University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Sweep Doubleheader at Home Opener
4/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The Minnesota Golden Gopher softball team began Friday not knowing whether or not they would play their scheduled game with Indiana. They finished the day with two more wins in Big Ten play.
Minnesota (21-10, 4-2 Big Ten) picked up two big wins in its home-opening doublheader Friday night at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis, beating the Hoosiers (9-25, 0-6) by scores of 7-3 and 5-2. The two teams were originally scheduled to play one game on Friday and another on Saturday, but elected to go with the Friday night doubleheader due to an ominous Saturday weather forecast.
In game one, it was junior pitcher Briana Hassett’s star that shone brightest. The Eagan, Minn. native struck out 16 hitters and allowed only six hits, improving her record to 14-4 on the season. Hassett’s 16-strikeout performance was the second-most in Gopher history. Hassett herself shares the all-time record of 17 with current Minnesota pitching coach Piper Marten; Hassett struck out 17 in a game earlier this season against Dartmouth. Catcher Shannon Stemper also picked up a career-high three hits in the victory.
Game two featured another solid pitching performance, this one by junior Katie Dalen. Dalen went the distance and surrendered only one earned run in the 5-2 win, improving to 7-6 on the year.
Friday’s first game got underway about 5:30 p.m. and featured little in the way of scoring early on. Stemper drove in a run in the first with a single as Hassett fanned 10 hitters through the first four frames and appeared on pace to shatter the school mark. Seven of Hassett’s early victims were swinging strike three calls.
In the fourth, Minnesota appeared to break things open by scoring three runs, all the while accumulating just one hit. Colleen Powers brought in a run with a bases-loaded walk, and the Gophers scored two more runs on RBI ground balls by Colleen Conway and Sila Fernandez. But the Hoosiers clawed back with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth, smacking four hits against Hassett to close the gap to 4-3.
However, Minnesota responded in the bottom half of the inning. After Stemper led off with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Amber Nelsen, Casey Wheeler connected on an RBI double to the gap in left center to make the score 5-3. With two outs and two on, freshman Natalie Neal delivered a key pinch hit double to right field to score the final two runs of the game.
Stemper’s 3-for-3 game one performance also included a double in the third inning. Fernandez also had two hits for the Gophers.
In the nightcap (which did not get underway until after 8:30 p.m.), Dalen bounced back from a tough outing last weekend at Northwestern and the Gophers received some timely hitting from both Stemper and freshman Malisa Barnes.
With the score tied at one after two innings (Barnes driving home the Gophers’ first run with a double in the first), Indiana managed to push across a single third inning run to take a slim 2-1 lead. But the Gophers manufactured four runs in the bottom of half of the inning to take the lead for good.
After loading the bases with nobody out (including hits from Conway and Barnes and a Fernandez walk), Stemper delivered a clutch two-RBI down the right field line. The final two runs of the inning scored on a wild pitch and error by catcher Brittany Stein.
Dalen struck out five and walked four in the victory, deftly working out of early trouble but settling down and recording four scoreless innings to finish out the game. Conway went 2-for-3 and scored twice in the nightcap to improve her season batting average to a team-high .359.
Minnesota has now won six straight against the Hoosiers and has won four of its first six Big Ten games for the first time since 2004. The Gophers are now 5-4 in Jane Sage Cowles Stadium openers since the facility opened in 2000.
Weather permitting, the Gophers and Purdue Boilermakers are scheduled to play a doubleheader Sunday in Minneapolis, beginning at noon. The games will be televised via tape delay on the Big Ten Network starting at 5 p.m., with Jane Hildreth and Megan West on the call. Stay tuned to gophersports.com for information on cancellations and postponements.
Minnesota (21-10, 4-2 Big Ten) picked up two big wins in its home-opening doublheader Friday night at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis, beating the Hoosiers (9-25, 0-6) by scores of 7-3 and 5-2. The two teams were originally scheduled to play one game on Friday and another on Saturday, but elected to go with the Friday night doubleheader due to an ominous Saturday weather forecast.
In game one, it was junior pitcher Briana Hassett’s star that shone brightest. The Eagan, Minn. native struck out 16 hitters and allowed only six hits, improving her record to 14-4 on the season. Hassett’s 16-strikeout performance was the second-most in Gopher history. Hassett herself shares the all-time record of 17 with current Minnesota pitching coach Piper Marten; Hassett struck out 17 in a game earlier this season against Dartmouth. Catcher Shannon Stemper also picked up a career-high three hits in the victory.
Game two featured another solid pitching performance, this one by junior Katie Dalen. Dalen went the distance and surrendered only one earned run in the 5-2 win, improving to 7-6 on the year.
Friday’s first game got underway about 5:30 p.m. and featured little in the way of scoring early on. Stemper drove in a run in the first with a single as Hassett fanned 10 hitters through the first four frames and appeared on pace to shatter the school mark. Seven of Hassett’s early victims were swinging strike three calls.
In the fourth, Minnesota appeared to break things open by scoring three runs, all the while accumulating just one hit. Colleen Powers brought in a run with a bases-loaded walk, and the Gophers scored two more runs on RBI ground balls by Colleen Conway and Sila Fernandez. But the Hoosiers clawed back with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth, smacking four hits against Hassett to close the gap to 4-3.
However, Minnesota responded in the bottom half of the inning. After Stemper led off with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Amber Nelsen, Casey Wheeler connected on an RBI double to the gap in left center to make the score 5-3. With two outs and two on, freshman Natalie Neal delivered a key pinch hit double to right field to score the final two runs of the game.
Stemper’s 3-for-3 game one performance also included a double in the third inning. Fernandez also had two hits for the Gophers.
In the nightcap (which did not get underway until after 8:30 p.m.), Dalen bounced back from a tough outing last weekend at Northwestern and the Gophers received some timely hitting from both Stemper and freshman Malisa Barnes.
With the score tied at one after two innings (Barnes driving home the Gophers’ first run with a double in the first), Indiana managed to push across a single third inning run to take a slim 2-1 lead. But the Gophers manufactured four runs in the bottom of half of the inning to take the lead for good.
After loading the bases with nobody out (including hits from Conway and Barnes and a Fernandez walk), Stemper delivered a clutch two-RBI down the right field line. The final two runs of the inning scored on a wild pitch and error by catcher Brittany Stein.
Dalen struck out five and walked four in the victory, deftly working out of early trouble but settling down and recording four scoreless innings to finish out the game. Conway went 2-for-3 and scored twice in the nightcap to improve her season batting average to a team-high .359.
Minnesota has now won six straight against the Hoosiers and has won four of its first six Big Ten games for the first time since 2004. The Gophers are now 5-4 in Jane Sage Cowles Stadium openers since the facility opened in 2000.
Weather permitting, the Gophers and Purdue Boilermakers are scheduled to play a doubleheader Sunday in Minneapolis, beginning at noon. The games will be televised via tape delay on the Big Ten Network starting at 5 p.m., with Jane Hildreth and Megan West on the call. Stay tuned to gophersports.com for information on cancellations and postponements.
Players Mentioned
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