University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 16
Clearwater, FL
3:00 PM
University of Minnesota
3-2
10
vs
0
Notre Dame
3-5
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Minnesota
7
0
0
0
3
10
9
0
Notre Dame
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
Photo by: Mike Janes
Gophers Split Day Two in Clearwater
2/16/2019 10:53:00 PM | Softball
CLEARWATER, FLA.- The University of Minnesota split the second day of the St.Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. They defeated Notre Dame in five innings (10-0) and fell to No. 1/2 Florida State (17-6).
"The offense had a great day. It was a good offensive breakout," head coach Jamie Trachsel said. "We put our pinch hitters in and switched our (designated players) around and were strong nine deep. We had a lot of confidence and really challenged the defenses in both games."
The Gophers combined for 19 hits between the two games with nine different players adding to the total on the day.
Game 1: Minnesota 10, Notre Dame 0 (5)
The Gophers took control of the game with seven runs in the top of the first and never looked back.
Carlie Brandt and Emma Burns were responsible for bringing in five of the seven runs. Burns' first career double brought in Josey White and MaKenna Partain, while Brandt's first career home run drove in Burns and Allie Arneson. Maddie Houlihan and MaKenna Partain also crossed the plate for the Maroon and Gold in the top of the frame.
Minnesota had another big showing in the fifth inning, which would prove to be the final inning of the game. They tacked on three more runs to secure the 10-0 victory.
Hope Brandner started the inning off with a single up the middle. Macy Gill entered the game as a pinch runner for Brander and advanced to third after Katelyn Kemmetmueller reached second on a fielding error.
With two on base, Natalie DenHartog ripped her first collegiate homer, extending Minnesota's lead to 10-0.
Amber Fiser pitched four scoreless innings while only allowing one hit. She recorded nine strikeouts on the day and at one point had six in a row retiring back-to-back frames by herself. With the win, Fiser is now 2-2 on the season with a 1.00 ERA and 36 strikeouts.
Sydney Smith entered the circle in the fifth inning for the first time this season She struck out two batters and only allowed one hit.
Arneson and Burns each had a multiple-hit games and Houlihan drew two walks.
Game 2: Florida State 16, Minnesota 6
Florida State rattled off five runs to start the game in the top of the first. The Gophers put one on the board in the bottom of the frame when Brandner set a single to left scoring Partain.
Smith got the start in the circle and struck out back-to-back batters to start off the second inning, but a FSU homer made it 6-1 going into the bottom of the inning.
Again the Gophers offense showed fight with a Partain triple that scored Burns and Ellee Jensen to cut FSU's lead in half in the bottom of the second.
The offensive attack from FSU continued with back-to-back home runs in the top of the third.
Momentum seemed to be turning to the Maroon and Gold's side in the fourth inning. They kept FSU off the board and loaded up the bases with Brandt, Jensen and Partain in the bottom but were unable to produce any runs out of the opportunity.
Florida State plated four more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 12-3 lead. With the Gophers in danger of losing in a run-rule, DenHartog came in clutch with her second homer of the day to make it 12-5 and extend the game.
"She's got power. We knew that and it was a great matchup for her," Trachsel said. "The biggest thing our young hitters did, including Natalie, was they didn't chase bad pitches. Their composure at the plate was almost just as impressive as their execution."
Hannah Bailey came into pitch in the top of the sixth and kept FSU's bats under control, forcing three grounders to Partain.
Florida state capped off the game by adding five more runs in the seventh. Arneson scored the sixth and final run for the Gophers. The Gophers produced 10 hits in the game with three coming from Partain. Smith took the loss in the circle and is 0-1 on the season.
The Gophers are now 3-3 overall and will close out the weekend tomorrow with California at 9 a.m. CT on ESPN 3.
"The offense had a great day. It was a good offensive breakout," head coach Jamie Trachsel said. "We put our pinch hitters in and switched our (designated players) around and were strong nine deep. We had a lot of confidence and really challenged the defenses in both games."
The Gophers combined for 19 hits between the two games with nine different players adding to the total on the day.
Game 1: Minnesota 10, Notre Dame 0 (5)
The Gophers took control of the game with seven runs in the top of the first and never looked back.
Carlie Brandt and Emma Burns were responsible for bringing in five of the seven runs. Burns' first career double brought in Josey White and MaKenna Partain, while Brandt's first career home run drove in Burns and Allie Arneson. Maddie Houlihan and MaKenna Partain also crossed the plate for the Maroon and Gold in the top of the frame.
Minnesota had another big showing in the fifth inning, which would prove to be the final inning of the game. They tacked on three more runs to secure the 10-0 victory.
Hope Brandner started the inning off with a single up the middle. Macy Gill entered the game as a pinch runner for Brander and advanced to third after Katelyn Kemmetmueller reached second on a fielding error.
With two on base, Natalie DenHartog ripped her first collegiate homer, extending Minnesota's lead to 10-0.
Amber Fiser pitched four scoreless innings while only allowing one hit. She recorded nine strikeouts on the day and at one point had six in a row retiring back-to-back frames by herself. With the win, Fiser is now 2-2 on the season with a 1.00 ERA and 36 strikeouts.
Sydney Smith entered the circle in the fifth inning for the first time this season She struck out two batters and only allowed one hit.
Arneson and Burns each had a multiple-hit games and Houlihan drew two walks.
Game 2: Florida State 16, Minnesota 6
Florida State rattled off five runs to start the game in the top of the first. The Gophers put one on the board in the bottom of the frame when Brandner set a single to left scoring Partain.
Smith got the start in the circle and struck out back-to-back batters to start off the second inning, but a FSU homer made it 6-1 going into the bottom of the inning.
Again the Gophers offense showed fight with a Partain triple that scored Burns and Ellee Jensen to cut FSU's lead in half in the bottom of the second.
The offensive attack from FSU continued with back-to-back home runs in the top of the third.
Momentum seemed to be turning to the Maroon and Gold's side in the fourth inning. They kept FSU off the board and loaded up the bases with Brandt, Jensen and Partain in the bottom but were unable to produce any runs out of the opportunity.
Florida State plated four more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 12-3 lead. With the Gophers in danger of losing in a run-rule, DenHartog came in clutch with her second homer of the day to make it 12-5 and extend the game.
"She's got power. We knew that and it was a great matchup for her," Trachsel said. "The biggest thing our young hitters did, including Natalie, was they didn't chase bad pitches. Their composure at the plate was almost just as impressive as their execution."
Hannah Bailey came into pitch in the top of the sixth and kept FSU's bats under control, forcing three grounders to Partain.
Florida state capped off the game by adding five more runs in the seventh. Arneson scored the sixth and final run for the Gophers. The Gophers produced 10 hits in the game with three coming from Partain. Smith took the loss in the circle and is 0-1 on the season.
The Gophers are now 3-3 overall and will close out the weekend tomorrow with California at 9 a.m. CT on ESPN 3.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fiser, Amber (2-2)
L: Alexis Holloway (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Burns, Emma 1
HR: DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Brandt, Carlie 1
RBI: DenHartog, Natalie 3 ; Arneson, Allie 1 ; Burns, Emma 2 ; Brandt, Carlie 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Partain, MaKenna 1 ; Houlihan, Maddie 1 ; Gill, Macy 1 ; Kemmetmueller, Katelyn 2 ; White, Josey 1 ; DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Arneson, Allie 1 ; Burns, Emma 1 ; Brandt, Carlie 1
SB: Partain, MaKenna 1
CS: Houlihan, Maddie 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballC/UT
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
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