University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Falls in Tournament Finale
2/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- The Minnesota softball team suffered a pair of losses on Sunday in the final day of action at the Hotel Encanto Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M. The Gophers dropped a 12-4 contest to Northern Colorado to start Sunday's competition before falling 7-6 to host New Mexico State in a shortened, five-inning affair to close out the tournament.
After Northern Colorado jumped out to a 4-1 lead through four innings in the morning contest, Minnesota rallied in the top of the fifth with three runs of its own to tie the game. But the Bears would explode with eight runs in the bottom of the innings, ending the game with a bases-clearing triple to lock up the 12-4 win for Northern Colorado. Freshman Sara Moulton threw 4.1 innings for the Gophers, giving up nine hits on nine runs with a pair of strikeouts. Junior Alissa Koch came on to close out the game for Minnesota, giving up one hit and two runs.
Senior Malisa Barnes went 1-for-2 in the opening game, recording a single and a walk as well as one of Minnesota's four runs. Sophomores Jessie Hathaway and Kelsey Klucas tallied the remaining three with two runs for Hathaway and one for Klucas. Sophomore Kari Dorle, junior Dannie Skrove and senior Natalie Neal recorded three of the Gophers four hits in the loss along with Barnes, but the underlying issue for Minnesota in the game was the six runners that were left on base. Northern Colorado, meanwhile, spread the scoring throughout the lineup while leaving just two on base.
The Gophers (0-4 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) would bounce back in the tournament finale against New Mexico State. The Aggies jumped out to 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Kari Dorle would put the Gophers up 3-1 when she hit her third home run of the weekend in the bottom of the first inning, plating Barnes, who led off with a double, and sophomore Alex Davis who found her way on base with a single. The teams traded runs in the second inning with Minnesota jumping out to a 4-3 lead when Barnes sent a sacrifice fly to centerfield - scoring sophomore Allie Siu after the Gophers outfielder singled to get on base.
New Mexico State would take the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth to go up 7-4, but Minnesota would bounce back in the bottom half of the inning when Barnes sent a shot over the wall for her first home run of the year -- scoring senior Aubrey Davis with the two-run shot. Neither team would score in the fifth inning, and although play would advance to the sixth inning, Minnesota would request a "drop-dead" time request for travel reasons - resulting in the game reverting to a 7-6 win for the Aggies in five innings.
Moulton returned to pitch all five innings of the finale for Minnesota, giving up 10 hits and seven runs while striking out a pair of batters. Barnes led Minnesota's offense with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate. The senior recorded three RBIs and scored during both of her appearances on the base path.
Minnesota returns to action next weekend at the aTen Construction Tournament in Riverside, Calif. The Gophers will compete in five games throughout the three-day competition.
