University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Maryland
Gophers Win Big on Senior Day
5/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The No. 24/23 University of Minnesota Gophers completed the weekend sweep over the Maryland University Terrapins with a 9-0 victory this afternoon.
Minnesota won in run rule victories all three days this weekend. They now have five Big Ten sweeps on the season and are on an eight game win streak. They have outscored their opponents 73-13 in that span. Overall they are 35-12 with a 16-3 conference record.
"We are just trying to continue to be the best team we can be," head coach Jessica Allister said. "Now we have to get back to work this week before we head to Iowa. That will be a tough weekend."
Maddie Houlihan kept her hot bat going into today. She smacked a double to left scoring Taylor LeMay and Sara Groenewegen right away in the first inning. She has eight doubles this season.
Sam Macken dropped down a sacrifice bunt in the second inning to score Dani Wagner to keep things rolling for the Maroon and Gold.
Through the first three innings in the circle, Sara Groenewegen struck out seven of the nine batters she saw.
It was Houlihan who again broke the game open smacking a two RBI homer over the center field wall in the bottom of the third. She had home runs in every game of the series this weekend and has 10 on the year.
The Gophers kept pouring it on in the bottom of the fourth. Danielle Parlich and LeMay hit back-to-back singles and Groenewegen helped her own cause launching a home run to left. She now has 10 home runs this season including seven in Big Ten play.
Right after senior Brandi McGregor came in as a pinch hitter and brought all 1,138 fans that were at the game today to their feet hitting a home run to center. The Gophers now have 61 home runs as a team with 34 of those coming in Big Ten play.
Senior Nikki Anderson finished off the fifth inning in the circle firing in two strikeouts. Groenewegen took the win improving to 25-5 overall and 11-1 in the Big Ten. She pitched nine innings this weekend and did not allow a single hit while striking out 18 batters.
The Gophers will finish out regular season play next weekend at Iowa for a three game series.
