University of Minnesota Athletics
Records Fall During Softball Doubleheader
4/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Minneapolis, Minn. - It was a record day for the Minnesota softball team as the Gophers swept Concordia in a doubleheader at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, 7-2 and 6-0 in front of a crowd of 307. The Golden Gophers upped their mark to 35-16, while the Golden Bears fell to 24-19 as Piper Marten, Anne Thul, Tammi Hays and Stephanie Sward added their names and rewrote the school record book.
In the opener, Marten earned the victory to up her season mark to 21- 10. The sophomore from Farmington, N.M., struckout 13 in just five innings to raise her season total to 261, surpassing her own school record of 249 set last season. Marten also became just the second Gopher pitcher to surpass the 500-strikeout plateau and now trails Jennifer Johnson's (1993-97) school record of 528 by just 18.
Both Hays and Stephanie Sward stole three bases in the opener to tie the school record. It was the third time this season for Sward and second for Hays. The three swipes raised Hays' career total to 82, eclipsing Mischel Doerr's (1990-93) school mark of 81.
The Gophers tied a season-high with 14 hits in the first game, as Hays, a senior from Hastings, Minn., went 4-for-4. Jordanne Nygren was 2-for- 4 with three RBI, while Sward and Veronica Roberts both went 2-for-3.
Thul took center stage in the nightcap tying another school record, becoming just the ninth player in school history to hit two homeruns in a single game. Angel Braden (1998-01) was the last to accomplish the feat on Feb. 8, 2001 versus Northern Iowa.
With the Gophers leading 2-0 in the third inning, Thul hit her first round-tripper of the game after hitting a triple in her initial plate appearance. The junior from St. Francis Minn., added her team-leading eighth homerun of the season in the fifth inning to ice the victory. Sward and Nygren both had a pair of hits while Nygren also drove in her team-leading 30th RBI and added a double.
Angie Recknor raised her record to 13-6 on the season, pitching five innings, while allowing just one hit and striking out five. Lyn Peyer pitched the final two innings of both contests, striking out six.
Minnesota will return to action Friday for a 6 p.m. game with Northwestern at Cowles Stadium. The Gophers will wrap up their series with Northwestern Saturday at noon, before taking on Iowa for a noon doubleheader on Sunday.
