University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Stanford
Gophers Win to Cap 4-0 Weekend
3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
|
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The 17th-ranked Minnesota softball team finished off an undefeated weekend at the Louisville Slugger Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. with a 9-5 victory against tournament host Stanford Sunday morning. The Gophers defeated the Cardinal for the third time on the weekend and improved to 18-4 on the season.
Minnesota never trailed in the game, first taking the lead in the second inning when Taylor LeMay drove in Danielle Parlich from third after Parlich walked, stole second and was moved to third on a Paige Palkovich sacrifice bunt.
Stanford knotted the score with an Erin Ashby RBI double in the bottom of the third, but the Gophers responded in the next half inning when Hannah Granger hit a two-run homer to left field. After Parlich and LeMay reached base again, Erica Meyer made it 5-1 with a two-run double. Sam Macken went on to score Meyer from second with a single.
The Cardinal answered Minnesota's fourth-inning outburst with a two-run triple by Hanna Winter in the bottom of the stanza and a Kylie Sorenson RBI single in the fifth.
With the score 6-4, the Gophers pulled away one final time in the sixth inning by putting together three runs. After Meyer sent Palkovich home with a single, Tyler Walker and Macken plated runs with groundouts.
Stanford's Kayla Bonstrom added a solo home run in the seventh, but the Cardinal could not muster any more offense.
Sara Groenewegen pitched a complete game to improve to 11-2 on the season in the circle. She struck out 10 batters to up her season total to 133. She went 3-0 with a save in four games in Palo Alto.
On the weekend, Granger and LeMay led the way offensively for the Gophers as they both hit .545. Granger homered three times en route to a 10-RBI weekend and LeMay drove in eight runs thanks in part to two two-run homers.
The Gophers will return to the Golden State next weekend to play five games at the Fresno State Classic. They will then take on California in a midweek game before opening Big Ten play at Illinois.
###
