University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
No. 13/14 Oklahoma
Gophers Stay Resilient Topping No. 13 Oklahoma
3/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The No. 22/22 University of Minnesota Gophers stayed resilient swapping leads eight times before pulling out a 12-10 victory in eight innings over the No. 13/14 Oklahoma University Sooners.
"The team did an unbelievable job. Every time they punched we punched back. It took the entire team tonight and I could not be more proud of them," head coach Jessica Allister said. "That is resiliency. Every time you still have outs left, you still have a shot to win. I thought we did a great job of playing that way tonight."
This game was a rematch of an early season battle between the two teams but was a much different story. That was a pitcher's duel with the Gophers winning 1-0 on a Sydney Dwyer walk off home. Tonight was all offense but it was again Dwyer who came up with a huge play in the seventh inning.
With the Gophers down by one and two outs on the board Dwyer came to plate with runners on first and second. She ripped a single through the left side to bring in Erika Rozell for the game tying run.
The Gophers had four home runs on the evening with Sam Macken launching two of them while Kayla Wenner and Maddie Houlihan each had one as well. Houlihan had an outstanding performance with three hits that included a home run and double. She was also walked two times to reach base every at bat she had.
The Sooners got on the board taking the game's first lead with a run in the bottom of the first. The Gophers bounced right back in the second inning. With Brandi McGregor and Paige Palkovich both on base Houlihan came to the plate and launched a three shot home run to left center. She has a team leading six this season and has now hit home runs in back-to-back nights.
The lead again changed in the bottom of the second as Oklahoma came back with three runs of their own.
Macken and Wenner opened up the third inning with back-to-back home runs with Macken hitting one over the left field wall while Wenner drilled one to center for her first of the season. Through three innings all three of the Gophers hits were home runs.
The Sooners tied the game in bottom of the third with a run and regained the lead with a run in the fourth. Kylie Stober and Nikki Anderson pitched the first four innings for Minnesota. Stober went 2.1 innings while only giving up two earned runs and struck out one batter. Anderson only allowed one earned run and three hits in 1.2 innings of work while recording a strikeout.
Minnesota clawed back it once again in the top of the fifth. Wenner was walked to lead things off. Taylor LeMay hit a single with one out on the board to move Wenner over to second. Sara Groenewegen was able to bring her home for the RBI when her hit took a weird bounce off the pitcher and into shallow left tying up the game.
Palkovich laid down a sacrifice bunt to move over Dani Wagner, who was pinch running for LeMay, and Groenewegen. Houlihan was then walked to load the bases. Dwyer recorded a hit by pitch RBI to give the Gophers the 7-6 lead as Wagner trotted home.
Oklahoma hit a two shot home run in the bottom of the fifth to go up 8-7 after five. The Gophers went down in order the top of the sixth and forced a three up, three down in the bottom of the inning to stay within reach.
LeMay was hit by a pitch to start the seventh inning. She would later have Rozell come in to pinch run for her. With two outs on the board Rozell advanced to second on a wild pitch changing the dynamic of the inning. The Sooners decided to intentionally walk Houlihan for the second time in the game bringing up Dwyer.
On a 1-1 count Dwyer drove the ball right through the left side and Rozell came home for the score. The gopher's field again retired the Sooners in order the bottom of the inning to send it to extra innings. It was the first time this season the Maroon and Gold have gone into extra innings.
Macken kept the momentum going torching her second home run of the game to start off the eighth inning. She now has five this season. The Gophers kept rolling as Wenner doubled, Parlich singled and Rozell bunt singled to load the bases. Groenewegen brought in her second run of the game with a single to shortstop.
Adding two more runs in the inning was none other than Houlihan who singled through the right side to send Parlich and Rozell home.
Oklahoma did not go down without one last effort scoring two runs but the Gophers hung on. Groenewegen got the win on the mound pitching the last four innings. She is now 12-4 on the year.
Minnesota finished with 13 hits in the game with eight players recording at least one. Macken, Wenner, Groenewegen and Houlihan all finished with multiple hits.
