University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
(3) Arizona State
Gophers Split Final Two in Arizona
3/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 2, 2014
FIU 3, Minnesota 1 (Box Score) | Minnesota 3, Arizona State 2
TEMPE Ariz. - The No. 19/20 Minnesota softball team had its six-game winning streak halted with a 3-1 loss to Florida International, but bounced back for a 3-2 road win against third-ranked Arizona State on the final day of play at the Louisville Slugger Invitational Sunday. The Golden Gophers finished the weekend with a 3-1 record and are now 15-2 in 2014.
Against ranked foes, Minnesota is 2-1 this year with both wins coming in road games.
In their first game of the day against FIU, the Gophers got on the board first in the third inning when Erica Meyer continued a strong weekend at the plate by doubling and driving Tyler Walker, who scampered home all the way from first.
FIU loaded the bases and knotted in the score in the next inning, but reliever Nikki Anderson limited the damage after replacing starter Sara Groenewegen with no outs in the inning. The Panthers went on to score in both the sixth and seventh inning and hold Minnesota to just six hits to secure the win.
Anderson suffered her first loss and dropped to 1-1 on the season, despite a solid, four-inning outing.
Through three innings, the Gophers' clash with host Arizona State saw just one hit until. The Sun Devils ended the stalemate in the fourth with a bases-loaded single that scored a run.
The outlook for the Gophers was bleak until the sixth inning when Walker and Meyer singled and Arizona native Kaitlyn Richardson doubled Walker home. Groenewegen came up huge in the next at bat by scoring two on a single up the middle, giving Minnesota a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Arizona State loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and got a run back, but an ASU hit to Moulton resulted in the runners that started the play at second and third because thrown out on a play that also involved catcher Taylor LeMay, Richardson, and Meyer. Moulton drew a groundout to Meyer to escape trouble before blanking the Sun Devils in the seventh to polish off the complete game win.
The win was the Gophers' fourth-ever against ASU and was the school-record 95th of Moulton's career. She recorded eight strikeouts in her 99th complete game.
Next week, Minnesota will take part in Oklahoma State's Mizuno Classic. In Stillwater, Okla. The Gophers will face Missouri State and Drake twice each in addition to a game against the host Cowgirls, who the Gophers edged, 1-0, in Baton Rouge, La. in the team's first weekend of play.
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