University of Minnesota Athletics
Koch, Moulton Pace Minnesota Sweep Over USD
4/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MINNEAPOLIS -- Allisa Koch and Sara Moulton combined for 30 strikeouts including a career-high 17 from Koch as the Minnesota softball team swept South Dakota on Saturday at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. With both pitchers throwing complete-game one-hitters, the Gophers opened the day with a 3-0 win over the Coyotes behind Moulton's arm before tallying a 5-0 win in the finale with Koch on the mound.
Minnesota 3, South Dakota 0
Sara Moulton earned her 20th win of the year, throwing a complete-game one-hitter on Saturday afternoon as the Gophers opened a doubleheader with a 3-0 blanking of South Dakota. The freshman struck out 13 as she picked up her 11th shutout of the year.
Moulton was perfect through six innings before giving up a double to Lindsey Boyd in the top of the seventh. The Eagan, Minn. native retired the first 18 batters she faced on Thursday afternoon with Boyd being the lone base runner of the game for the Coyotes. Moulton improved her record to 20-10 on the season for Minnesota.
The Gophers (23-16 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) backed up Moulton in the field and pieced together three runs over the afternoon contest. Kari Dorle broke a scoreless tie in the third inning when she singled to right field, scoring Malisa Barnes and Bree Blanchette. Minnesota would add one more run in the fifth when Dannie Skrove single and eventually come around to score on an error to close out the scoring for the game.
Mel Johnson would take the loss for South Dakota, bringing her record to 4-8 on the season. Johnson gave up three runs on three hits while walking two and striking out a trio of batters.
Minnesota 5, South Dakota 0
Allisa Koch would guide Minnesota from the mound to complete the sweep, setting a career mark with 17 strikeouts and a one-hit, complete game of her own as the Gophers picked up a 5-0 win over South Dakota in the series finale.
The junior pitcher improved her previous mark of 12 strikeouts set last year as a sophomore while the Gophers offense backed her up with a run in each of the game's first five innings. Kari Dorle and Jessie Hathaway paced the Minnesota offense with a pair of hits each starting with Dorle's two-out double in the bottom of the first. The Gophers catcher would advance to third on a passed ball and eventually score on a wild pitch to give the team all the runs it would need behind Koch's arm.
But Minnesota wasn't done. After reaching on an infield single, Hathaway would make it 2-0 in the bottom of the second when she made her way around the base path and scored on an error by the catcher. Dannie Skrove would make it 3-0 in the next inning when she hit her first home run of the season over the left field fence for a solo shot. Aubrey Davis would single in the fourth inning and steal second before scoring on an RBI single by Malisa Barnes. Dorle, who started Minnesota's scoring in the series finale, would also end when she sent a line drive over the left field wall for a one-run lead-off home run in the fifth inning for her seventh of the year.
The steady offense would boost Koch's confidence on the mound as the pitcher struck out 17 of the 22 batters she faced in the contest. Paige Policky would tally South Dakota's only run in the loss, singling up the middle to lead off the fifth inning. Koch went the distance for Minnesota, walking two batters as she picked up her first complete-game shutout of the year and improving her record to 3-6 on the season. Erica Denney took the loss for South Dakota, giving up five runs on nine hits in four innings of work.
Minnesota returns to action with a Big Ten doubleheader on Wednesday against Iowa at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The Big Ten Network will broadcast both games live, starting at 4:30 p.m.
