University of Minnesota Athletics
Softball Drops a Pair in Arizona
3/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Tucson, Ariz. - The Minnesota softball team continued play at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational this morning (Mar. 13), falling to Northern Colorado 9-1, and to St. John's 6-5 in eight innings.
Game One:
Northern Colorado (9-14) scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, holding that lead until Minnesota (10-14) came to the plate in the bottom of the third. There, the Gophers tied the game at 1-1, but that would be where their scoring stopped.
After a scoreless fourth, the Bears opened up for five runs in fifth, taking a commanding lead into the last two innings. Northern Colorado starter Melisa Ryba limited Minnesota to just two hits over their final three innings while UNC tacked on three more runs for insurance.
Minnesota starter Alissa Koch (Racine, Wis.) pitched all seven innings and suffered the loss, falling to 0-9 on the season. Of the nine runs the Bears scored, just three were earned off Koch with the Gophers committing a season high four errors in the loss.
Malisa Barnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) and one hit and scored Minnesota's lone run in the game. She was knocked in by Abby Rehberger (Brainerd, Minn.) in the third, with Rehberger also collecting one hit in the game. Alex Davis (Harbor City, Calif.), Heidi Carls (Villard, Minn.) and Dannie Skrove (Zimmerman, Minn.) all had hits as well.
Seven different Bears combined for 13 hits, led by 3-for-5 Noel Wees who added two runs and three RBI to her day. Northern Colorado was also left empty at the plate 12 times as Koch rang up a career high 12 strikeouts on the day, bettering her previous best of 11 from earlier this season.
The big fifth inning from the Bears was built off two Gopher errors in the first three batters, with the third batter striking out. With the extra outs, the Bears were able to build a rally and plate five unearned runs in the inning.
Game Two:
In their second game of the day, the Gophers saw an eighth inning lead slip away, as St. John's scored two runs in the bottom of the session for a 6-5 win today (Mar. 13).
Minnesota (10-16) scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With Barnes on third and one out, an Alex Davis ground out to first was enough to bring Barnes home for the early advantage.
The Red Storm put together three hits and scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to take their first lead. The Gophers led again, after Siu scored in the fifth to give her team a 3-2 lead. However, as was the case in the first inning, St. John's came right back with a run in the bottom of the fifth to tie it back up, at 3-3. Then in the sixth, the Red Storm scored again to retain the lead.
In the back and forth game, Sammie Howard (Shoreview, Minn.) singled home Aubrey Davis (Kennedale, Texas) in the top of the seventh to tie to score at 5-5. The Gophers collected two hits in the inning, to score the one run. Five different Gophers combined to bang out seven total hits in the game, bettering the mark of five hits that St. John's put up.
The Big Red went down in order in the bottom of the seventh as the game headed towards the eighth. In the Gophers half of the inning, Carls flew out to left field, but it was deep enough to being home Rehberger for her second run of the game.
Now trailing 6-5 as they started the bottom of the eighth, the Red Storm had enough for one final rally. With two outs, they tied the game with a ground out to third base, and just one batter later, they game was over as Megan Gwynn scored on a wild pitch to end it.
Howard and Skrove each went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead the way, with Barnes also reaching base twice with two walks.
Lacey Middlebrooks (Wake Village, Texas) pitched all 7.2 innings in the circle allowing just five hits and only two earned runs. She struck out nine, coming just one short of the Gophers fourth 10+ strikeout performance in their last five games.
The Gophers close their weekend at the Arizona Wildcat Invite with their toughest test yet, taking on host, and No. 2 ranked, Arizona at 3:00 p.m. on Mar. 14.
