University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Purdue
Gophers Win Twice on Senior Day
5/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 2, 2015
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Photo Gallery
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 13/9 Minnesota softball team concluded its regular season Saturday with a pair of wins over Purdue at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The Gophers celebrated their Senior Day by defeating the Boilermakers, 3-2, in eight innings in Game 1 before rallying late for a 4-2 triumph in the second game. The victories improved the team's record on the season to 46-8--it finished Big Ten play at 20-3.
The Maroon and Gold's 46 wins are its most since 1999 and their 20 conference wins match their most ever, tying the team's 20-4 campaign in 1991.
Sara Groenewegen dazzled in the circle in the first-game, setting the program's single-game strikeout record with 19. She conceded two runs (one earned) on two hits in eight innings of work. She earned her 28th win, tying Sara Moulton's 2011 season for the second-most in a season in Gopher history. The White Rock, B.C. native also upped her 2015 strikeout total to 332, the second-most in school history.
Erica Meyer got the scoring going in the second inning, doubling home Taylor LeMay before coming home on a Boilermaker error. Purdue knotted the score in the sixth with a two-run homer by Ashley Burkhardt, but could not muster any more offense in the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Groenewegen drew a walk and was pinch run for by Kayla Wenner. Wenner stole second and advanced to third on a fly out to the right-field warning track by Kaitlyn Richardson. Hannah Granger then played hero by roping a walk-off single to the left-field wall.
Nikki Anderson followed Groenewegen's dominant performance in the circle in Game 1 by stifling the Boilers in Game 2. The junior allowed two runs on four hits, registering a career-best nine strikeouts to improve to 10-2 on the year.
Purdue starter Gina Snyder held Minnesota scoreless through five innings as the Boilermakers staked themselves to a 2-0 lead. The Gophers broke through for four runs in the sixth, however. Taylor LeMay knotted the game with one swing, doubling home Danielle Parlich and Groenewegen. Meyer then doubled LeMay home and came home herself by stealing third base and advancing again on an errant Purdue throw.
Anderson shut the door in the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning, securing her fourth complete game of the year.
Minnesota will not play Sunday and will resume action at the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus, Ohio next week. The defending champion Gophers will be the tournament's second seed and will receive a bye in the first round. They will play either No. 7 seed Rutgers or 10th-seeded Iowa in the quarterfinal round at 7 p.m. CT Friday on the Big Ten Network.
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