University of Minnesota Athletics
RECKNOR THROWS PERFECT GAME; GOPHERS SWEEP AKRON
3/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
In the nightcap, the Gophers scored six runs in the fifth inning and defeated the Zips, 6-1. Minnesota has won eight consecutive games and is 18-12 for the season.
Recknor needed 79 pitches to retire the 21 batters in succession, striking out six. The closest Akron came to a baserunner was in the fifth inning, when Minnesota left fielder Morgan Holden made a diving catch of a fly ball off the bat of Rianne Hess. The Gophers scored an unearned run in the fourth inning and Jordanne Nygren hit her fifth home run of the season in the sixth inning to provide the offense for Recknor.
The only other perfect game in Minnesota history was pitched by Sarah Maschka against Northeast Louisiana on March 1, 1991. It was the first Gopher no-hitter since Brenda Bixby's nine-inning gem against Louisiana Tech on March 7, 1992, and the eighth in school history.
In the nightcap, Minnesota scored all six of its runs with two out in the fifth inning. Nygren hit a two-run single, and Shelly Nichols followed with a two-run single. Dana Ballard drove home Nichols with a double to right-center, and Michelle Bennett singled to right field to score Ballard. Recknor threw the first five innings and improved her record to 14-12 with the win.
Minnesota will continue its Ohio road trip Monday with a non-conference doubleheader at Youngstown State at 1 p.m.
Minnesota 2, Akron 0 Minnesota 000 101 0-2 3 0 Akron 000 000 0-0 0 1 Recknor and Lindberg. Keenan and Villard. WP-Recknor (13-12). LP-Keenan (6-7). HR-(MN) Nygren (5). Minnesota 6, Akron 1 Minnesota 000 060 0-6 8 1 Akron 100 000 0-1 11 1 Recknor, Hautala (6) and Lindberg. Keenan, McCoy (5) and Villard. WP-Recknor (14-12). LP-Keenan (6-8). HR-none.
