University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Upset No. 18 Oklahoma State for Tourney Title
3/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Golden Gopher softball team pulled out a 1-0 victory over No.18/20 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon in the Mizuno Classic championship game.
After a disappointing loss at the hands of Oklahoma State earlier in the tournament, the Gophers came back looking for revenge in the Mizuno Classic finale. The game was dominated by defense and pitching as Minnesota stranded five runners and OSU stranded eight. Both teams only recorded three hits each.
The lone run of the game would cross the plate in the sixth when senior Malisa Barnes led off the inning by drawing a walk and was pinch ran for by Kristen Coonrod. Jessie Hathaway stepped up and laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Coonrod over to second before Coonrod was able to tag and advance to third on a deep right field fly ball off the bat of Alex Davis. The table was set for Kari Dorle who delivered a single into right field scoring Coonrod and giving the Gophers the go ahead run.
The Gophers looked to freshmen pitcher Sara Moulton to handle the explosive OSU offense. In an outstanding performance, Moulton shut out Oklahoma State, allowing just three hits and striking out six batters. She improves her record on the year to 13-6.
After suffering two early losses the Gophers were able to regroup and leave the Mizuno Classic posting a 3-2 record and a championship title. They improve to 14-10 on the season and will continue play March 15 versus Missouri State.
