University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Softball Earns Second Big Ten Sweep
4/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
East Lansing, Mich. - In a must-win situation, the Minnesota softball team earned its second conference sweep of the season to move back into Big Ten Tournament contention. The Golden Gophers upped their overall record to 28-15 and 5-5 in the Big Ten Conference, with 3-0 and 2-0 victories over Michigan State. It was the first time Minnesota posted consecutive shutouts since Feb. 15. The Spartans, who entered today's game tied with Minnesota in the conference standings, fell to 20-25 and 3-7 in the league.
In the opener, Minnesota's Veronica Roberts hit her third triple of the season in the second inning to score Allie Fisk. The Gophers added another run in the fourth when Anne Thul hit her team-leading fifth home run of the season. That was more than enough for Piper Marten.
Marten, the Big Ten strikeout leader, threw her second one-hitter of the season, allowing just one Spartan baserunner past first base. Marten, who has two no-hitters on the season, walked three, while striking out nine to up her record to 17-9 on the season.
Stephanie Sward went 2-for-3 for Minnesota and stole her team-leading 18th base of the season. Angie Recknor also added a single.
Hailee Nanchy provided the Gopher offense early in the second game. With one-out in the fourth inning, Nanchy drilled a two RBI single to score Recknor and Roberts. The Gophers added an insurance run in the fifth inning as Thul laced a single to centerfield, plating Christina Zimmerman. They were the first Minnesota hits off Spartan pitcher Keri DeJong.
Recknor earned the victory pitching 4 2/3 innings, not allowing a run on four hits. The junior from Minnetonka, Minn., struck out two and walked two to raise her record to 10-6, while Marten picked up her fourth save of the season.
The Gophers will next be in action when they travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on Northern Iowa, Tuesday for a 4 p.m. doubleheader. Minnesota will continue its road trip when the Gophers head to Des Moines for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday versus Drake.
Game One Score by Innings R H E Minnesota........... 010 100 0 - 2 5 0 Michigan State... 000 000 0 - 0 1 2 E - Schick; Golden. LOB - Gophers 4; Spartans 4. 3B - Roberts. HR - Thul(5). HBP - Schick. SH - Hays; Thul; Recknor. SB - Sward. CS - Wallace. Win - Marten (17-9). Loss - Gray (9-12). Game Two Score by Innings R H E Michigan State.... 000 000 0 - 0 4 1 Minnesota........... 000 210 X - 3 4 0 E - Lewis. LOB - Spartans 6; Gophers 10. HBP - Nichols; Recknor. SH - Hays; Nichols; Recknor. SB - Schick; Pedersen; Zimmerman; Wallace. Win - Recknor (10-6). Loss - DeJong (3-6). Save - Marten (4).
