University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
North Dakota State
Gophers Split Twin Bill With NDSU
4/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2015
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Photo Gallery
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 12/10 Minnesota softball team split a midweek doubleheader against North Dakota State Wednesday afternoon at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The Gophers took the first game, 8-0, in five innings, but the Bison held on for a 5-4 victory in the second game. Sophomore Sara Groenewegen tossed her third-career no-hitter in the first game.
The split moved Minnesota's record to 38-8. NDSU is now 36-8. The Gophers are now 21-2 against NDSU all-time and will finish the 2015 regular season with a 26-5 non-conference record.
Groenewegen got the Maroon and Gold's offense started in the first game, driving home Sam Macken with an RBI single. Taylor LeMay plated another run with a single in the first to make it 2-0.
After Minnesota made it 3-0 in the second, Hannah Granger added to the Gophers' lead in the fourth by roping a line drive to right field and running all the way home for an inside-the-park home run. The homer was Granger's 11th of the season and was the team's 68th of the year, tying a program record.
In the sixth, the Gophers ended the game with four runs, capped by a Groenewegen two-run double. It Minnesota's 14th-run rule win of the season.
In the circle, Groenewegen struck out seven batters two complete her second no-hitter in 10 days. The shutout was the 500th overall in program history for the Gophers and was the 11th of the White Rock, B.C. native's career.
The second game saw the Bison take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The 1-0 score stuck until LeMay knotted the game with an RBI single in the fourth.
NDSU reclaimed the lead for good in the fifth by bringing in four runs. Minnesota rallied in the bottom of the sixth when Paige Palkovich made it a one-run game by notching a bases-clearing triple. The Gophers, however, could not bring Palkovich home and could not tie the game in the seventh after putting runs in scoring position.
Minnesota picks up play Friday at 6 p.m. at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium when it kicks off a three-game series against Iowa.
