University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
No. 8/8 Washington
Minnesota Tops Seattle, Battles Washington In Loss
3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The No. 7/7 University of Minnesota Gophers added one more win to their program record win streak with a 7-0 beat down of Seattle before falling in a 3-2 battle against No. 8/8 Washington.
The Gophers are now 19-1 on the season. Previously their longest win streak to start a season was eight and 15 straight victories was their longest win streak ever.
First Game: Minnesota 7, Seattle 0
Amber Fiser went six innings with four strikeouts while only allowing one hit as the Gophers topped Seattle in the first game of the day. Nine different players recorded hits for the Maroon and Gold in the win.
Fiser went to work right away striking out the first three batters she faced. The first run of the game came in the form of Sydney Dwyer RBI as she drew a walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. Another run came in when Kendyl Lindaman came home on an error.
Dani Wagner started off the second with a double and Sam Macken traded places with her hitting an RBI double to the same exact spot.
Fiser did not allow a hit in the first four innings of play. Seattle finally got a hit to start the fifth but Fiser came back forcing three quick outs. The Gophers pounced again in the bottom of the inning with three more runs.
Lindaman was walked and MaKenna Partain knocked a double down the left field line early in the frame. Dwyer hit an RBI single and now has 22 RBIs already this season. Sara Groenewegen and Wagner each added RBI singles right after putting the Gophers up 6-0 after five.
One more run came in the sixth inning when Maddie Houlihan blasted a double to center field to score Danielle Parlich. Houlihan has eight doubles this season.
Kendal Judge pitched the seventh inning and did not allow a hit. In three appearances she has only allowed one hit this season. Fiser moved to 4-0 on the season with the victory. She has a 2.24 ERA with 24 strikeouts.
Second Game, Washington 3, Minnesota 2
Minnesota jumped out to a fast start going up 2-0 in the top of the first inning but lost a tight one against Washington. Lindaman went 3-3 with two RBIs in the loss.
Macken and Parlich hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the game. Parlich has a hit in all 20 games this season. Eleven was the longest hitting streak any Gopher had last year.
Houlihan drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Lindaman stepped up next and cracked a single past the shortstop to score two runs. After the Huskies forced an out at third Dwyer singled to load the bases with one out. Washington was able to turn a double play to get out of the jam.
The Huskies hit back with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. They also loaded the bases with one out but Groenewegen came back with two straight strikeouts to get out of the frame.
A single followed by a double in the bottom of the second tied the game up for Washington. Neither team gave much of an inch throughout the next couple innings.
The Gophers got into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth as the Huskies put runners on second and third with no outs. Groenewegen forced a pop up for the first out. The next play Groenewegen fielded a grounder and tossed to Lindaman at home who was able to chase down a runner trying to get back to third and tag her out. On the same play Lindaman fired to second base getting another runner in a pickle as Partain threw to Dwyer who laid a tag for the third out of the inning. The heads up defensive play left the game tied 2-2 after five.
Washington shut down the Gophers in order in the top of the sixth and recorded a lead off home run in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Parlich kept the Gophers chances alive in the top of the seventh beating out a throw for a two out single but Minnesota was not able to punch a run across.
Groenewegen took her first loss of the season and is now 9-1 with a 0.79 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 62.1 innings of work. The Gophers will rematch both Seattle and Washington tomorrow. They play Seattle at 2:30 p.m. and Washington at 7 p.m.
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