Jan. 17, 2012

A total of 15 Gophers suited up and practiced on Monday as the University of Minnesota softball team held its first official practice of the 2012 season. Minnesota returns eight letterwinners from last year's 31-24 squad while it welcomes seven freshmen.

"It feels great to be back with the team," head coach Jessica Allister stated when asked about how it feels to be back with the team. "It has been a long break, and I think everyone has been anxiously waiting to get back on the field with one another."

The Gophers return five starters including a four-year starter in senior outfielder Dannie Skrove, who is one of the team leaders on a squad that adds seven newcomers to the roster. Even with having a youthful group, Skrove feels that this year will be a special season for Gopher softball.

"Everyone has come out and worked really hard at everything, from drills to conditioning," said Skrove. "It definitely shows that everyone worked hard over break, and we are on track to meeting our goal of making it to the postseason this year."

If the Maroon and Gold would reach their goal of qualifying for a NCAA Regional, it would be the eighth time in school history and first since the 2003 season. Skove's optimism on the upcoming season has spread throughout the team as even freshman Kaitlyn Richardson is hungry for postseason play after having only two practices.

"It has been so exciting, and everyone is pumped for this year," freshman Katie Richardson said. "We are a talented young group, and we have a pair of great leaders in Dannie [Skrove] and Alyssa [Koch]. We think of ourselves as the dark horse since not a lot of teams expect much out of us this year, but we know what we have and our goal is set on making it to an NCAA Regional."

Even with all the positive energy surrounding the Gophers' practices, junior catcher Kari Dorle thinks there is always room for improvement on the Gopher squad.

"Everyone has put a lot of effort into our practices so far, but we can never be satisfied with where we are at," proclaimed Dorle. "We just need to keep working hard and improving all season."

Minnesota will have four weeks of practice to fine-tune everything before they open up the 2012 season against UNLV at the Sportco Kick-off Classic, which is hosted by the Rebels. The Gophers will play four games in the six-team round-robin tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.

"Right now, we are working on getting game ready," Allister said when asked about preparing for the season opener. "We are making sure we take care of the little details and improving every day, and hopefully by February 11, we have everything in place for our first game."