University of Minnesota Athletics
Softball Tops EMU in Rain Shortened Game
2/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Fort Myers, Fla. - The Minnesota softball team scored a 4-0 win over Eastern Michigan today (Feb. 27), in a game called in the bottom of the fifth inning due to rain.
Rain and poor weather wreaked havoc on the tournament all day, delaying the start of the day's games, before eventually forcing the Gophers and Eagles to be called in the fifth. Minnesota led 4-0 after the third inning, and held that same lead after Eastern Michigan batted in the top of the fifth. Three Gophers batted in the bottom of the fifth before the game was called. With Minnesota as the home team holding a lead after four and a half innings, just enough was played to consider the game official.
The Gophers get their seventh win of the season to sit at 7-8 overall, holding a 3-1 mark on the weekend at the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Invitational.
Heidi Carls (Villard, Minn.) got the Gophers on the board first with a first inning double. Malisa Barnes (Phoenix, Ariz) and Alex Davis (Harbor City, Minn.) each singled to reach base, but they sandwiched a pair of outs before Carls came to the plate. With two on and two out, Carls laced a double down the left field line to score Barnes and Davis for the first runs of the game.
Two innings later, the Gophers used the help of some Eagle errors to pad their lead. After a leadoff single, Sammie Howard (Shoreview, Minn.) advanced to third on an error by the second baseman and eventually scored on an error by the catcher.
The Gophers fourth and final run came when Dannie Skrove (Zimmerman, Minn.) singled home Abby Rehberger (Brainerd, Minn.) later that same inning.
Barnes led the offense with a 2-for-3 day, while Carls went 1-for-1 with a game high two RBI. The Gophers pounded out eight hits on the day, bettered only by the nine they put up against Arkansas on Feb. 13.
Lacey Middlebrooks (Wake Village, Texas) won in the circle for the seventh time, improving to 7-3 on the season. She struck out three and walked one in five innings of work.
The Gophers game with Villanova later today has been tentatively rescheduled for this evening at Palmetto Ridge High School in Naples, Fla. The game time is not yet determined.
Check back with GopherSports.com for more updates.
