University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Pacific
Offense Propels Gophers in Pair of Wins
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 16 Minnesota softball team surged offensively en route to two victories on its first day of play at the Fresno State Classic in Fresno, Calif. Friday. The Gophers defeated South Dakota State, 20-3, before dispatching Pacific, 8-1. The pair of wins upped the team's 2015 record to 20-4.
The 20 runs against the Jackrabbits set a single-game record for the Maroon and Gold in the NCAA era of the program that dates back to 1982. They had previously reached the 19-run mark two times.
The tournament started smoothly at the plate for Minnesota, which saw its first 13 batters reach base. The Gophers got on the board when Hannah Granger hit a grand slam after Sam Macken, Kaitlyn Richardson and Sara Groenewegen got on base. After nine more runs came across, Tyler Walker capped a 16-run inning with a three-run homer to right center field.
In the second, a Richardson solo shot and a sacrifice fly by Erika Smyth made it 18-0. SDSU got on the board with three runs in the third inning, but it could not muster any more offense off Minnesota starting pitcher Kylie Stober. RBI doubles by freshmen Dani Wagner and Ellie Cowger completed the scoring for the game.
Wagner and Cowger each notched the first hit of her career in the triumph.
Stober pitched four innings of two-hit ball to improve to 5-1 on the season. Hannah Evavold finished the game by pitching a scoreless fifth. The Gophers won in a run-rule decision for the eighth time this season.
In Game No. 2 of Friday, the Minnesota offense picked up when it left off against South Dakota State. Richardson, who went 5-for-7 on the day, got the scoring started with a solo homer in first. Danielle Parlich made it 2-0 by driving home Granger.
Parlich's hit gave her an 11-game hitting streak. She has now reached base in 14-consecutive games.
After Walker scored Paige Palkovich to make it 3-0 in the second, the Gophers pulled away further in the fourth with an Erica Meyer RBI double. Two runs later scored on a Macken ground out, thanks to heads-up base running by Walker, who scored from second base.
Pacific cut its deficit to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but Groenewegen, Minnesota's starting pitcher for the game, helped her own cause by helping score two more runs in the seven.
In the circle, the White Rock, B.C. native allowed just three hits, while striking out eight in a complete-game victory. She improved her record on the year to 12-2.
The Gophers continue play in Fresno Saturday at 8 p.m. CT against host Fresno State before concluding the weekend versus Montana and Cal Poly Sunday. Minnesota will then take on No. 11 California in a midweek game before opening Big Ten play at Illinois.
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