University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Sweep Iowa State 1-0, 11-3
4/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Minnesota 1, Iowa State 0 (10 Innings)
Behind a complete-game shutout by Sara Moulton and an RBI double by Kari Dorle in the top of the tenth inning, the Minnesota softball team clinched its 20th win of the year with a 1-0 extra-inning win over the Cyclones in Ames.
Pitching and defense were the keys to the opening contest on Thursday, highlighted by Moulton and Iowa State's Rachel Zabriskie. Both hurlers went the distance in the 10-inning affair with Minnesota's freshman coming out on top. Moulton (19-10) threw her 10th shutout and 22nd complete game of the season in the winning effort. The freshman allowed only seven hits and did not allow a walk as she matched a career-high with 15 strikeouts for the third time this year.
Taking the loss for Iowa State, Zabriskie didn't fare much worse than her counterpart. The pitcher allowed 10 hits, struck out nine and walked just two in the loss. Zabriskie didn't surrender a run in the contest until the 10th inning, when the international tiebreaker was put into effect and the leadoff runner starts the inning on second. On Thursday, that runner was Dannie Skrove for Minnesota, who scored when Kari Dorle hit her second double of the day to plate the game's lone run. Dorle paced Minnesota in the opening game with a 3-for-5 performance.
The Gophers (21-16 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) outhit the Cyclones 10-7 in the opening game, but neither teams' offense could best the opposition's defense until the final inning. The Cyclones had perhaps the best chance to score in the seventh inning when the program loaded the bases with one out only for Moulton to strike out the next three batters to work her way out of the jam.
Minnesota 11, Iowa State 3 (Five Innings)
While the precursor saw both teams struggle to capitalize on hits, Thursday's finale saw no such problem as the Minnesota softball team picked up an 11-3 win over Iowa State in a shortened, five-inning contest.
Seven Gophers picked up hits in the win including freshman Sara DuPaul, who paced the team with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate. DuPaul would factor into six of Minnesota's 11 runs including a 5 RBI performance. Jessie Hathaway, Kari Dorle and Alex Davis each picked up a pair of hits for Minnesota in a game that made offense look easy for the Gophers.
Hathaway opened the run fest in the second inning when she Davis with an RBI double that put the Gophers up 1-0. Davis, meanwhile, would add a double of her own an inning later that scored a pair of runners and then came home for the second of three times on Thursday evening when DuPaul sent her second-career home run over the left field fence to put the Gophers up 5-0. The Cyclones would answer back with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning by Dalyn Valera, but Minnesota would come right back in the fourth inning with five more runs.
Bree Blanchette would lead off the inning with a walk and score on an RBI double by Malisa Barnes before Barnes would be pinch ran for by Kelsey Klucas. Klucas would advance to third and eventual score when Dorle singled. Davis would double to put two runners in scoring position, and DuPaul would bring both runners home with a double before scoring on a single by Hathaway.
The Gophers would add one more in the fifth inning when DuPaul tacked on her third hit of the night - a single that plated Skrove to push the lead to 11-3 in favor of the Gophers.
Behind a potent Minnesota offense, Alissa Koch picked up her second win of the season. The Gophers pitcher went all five innings, striking out eight batters, walking just one hitter and allowing three runs on nine hits. Lauren Kennewell took the loss for Iowa State, giving up four runs on four hits in 2.1 innings of work.
Minnesota returns to action on Saturday when the Gophers host South Dakota for a doubleheader at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
