Minnesota standout Hope Brandner is “not medically cleared to play” in 2020, according to a university statement on Tuesday.
“University of Minnesota infielder Hope Brandner is not medically cleared to play and her status moving forward is not yet known,” the statement read.
Brandner enjoyed a breakout 2019 campaign that saw her earn first-team all-Big Ten and all-Region second team honors after batting .354 on the season. She led the Gophers roster with nineteen home runs, the third-highest single-season total in program history, and drove in fifty-nine runs on the year. In the winner’s bracket game of the Regional round in Minneapolis, Brandner launched a walk-off home run against Georgia, propelling her team directly to the regional final.
As a freshman at Oregon State in 2018, Brandner was selected to the PAC-12’s All-Freshman team and earned a nod to the all-conference third team after leading Oregon State in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage.
Projected to be the starting first baseman for the Gophers, Brandner’s absence leaves a large hole in the Minnesota batting order. The squad saw the departure of a trio of offensive starters following last season, but do return six starters from the 2019 team that posted a .284 batting average and hit seventy-two home runs as a unit.
The Golden Gophers enter 2020 looking to build on a 2019 season where they posted a 46-14 overall record, including a 15-1 mark in Big Ten play, and reached the Women’s College World Series for the first time in program history.
