University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 26
Urbana-Champaign, IL
5:00 PM
University of Minnesota
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Illinois
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Photo by: Mike Janes
Gophers Win Seventh Straight with Shutout of Illinois
3/26/2021 8:09:00 PM | Softball
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota softball (10-3) ran its win streak to seven games with a 6-0 shutout win Friday over Illinois (10-3) at Eichelberger Field in Champaign, Ill. It was the first on-campus game of the season after the teams played their first 12 games in Florida.
Autumn Pease and Ava Dueck combined on the Golden Gophers' third shutout of the year, while Illinois was held without a run for the first time this season. Pease threw six shutout innings, giving up six hits with no walks while striking two. In the process, she lowered her earned run average to 0.63 in 46.2 innings of work this season and improved her record to 6-1. Meanwhile, Dueck closed out the contest in the seventh with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
With the pitching taken care of, the Gophers offense thumped four home runs, including two by Katelyn Kemmetmueller. The damage came against an Illini staff that entered the contest with the second best ERA in the nation at 0.84. In fact, starter Sydney Sickels had allowed one run in 37.2 innings before Friday. Minnesota, however, tagged Sickels with five earned runs in five innings.
After a scoreless first inning, Sara Kinch led off the second with a single to right center, while Carlie Brandt followed with her first home run of the season to spot Minnesota to the early 2-0 lead. Later in the frame, with Megan Dray on first thanks to a walk, Kemmetmueller went opposite field with her first homer of the game.
Illinois' best scoring opportunity came in the third inning with runners on second and third and just one out. Pease, though, was able to get a strikeout looking and induce a popup to herself to escape the jam.
The game remained 4-0 in the Gophers' favor until the fifth inning when Kinch hitting a towering solo shot to left field on a 3-2 pitch, extending the lead to 5-0 and giving Kinch her third long ball of the year.
One inning later, Kemmetmueller put the exclamation mark on the win with her second home run of the game and her team-leading fourth of the year. The shot to straightaway center field marked the third multi-homer game of the senior's career.
Minnesota and Illinois resume the four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
Autumn Pease and Ava Dueck combined on the Golden Gophers' third shutout of the year, while Illinois was held without a run for the first time this season. Pease threw six shutout innings, giving up six hits with no walks while striking two. In the process, she lowered her earned run average to 0.63 in 46.2 innings of work this season and improved her record to 6-1. Meanwhile, Dueck closed out the contest in the seventh with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
With the pitching taken care of, the Gophers offense thumped four home runs, including two by Katelyn Kemmetmueller. The damage came against an Illini staff that entered the contest with the second best ERA in the nation at 0.84. In fact, starter Sydney Sickels had allowed one run in 37.2 innings before Friday. Minnesota, however, tagged Sickels with five earned runs in five innings.
After a scoreless first inning, Sara Kinch led off the second with a single to right center, while Carlie Brandt followed with her first home run of the season to spot Minnesota to the early 2-0 lead. Later in the frame, with Megan Dray on first thanks to a walk, Kemmetmueller went opposite field with her first homer of the game.
Illinois' best scoring opportunity came in the third inning with runners on second and third and just one out. Pease, though, was able to get a strikeout looking and induce a popup to herself to escape the jam.
The game remained 4-0 in the Gophers' favor until the fifth inning when Kinch hitting a towering solo shot to left field on a 3-2 pitch, extending the lead to 5-0 and giving Kinch her third long ball of the year.
One inning later, Kemmetmueller put the exclamation mark on the win with her second home run of the game and her team-leading fourth of the year. The shot to straightaway center field marked the third multi-homer game of the senior's career.
Minnesota and Illinois resume the four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pease, Autumn (6-1)
L: Sydney Sickels (5-2)
Batting:
HR: Kemmetmueller, Katelyn 2 ; Kinch, Sara 1 ; Brandt, Carlie 1
RBI: Kemmetmueller, Katelyn 3 ; Kinch, Sara 1 ; Brandt, Carlie 2
SH: Denson, MacKenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kemmetmueller, Katelyn 2 ; Kinch, Sara 2 ; Brandt, Carlie 1 ; Dray, Megan 1
Batting:
2B: Kailee Powell 1
Base Running:
SB: Katie Wingerter 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UT
/ Softball
C/1B
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
RHP
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