University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois
Gophers Advance to B1G Tournament Semifinals
5/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Big Ten Tournament Central
The No. 23/19 University of Minnesota Gophers advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals with a 2-0 victory over the University of Illinois Fighting Illini this afternoon.
Sara Groenewegen pitched a complete game one-hit shutout and Kayla Wenner came across home plate for both of the Gophers runs. Minnesota will play Northwestern in the first game of the semifinals tomorrow with first pitch set for 12 p.m. CT.
"I am proud of our team for coming out and getting a big win. Illinois is a really good ball club," head coach Jessica Allister said. "I thought we played great defense. We hit a lot of balls right at people but we stuck with it offensively and scratched across a couple runs. Sara pitched great in the circle. It was a good win to start the tournament."
Groenewegen was masterful in the circle not allowing a single hit in the first five innings of play. She finished the game with nine strikeouts and moves to 28-5 on the season.
"I did not think I had all my stuff working well today but luckily I have a really good defense behind me," Groenewegen said. "Even when things are not working the best I can still be confident knowing my defense behind me is going to make tremendous plays."
To start the game Groenewegen opened with three strikeouts but one Illini player got on base on a wild pitch. Sam Macken finished off the frame snagging a line drive to third out of the air.
Later in the third inning Wenner came up with a big diving catch and Groenewegen fired in her sixth strikeout to keep Illinois off the board. The Gophers offense was quiet early but stayed scrappy to put a run on the board in the bottom of the fourth.
With two outs on the board Wenner dropped a single down and used her speed to beat out a throw. Sydney Dwyer singled with a hard hit back to the pitcher. Sydney Fabian brought in the first run of the game with a shot to left field as Wenner came sprinting from second to score. Macken nearly blew it open with a deep shot to the center field warning track but the outfielder came up with the grab.
The Maroon and Gold threatened again in the fifth when Danielle Parlich led off with a single. She had a big day going 3-4 with three singles. She would reach third base but the Gophers were not able to get her home.
Illinois had their best opportunity of the game in the top of the sixth breaking up the no-hitter with a single to right center to lead things off. The next batter was walked and both were moved over on a sacrifice bunt. Taylor LeMay came up with a big catch in foul territory and Wenner caught a fly to get the Gophers out of the jam.
Wenner opened the bottom of the sixth with a single to the shortstop again showing off the wheels to beat out a throw. She later stole second which had a big impact on the inning. With two outs on the board Macken drilled a single to left field sending Wenner home for the second score of the game.
"It was fun. It was fun to get on base and watch my teammates have gritty at bats to put the ball in play," Wenner said. "They could have left me at first but they moved me around and it was awesome."
Groenewegen recorded her ninth strikeout to start the seventh inning and Dani Wagner hauled in a pop up for the second out. The third out did not come easy as Macken made a great play on a high bounce and fired to first just in time to seal the victory.
The Gophers won the series earlier this season against Northwestern taking two of three games. The winner of tomorrow's semifinal matchup will move to the Big Ten Championship game which is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT
Hear from Coach Allister, @saragroe and @kwenner8 after today's big quarterfinal win! https://t.co/y6o8w8xOsI
- Minnesota Softball (@GopherSoftball) May 13, 2016
