University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois
Gophers Keep Rolling Winning Another Series
4/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The No. 22/22 University of Minnesota Gophers topped the Illinois Fighting Illini twice in their home opening doubleheader with a 13-0 victory in five innings followed by a 6-5 win.
The two wins today ensure a third straight Big Ten series win for the Maroon and Gold. They will wrap up the series taking on Illinois at 12:00 p.m tomorrow.
"It is awesome to play in front of our home crowd. We have the best fans in the country," head coach Jessica Allister said. "Those are two great wins. Illinois is a really good ball club. They are going to come ready tomorrow so we better come ready."
The Gophers had five home runs between the two games mixed with a solid performance from three different pitchers.
First Game: Minnesota 13, Illinois 0
The Gophers had 13 hits and only allowed two rolling to a dominant victory to start the day. They got it started right away retiring the Illini side in order while going through the lineup over one and half times in the bottom of the inning.
With two outs on the board Paige Palkovich came to the plate with runners on second and third smacking a ball that hit the top of the center field wall and bounced back into the field for a two RBI triple.
Kayla Wenner ripped a single up the middle for an RBI and Sydney Dwyer drove a home run to center scoring three more runs.
Sydney Fabian and Sam Macken each kept things going getting on base and were brought home by a Danielle Parlich triple to right center.
Taylor LeMay brought in the innings ninth run with an RBI single to center field.
The Gophers again forced three up, three downs in the second and third inning with great team defense.
The offense reignited in the fourth when the first three batters reached base and were all brought home in a big way as Maddie Houlihan lifted her team leading seventh home run of the season over the right field wall for a grand slam.
Four players had a multiple hit game with Parlich, LeMay and Fabian all recording two while Houlihan smacked three.
"I felt like we had really good approaches all day and swung the ball well," Allister said.
Groenewegen started on the mound going two innings and striking out three batters while not allowing a hit. Kylie Stober notched the win in three innings only giving up two hits.
Second Game: Minnesota 6, Illinois 5
The Gophers took a 6-2 lead into the seventh inning and needed every run hanging on for a 6-5 victory.
Houlihan brought in the game's first run with a double to left center scoring Macken in the bottom of the first inning.
The Illini tied it up the top of the second and the Gophers quickly answered with another run in the bottom of the inning when Macken singled to score Palkovich.
Minnesota came up with a big defensive play to start the fourth inning. Palkovich laid out for a diving catch and despite not coming up with it was backed up by Dani Wagner who fired to second where Parlich laid the tag for an out.
Illinois went on to score a run later in the inning and had runners on the corners with two outs but the Gophers were able to get of the jam without allowing any more damage.
Groenewegen pitched the first 3.2 innings allowing five hits while striking out six batters. Anderson came in to get the last out in the fourth and went on to pitch three innings.
With the game tied up 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Gophers used two big solo home runs from Macken and Groenewegen to take the lead. Macken now has seven this season, tied for the team lead, and Groenewegen's line drive laser gives her six on the season.
In the sixth inning Dwyer had her fifth home run of the season hit off back of the baseball center field wall to score two runs.
Illinois clawed back in the seventh inning putting up three runs. Stober came in to get the final out and her second save of the season.
"They (all three pitchers) did a tremendous job of being ready and doing their part," Allister said.
The Gophers are now 26-10 this season with a 6-1 B1G record going into tomorrow.
