University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Western Carolina
Gophers Split First Day in Georgia
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
After cruising to a 7-1 victory over Western Carolina the dramatics were at a high for the No. 20/19 University of Minnesota Gophers against the No. 9/11 University of Georgia Bulldogs.
Minnesota recorded more hits and led the majority of the game but fell in the bottom of the seventh inning.
First Game: No. 20/19 Minnesota 7, Western Carolina 1
The Gophers used a huge second inning scoring six runs on three hits while having three batters walked to top the Western Carolina Catamounts early today.
Nikki Anderson took her third win on the mound and was strong from the start shutting down the first three WCU batters. She forced grounder after grounder throughout the game and had great support from the field.
After no runs in the first and another three up, three down in the top of the second the Gophers took over in the bottom of the inning. Taylor LeMay singled through the left side and had Ellie Cowger come in to pinch run. Sara Groenewegen and Paige Palkovich were both waked the next two at bats to load the bases with no outs.
Cowger would score on a wild pitch with Groenewegen and Palkovich advancing bases. Houlihan was walked to load the bases again with no outs. Sydney Dwyer recorded a ground out RBI bringing in Groenewegen for the Gophers second run. Palkovich scored and Fabian advanced safely to first the next at bat as the Catamount shortstop missed a pop up.
Macken was walked to again load the bases followed up by a two-RBI single from Kayla Wenner. The final run was brought in by a Danielle Parlich RBI-single to right field.
The Catamounts got on the board to start the third inning. The Maroon and Gold answered with their final run in the bottom of the third. Palkovich was walked and later stole second. The stolen base ended up being crucial as Houlihan singled up the middle bringing Palkovich home for the score.
Every time WCU looked to get some momentum the Gophers field would come up with a big play. In the top of the sixth Dwyer made a catch over her should at shortstop and fired to first for a double play to end the inning. She had three assists in the game while Macken had four and Anderson also recorded three. Houlihan had 14 total putouts while Parlich fielded two assists and a putout.
Anderson went six innings only allowing three hits on the mound. Kylie Stober came into the seventh and got three quick outs to seal the victory.
Second Game: No. 9/11 Georgia 6, Minnesota 5
Minnesota took the lead in the top of the second inning and never trailed again until the last play of the game.
Georgia got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning but the Gopher bounced back with a big second inning. Palkovich and Houlihan started off the inning with back to back singles. Dwyer was walked to load the bases with no outs.
Fabian came up to bat next and drilled the first pitch she saw for a single bringing in two runs.
Macken followed with an RBI-single and Wenner brought in another run on a ground out giving Minnesota a 4-1 lead.
Georgia hit back smacking two home runs in a row to start the bottom of the inning. Groenewegen would settle back in on the mound after giving up the home runs retiring the next 12 batters.
The Maroon and Gold pushed their lead to 5-3 in the top of third inning sparked by another Palkovich single. She was brought home by a Houlihan single up the middle.
A pitching change in the fourth inning for Georgia helped slow down the Gophers offense attack. Minnesota finished the game with 10 hits and had nine of those come in the first four innings.
Georgia closed the gap early in the bottom of the sixth inning. They led off with a triple and had a run brought in the next at bat on a sacrifice fly.
Later in the inning with two outs on the board a Bulldog player came across the plate for a game tying run after the Gophers attempted a force out at first with the runner being called safe. Groenewegen struck out the next batter to get out of the sixth inning with the game tied at 5-5. She finished with 11 strikeouts in the game.
Minnesota did not score in the top of the seventh. Dwyer made a diving catch to get the leadoff batter out in the bottom of the inning. A single and a walk-off double ended the game.
The Maroon and Gold had 10 hits to the Bulldogs six. Palkovich and Parlich both recorded two while Fabian had two RBI. Groenewegen took the loss on the mound and moves to 7-3 on the season.
The Gophers have two more games at the Georgia Softball Classic tomorrow taking on Jacksonville at 11 a.m. before getting another shot at Georgia to close out the weekend at 1:30 p.m.
