Gopher All-Americans!
Gretchen Larson • 1981, 1983Gretchen Larson owns the distinction of being Minnesota's first NCAA All-American, earning the honor as a utility player in 1983. Larson, a member of the Women's Athletics Hall of Fame, the Gopher Softball Hall of Fame, and an AIAW All-American in 1981, posted a 0.86 earned run average and a .291 batting average during the 1983 season.
Barb Drake • 1984, 1986
Barb Drake was the first Golden Gopher to repeat as an All-American, receiving accolades in both the 1984 and 1986 seasons. Drake, inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 1992, led the Gophers to their first Big Ten title in 1986. She was also the first Gopher to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors.
Kari Blank • 1991 Kari Blank earned All-America status in 1991 after leading the Golden Gophers to the Big Ten title. Blank hit .335 and blasted a Minnesota-record 43 runs batted in en route to her selection as co-recipient of the Big Ten Player of the Year award. Blank was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 1995.
Lezlie Weiss • 1992
Lezlie Weiss earned All-America honors in 1992 at third base. Weiss, a member of the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame, completed her career as Minnesota's career leader with 259 hits, a total that currently ranks fourth in school history. To this day, no other Gopher has played in more games than Weiss' 251 from 1990-93.
Rachel Nelson • 1995, 1996
Two-time All-American Rachel Nelson finished her career with 313 hits, which ranked fifth on the NCAA's all-time hits list and is a Minnesota and Big Ten record. In addition to earning All-America honors in 1995 and 1996, Nelson, who was a 2001 Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame inductee, also was honored in 1997 as just the second Academic All-American in Minnesota softball history.
Amber Hegland • 1996
Amber Hegland earned All-America honors in 1996 after posting a .438 batting average, the second-best single-season mark in Gopher history. Hegland owns Minnesota’s best all-time career batting average with a .399 mark and is Minnesota’s all-time leader with 60 doubles. Hegland also earned third-team Academic All-America honors in 1998. She was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 2002.
Shannon Beeler • 1998 Shannon Beeler became a first-team All-American in 1998 after one of the most productive seasons in Minnesota softball history. Beeler once held the Minnesota single-season record with 74 runs batted. Beeler ended her career fifth on the NCAA’s all-time runs batted-in list. She was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Steph Midthun • 1998
Steph Midthun was a third-team All-American in 1998. She was one of the catalysts to the powerful Gopher offense, hitting .366 with 51 runs scored and 31 stolen bases. Her 31 steals matched the single-season school record. Midthun was also named a third-team Academic All-American in 1999. She was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Kaitlyn Richardson • 2013, 2014 A third-team honoree in 2013, Kaitlyn Richardson became the school's third two-time All-American with second-team honors in 2014. Richardson amassed the highest slugging percentage in school history at .752, the second-most doubles with 21, the third-highest on-base percentage at .538, and the fourth-best batting average at .418. She was instrumental in the team's Big Ten Tournament title and first trip to the NCAA Super Regionals.
Sara Moulton • 2014
Sara Moulton capped a remarkable career with second-team All-American laurels in 2014. A four-time All-Big Ten honoree, she was the league leader in wins with 27 and strikeouts with 244. Moulton finished her career with a 112-50 record, holding program records for wins, appearances (178), innings pitched (1,017), complete games (108), shutouts (47), and strikeouts (1,184).
Sara Groenewegen • 2015, 2016, 2017 Sara Groenewegen became the school's first-ever three-time All-American following her senior season with the Maroon and Gold. She was also a third-team Academic All-American. She recorded the second-lowest single-season ERA (0.63) in school history. She was named the Big Ten Player, Pitcher (twice), and Freshman of the Year in her career. Groenewegen finished her career as the Gophers all-time strikeout leader with 1,214 in her career. She also finished second in victories (107), and fifth in complete games (82) and home runs (36).
Kendyl Lindaman • 2017, 2018
Lindaman had one of the most productive offensive seasons in the entire country during her rookie season in 2017. She was named both the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year and was also the first-ever Big Ten player ever to be named a Schutt Sports / NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year top-3 finalist. She led the Big Ten in home runs (20), slugging percentage (.899), RBI (tied-76), walks (63), on-base percentage (.598) and batting average (.426). The home runs, slugging percentage, RBI, walks and on-base percentage were all school records. Her sophomore season saw just as much production earning back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year honors. She was also a third-team Academic All-American. In the 2018 season, she tied the single-season home run record with 20. Accompanying the long ball were 13 doubles, a .832 slugging percentage, a .532 on-base percentage, and 55 walks.
Amber Fiser • 2019Went 31-7 with a 1.17 ERA and 339 strikeouts. Her 31 wins on the season tied for second all-time in program history. She was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and also picked up six Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, which set a new program record and tied a conference record. She became just the third player in conference history to earn six Pitcher of the Week honors in the same season and the first since 2011. She pitched all 36 innings of the NCAA Regional and Super Regional leading the Gophers to their first-ever Women's College World Series in the NCAA softball era.
Autumn Pease • 2023
A second-team honoree, her fifth year season 27-7 with a 1.46 ERA and 273 strikeouts. She was the third Golden Gopher named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and picked up four Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors. The fifth-year was named to both the All-Big Ten First and All-Big Ten Tournament teams, including an NFCA Pitcher of the Week nod on May 9. Pease ended the season ranked No.1 in the Big Ten in victories, strikeouts, and ERA. Notably, Pease allowed one earned run in 58 innings pitched and saw 21 consecutive scoreless innings.
Taylor Krapf • 2023 Recognized as a third-team honoree, Krapf started all 57 games behind the plate for the Golden Gophers. Krapf led Minnesota in home runs (14), RBI (48), slugging (.671), and on-base percentage (.446). The catcher finished the season with a .342 average and was 10-for-36 on stolen bases on the year. The sophomore was an All-Big Ten First Team selection and was recognized as Big Ten Player of the Week on February 27.