. 23 Auburn 3-1.
The U opens with Texas State at 9:30 a.m. Friday … Tulsa is 8-1. The Hurricane uses three pitchers and has not allowed more than two runs in any game. Last time Tulsa played Minnesota was March 19, 2016, and the Hurricane won 10-1. … Baylor is 8-2, has won six in a row and is 6-0 at home. Losses were to two teams Minnesota has played, Missouri 9-1 (the U has split with Mizzou) and Missouri State 3-0 (the U beat the Bears 1-0). Ace Gia Rodoni is 4-1 with a 1.27 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings.