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FastPitch News is a website that obviously covers fast pitch softball. They announced their 2017 All-American Teams and their pitcher and offensive players of the Year on Friday. Minnesota senior Sara Groenewegen was named the 2017 Division 1 Pitcher of the Year, and both her and Kendyl Lindaman were named First Team All-Americans by FPN. Additionally Gopher first basemen Sidney Dwyer was named an Honorable Mention All-American.
Groenewegen finished her Gopher career by going 31-4 with a 0.63 ERA and 307 strikeouts. She is the Gophers all-time leader in strikeouts with 1,214 and averaged the most strikeouts per game with 10.66 a game. She added two no-hitters this season to bring her career total up to 8, a Minnesota record. She was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year for the second time in her career. She earned All-B1G first-team honors and NFCA All-Region honors all four seasons of her career, is a three-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award top-10 finalist and was also named a First Team All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Lindaman finished her freshman year at the U with one of the best offensive seasons in program history. She was named the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the year and was a top 3 finalist for the National Freshman of the Year—the first Big Ten player to ever be a finalist. She also was named a First Team All-American by the NFCA.
Lindaman led the Big Ten and set Minnesota records in in home runs (20), slugging percentage (.899), RBI (tied-76), walks (63), on base percentage (.598) Her .426 batting average also led the Big Ten.
Dwyer finished her junior season hitting .374 and tied Lindaman for a school record 76 RBI. Her 12 home runs were second on the team behind Kendyl. She was named to the second team All-Big Ten team and and named First Team All-Region by the NFCA.
Lindaman and Dwyer will return to the Gophers in 2018 while Groenewegen has exhausted her eligiblity. She is currently pitching for the Akron Racers in the National Pro Fastpitch League and will also pitch for Team Canada and the Softball World Cup this summer.
Congrats to an amazing trio of Gophers!