University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Split Games at Fall Classic
9/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Brianna Hassett fired a four-hit shutout in a 3-0 win over North Dakota State, but a late Gophers’ rally fell short in a 6-4 loss to Concordia-St. Paul in the second game as Minnesota split a pair of games in the Gopher fall softball classic on Sunday at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
In the opener, Minnesota broke open a scoreless game with a three-run sixth inning. Samantha Howard drew a leadoff walk and Malisa Barnes followed with a double that banged off the rightfield wall and sent Howard to third. Shannon Stemper, who had two of Minnesota’s five hits, then drilled a double to the left-centerfield gap to score both runs. Stemper moved to third on a groundout by Heidi Carls and scored when Bison reliever Randi Parks was called for an illegal pitch.
Hassett tossed a gem in the victory, allowing just four hits and striking out seven for her second shutout of the weekend. The Bison’s biggest threat came in the third inning when they had runners on second and third with one out, but Hassett struck out Elisa Victa and then Gophers’ leftfielder Heidi Carls made a diving catch off a hard line drive by Melissa Chmielewski.
Trailing 6-3 entering the final inning of the second game, Minnesota plated a run on a double by Carls and loaded the bases with one out on an infield single by Dannie Skrove. However, Concordia-St. Paul pitcher Stephanie Schmidka induced pinch-hitter Mallory Mitchell to pop out to second base and got Aubrey Davis to ground out to first base to end the game.
After spotting Concordia a first-inning run, the Gophers tied the game in the third inning as Stemper doubled to score Colleen Conway. However, the Golden Bears responded with a two-run fifth inning. With two outs and nobody on base, Concordia’s Natalie Mast walked and scored on a double by Abby Brundidge. Jamie Lindboe followed with a bloop single to rightfield, scoring Brundidge for a 3-1 lead.
Minnesota tied the game with two runs in the fifth as the Gophers strung together four straight singles after two outs. Stemper and Sammie Howard each drove in runs to make it 3-3. However, Concordia notched two runs in the sixth, getting a two-out, run-scoring single by Anna Bjorlin, who also scored on an error for a 5-3 advantage. The Golden Bears got a two-out, run-scoring single from Tiffani Rodd for an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
Minnesota managed 13 hits, including 12 singles, and had baserunners in six of the game’s seven innings, however, Schmidkla limited the Gophers to three earned runs and had three strikeouts. Alissa Koch started and pitched in relief for the Gophers, but Katie Dalen suffered the loss after allowing four runs in the middle two and two-thirds innings.
The Gophers’ top four hitters in the order each had two hits as Conway, Bethany Wolvington, Barnes and Stemper combined for eight of the team’s 13 safeties. Carls also had a pair of hits for Minnesota, which concluded the weekend tournament with a 3-1 record.
