University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 22
Waco, TX
12:15 PM
University of Minnesota
4
vs
0
Texas State
Defense Shines as Gophers Split
2/22/2020 8:42:00 PM | Softball
The Gophers defense shined all day as No. 17/15 Minnesota shutout Texas State, 4-0, and fell in an extra innings battle, 2-1, to Baylor.
Game One: Minnesota 4, Texas State 0
One day after tossing a no-hitter, Amber Fiser was nearly as dominant in a complete game shutout performance. She struck out 11 batters and only allowed three hits in the victory.
The Gophers finally broke through in a pitcher's duel in the fifth inning. A pair of errors in a row helped bring Brooke Vander Heide across home plate. Minnesota loaded the based with no outs but Texas State struck out the next two batters. The Bobcats nearly got all the way out of trouble when Sydney Strelow stepped up and laced a single past third base and down the left field line to bring in two runs.
Texas State had an opportunity in the bottom of the sixth to tie things up. With runners on first and second and two outs, a deep fly ball to center made Minnesota fans hold their breath for a second before the wind killed the trajectory and Vander Heide got underneath for the out.
Natalie DenHartog kept her strong weekend going in the top of the seventh. After nearly missing a home run fouled to left, she went to opposite field on the very next pitch for a solo home run and the final run of the game.
Game Two: Baylor 2, Minnesota 1 (8)
The Gophers played as a true road team for the first time all season under the lights against Baylor this evening.
It was Strelow again delivering early on. With two outs on the board she with placed a single to left field to score Carlie Brandt.
Baylor quickly answered in the bottom of the first with a two out, RBI-double.
Defense was the name of the game from that moment on. Vander Heide and DenHartog each took turns at diving catches behind Autumn Pease. Vander Heide finished with four putouts and an assist in center field.
Pease went four innings in the circle and did more than enough to keep the Gophers in striking distance. She allowed a scattered four hits and just one run with a pair of strikeouts. Fiser stepped in and went the next 3.1 innings. She only allowed one hit but took the loss and is 5-5 on the season.
The defensive play of the night came in the sixth inning from Partain. Watch for yourself:
Baylor threatened to walk-off in the seventh inning. They put runners on the corners with no outs. Another heads up play from Partain gave the Gophers some breathing room as she got a throw home in time. Fiser induced two more groundouts to send the game to extras.
For the second time this season, Minnesota played an extra innings game with international tiebreak rules which places a runner at second to start the frame. Katelyn Kemmetmueller nearly punched a run across but was robbed on a snag by Baylor's shortstop.
Baylor moved the runner at second with a sacrifice bunt to start the bottom of the eighth. They walked it off on a fielder's choice right after as Minnesota's throw home from shortstop was just late.
Quoteable
Head coach Jamie Trachsel on Texas State… "Texas State was a great win," Trachsel said. "That's a really good team. They play high level competition. They generally don't beat themselves. They force you to beat them. We did a good job of shutting them out and playing well in every single area."
On Baylor… "It was a playoff type atmosphere," Trachsel said. "It felt like that from warmups on. We had (a number of) diving catches. They were making diving plays. When it's two good teams it's probably going to come down to one run and that's what it did in the international. I'm proud of how we competed and who we were today. We had our chances. That was the most complete day we played so far this year."
Noteable
Freshman Sydney Strelow came through with two outs on the board in both games and finished with three RBIs, all with two outs on the board, on the day.
Up Next
The Gophers will finish the Baylor Tournament with a rematch against Tulsa at 9 a.m. CT. The Gophers topped Tulsa 11-0 in five innings on Friday.
Game One: Minnesota 4, Texas State 0
One day after tossing a no-hitter, Amber Fiser was nearly as dominant in a complete game shutout performance. She struck out 11 batters and only allowed three hits in the victory.
The Gophers finally broke through in a pitcher's duel in the fifth inning. A pair of errors in a row helped bring Brooke Vander Heide across home plate. Minnesota loaded the based with no outs but Texas State struck out the next two batters. The Bobcats nearly got all the way out of trouble when Sydney Strelow stepped up and laced a single past third base and down the left field line to bring in two runs.
Texas State had an opportunity in the bottom of the sixth to tie things up. With runners on first and second and two outs, a deep fly ball to center made Minnesota fans hold their breath for a second before the wind killed the trajectory and Vander Heide got underneath for the out.
Natalie DenHartog kept her strong weekend going in the top of the seventh. After nearly missing a home run fouled to left, she went to opposite field on the very next pitch for a solo home run and the final run of the game.
Game Two: Baylor 2, Minnesota 1 (8)
The Gophers played as a true road team for the first time all season under the lights against Baylor this evening.
It was Strelow again delivering early on. With two outs on the board she with placed a single to left field to score Carlie Brandt.
Baylor quickly answered in the bottom of the first with a two out, RBI-double.
Defense was the name of the game from that moment on. Vander Heide and DenHartog each took turns at diving catches behind Autumn Pease. Vander Heide finished with four putouts and an assist in center field.
Pease went four innings in the circle and did more than enough to keep the Gophers in striking distance. She allowed a scattered four hits and just one run with a pair of strikeouts. Fiser stepped in and went the next 3.1 innings. She only allowed one hit but took the loss and is 5-5 on the season.
The defensive play of the night came in the sixth inning from Partain. Watch for yourself:
.@makennapartain2 just booked herself a spot on #SCTop10. pic.twitter.com/okXK1OsNBv
— Minnesota Softball (@GopherSoftball) February 23, 2020
Baylor threatened to walk-off in the seventh inning. They put runners on the corners with no outs. Another heads up play from Partain gave the Gophers some breathing room as she got a throw home in time. Fiser induced two more groundouts to send the game to extras.
For the second time this season, Minnesota played an extra innings game with international tiebreak rules which places a runner at second to start the frame. Katelyn Kemmetmueller nearly punched a run across but was robbed on a snag by Baylor's shortstop.
Baylor moved the runner at second with a sacrifice bunt to start the bottom of the eighth. They walked it off on a fielder's choice right after as Minnesota's throw home from shortstop was just late.
Quoteable
Head coach Jamie Trachsel on Texas State… "Texas State was a great win," Trachsel said. "That's a really good team. They play high level competition. They generally don't beat themselves. They force you to beat them. We did a good job of shutting them out and playing well in every single area."
On Baylor… "It was a playoff type atmosphere," Trachsel said. "It felt like that from warmups on. We had (a number of) diving catches. They were making diving plays. When it's two good teams it's probably going to come down to one run and that's what it did in the international. I'm proud of how we competed and who we were today. We had our chances. That was the most complete day we played so far this year."
Noteable
Freshman Sydney Strelow came through with two outs on the board in both games and finished with three RBIs, all with two outs on the board, on the day.
Up Next
The Gophers will finish the Baylor Tournament with a rematch against Tulsa at 9 a.m. CT. The Gophers topped Tulsa 11-0 in five innings on Friday.
Players Mentioned
UT
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
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