University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Northwestern
Gophers Win B1G Championship in Instant Classic
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 14, 2016
Box Score
A wild game finished in a wild way as Sydney Fabian dodged a tag at home plate to end a ten inning three hour and forty minute marathon of a Big Ten championship game against No. 2 Michigan.
The Big Ten Tournament championship victory is the second in three years for the No. 23/19 University of Minnesota Gophers. They also won in 1999 and in 2014.
Sara Groenewegen was named the tournament MVP for what head coach Jessica Allister called one of the gutsiest performances she has ever seen. Groenewegen pitched every inning, 24, of the tournament for the Gophers. She struck out 11 batters only giving up two earned runs in the ten inning championship game.
"I am just so proud of our team right now. We were nothing but resilient. Nothing from today, either game, was easy," Allister said.
Early both teams traded scores all the way. Michigan scored right away in the top of the first and the Gophers answered when Sam Macken came home on a wild pitch.
Michigan scored in the third and again the Maroon and Gold answered in the form of a Macken run when Maddie Houlihan brought her in with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
The biggest answer of the game came when Minnesota went down 3-2 going into the bottom of the sixth. Parlich drilled a bases loaded single to score Kayla Wenner. Groenewegen fired in two more strikeouts in the top of the seventh leaving a chance for the Gophers to win in the bottom. Paige Palkovich made it to second but the Gophers did not bring her home sending the game to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth inning Michigan put runners on second and third but Groenewegen forced a pop up to get out of the jam. The Gophers went three up, three down in the bottom.
Michigan again put on pressure loading the bases in the ninth but Groenewegen fired in a strikeout catching the batter looking as she painted the upper corner.
"I think a lot of people outside of Minnesota softball don't believe we can do it," Groenewegen said, "and they don't believe we can be in the top-25 in this country, and I think this proves right there that we can compete with anyone in the country."
Groenewegen went on to say that she lays her heart on the line every game and that she was not thinking about the number of innings she had pitched.
Houlihan made it all the way to third in the bottom of the ninth but the Gophers could not quite punch her home needing to rely on their great defense and Groenewegen for three more outs to start the tenth. The Gophers did just that with three quick outs that ended in Groenewegen's eleventh strikeout.
With one out in the bottom of the tenth Sydney Dwyer ripped a single through the right side and had Dani Wagner check in to run. Wagner stole second base to get into scoring position. The Gophers were aggressive on the base path all evening recording six stolen bases.
Fabian reached on an error to put runners on first and second. Macken made solid contact and reached first on a fielder's choice as Wagner was thrown out at third.
Parlich followed also making strong contact right after and the shortstop booted it into the outfield. Fabian slid into third thinking she was cutting it close there but quickly got up and sprinted to home plate where she beat out a tag for the score.
"She (Allister) was saying go go go. I know there is always a chance," Fabian said. "I slid and it worked out."
It sure did. The Gophers will find out their NCAA destiny tomorrow at 9 p.m. CT when the NCAA Selection Show airs on ESPNU.
Short Recap of Semifinal Win- Gophers 8, Northwestern 4
It took three hours and 53 minutes but the No. 23/19 University of Minnesota Gophers battled to an 8-4 victory over the Northwestern University Wildcats in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals this afternoon.
Facing a high powered offense and battling all Mother Nature had to offer the Gophers smacked three home runs in the win. They will play the winner of Michigan-Penn State this evening in the championship game.
Even though the Gophers were the higher seed they were the away team on the board due to Big Ten Tournament rules after losing a coin toss. Sara Groenewegen put Minnesota on the board with a monster home run to left field in the top of the first inning. Her eleventh of the season was a big one scoring three.
The two teams traded runs early with the Gophers taking a 4-3 lead into the third inning. Palkovich opened the third with a deep home run over the left field scoreboard for her sixth of the season.
The Gophers shut down the Wildcats in the bottom of the third and scrapped across another run to open the fourth. Maddie Houlihan led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. She was later brought in by a Palkovich RBI single.
Northwestern threatened in the bottom of the inning but Parlich made an unreal play jumping into the air to snag a line drive. She threw to Houlihan at first who dug it out for the double play getting the Gophers out of the jam.
The game went into a delay that lasted over an hour after the fourth.
The Maroon and Gold came out swinging after the break in the fifth. Sydney Fabian opened with a single. Sam Macken launched a home run right after to give the Gophers some cushion.
Groenewegen settled in on the mound after the delay. She pitched the complete game striking out nine batters. She hit the 300 strikeout mark on the season and is now 29-5 on the season.
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