University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Stanford
Gophers Take Down Santa Clara, Stanford
3/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The 17th-ranked Minnesota softball team won twice at the Louisville Slugger Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. Saturday. The Gophers improved to 3-0 on the weekend and 17-4 on the season by toppling Santa Clara, 9-6, and dispatching Stanford, 9-1, in five innings.
The win over the Cardinal was Minnesota's second in the schools' all-time series and was its seventh run-rule win of the season.
In the day's first game, the Gophers got on the board in the first inning with a Hannah Granger sacrifice fly in the first and made it 2-0 with a bases-loaded walk from Taylor LeMay in the third. The Maroon and Gold broke the game open in the fourth when Kaitlyn Richardson hit an RBI double and Granger knocked two more in with a single.
Minnesota went up 9-0 in the sixth after Danielle Parlich notched an RBI single and Taylor LeMay belted a two-run home run. Santa Clara rallied for five runs in the bottom of the stanza, but could not complete the comeback.
Against Stanford, the Gophers piled up six runs in the second inning and never looked back in their shortest game of the season. After LeMay hit a two-run single, Erica Meyer and Sam Macken drove in one run apiece before Richardson blasted a two-run homer.
The third inning brought more offense from Minnesota as Parlich reached base and came home on a wild pitch and LeMay collected her second two-run home run of the day to make it 9-0.
The Cardinal got on the board with a Leah White double in the fifth, but Gopher pitcher Sara Groenewegen shut the door to finish off the win. She improved to 10-2 on the season with another complete game. She earned a save against the Broncos earlier in the day.
Kylie Stober was also solid in the circle Saturday, earning her fourth win of the season against Santa Clara.
The Gophers wrap up weekend play Sunday at noon CT against Stanford. They will return to the Golden State next weekend to play in the Fresno State Classic.
