University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, May 22
Los Angeles, CA
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
30-12
11
vs
0
Long Beach State
30-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Minnesota
2
0
3
0
1
0
5
11
9
1
Long Beach State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fiser, Amber (16-9)
L: White, Kellie (16-8)
Batting:
HR: DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Kinch, Sara 1
RBI: DenHartog, Natalie 4 ; Hansen, Emily 2 ; Kinch, Sara 1 ; Strelow, Sydney 1
SH: DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Kinch, Sara 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Partain, MaKenna 2 ; Jensen, Ellee 3 ; DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Kemmetmueller, Katelyn 1 ; Gill, Macy 1 ; Kinch, Sara 1 ; Strelow, Sydney 1 ; Brandt, Carlie 1
SB: Kemmetmueller, Katelyn 1 ; Strelow, Sydney 1
CS: Denson, MacKenzie 1
HBP: Partain, MaKenna 1 ; Strelow, Sydney 1
Base Running:
SB: Seip, Rylie 1
HBP: Ruffin, Maddy 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UT
/ SoftballUT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Win Twice to Reach Regional Final
5/23/2021 12:43:00 AM | Softball
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota softball team (31-12) won a pair of elimination games Saturday at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., and will now face second-seeded UCLA in Sunday's regional final.
After taking down Long Beach State (30-11) in their first game Saturday, 11-0, the Golden Gophers avenged a loss in the Regional opener against Fresno State (37-12) with a 6-3 victory in the nightcap. Minnesota must now beat host-UCLA twice on Sunday to reach the Super Regionals. The first game is set for 5 p.m. CT, while the if-necessary game would follow at 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota 6, Fresno State 3
Minnesota hit three home runs and Autumn Pease kept the Fresno State hitters in check in a 6-3 win Saturday night.
Like it did in the first game Saturday, the top of the Golden Gopher lineup provided most of the muscle by combining to go 5-11 with four runs scored and four runs driven in. Ellee Jensen and Natalie DenHartog each collected a pair of hits, while leadoff batter MaKenna Partain scored a pair of runs.
In the circle, Pease got the victory to improve to 12-2 on the season. She allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out seven in 6.0 innings of work. She then yielded to Amber Fiser who collected her fourth save of the season by thwarting a Fresno State threat in the bottom of the seventh.
After hitting a grand slam in her last at-bat of Minnesota's win over Long Beach State, DenHartog came right back and hammered a two-run shot to right field in her first plate appearance against Fresno State. It was her team-leading 15th of the season.
The Bulldogs cut the Gophers' lead in half in the bottom of the first on a solo shot by Keahilele Mattson, but DenHartog picked up her third RBI of the game and seventh of the day with a two-out single back up the middle in the third inning, plating Partain to put the Gophers up 3-1.
Fresno State responded, again, in the bottom of the inning as Mattson hit a two-run double to center field to even the game up at 3-3. The Bulldogs then looked like they might take the lead on a sharp single to right field, but Gophers right field Sydney Strelow threw out Mattson at the plate.
Strelow rode that momentum into the top of the fourth when she laced a two-run home run to center field, her third long ball of the season, putting Minnesota back on top, 5-3.
Partain delivered Minnesota's third home run of the game when she led off the fifth inning with a solo blast to left field, extending the lead to 6-3.
The Bulldogs, who had recorded just one hit since the third inning, threatened in the bottom of the seventh by loading the bases with two outs. The tying run was on first and the winning run was at the plate in Mattson, who had already driven in all three Fresno State runs in the game. However, on an 0-1 pitch, Mattson sent a grounder up the middle that Fiser was able to slow down enough that Carlie Brandt was able to field cleanly at shortstop to make the throw over to first base for the final out.
Minnesota 11, Long Beach State 0
Minnesota set a season high in runs scored as it posted an 11-0 victory over Long Beach State in its first game Saturday.
The top of the order did most of the damage for the Golden Gophers as Partain, Jensen and DenHartog combined to go 5-10 with six runs scored and four runs batted in.
Minnesota took advantage of a Long Beach error to score the game's first two runs.
Partain drew a leadoff walk, while Jensen put down a bunt single to get the first two batters on base. Two batters later, Katelyn Kemmetmueller sent a grounder to second base. The 49ers' Emily Salazar tried to force out Jensen at second but her throw was wide and went into center field. Partain scored easily, while a headfirst slide from Jensen beat throw in, putting Minnesota up 2-0.
That would be all the run support that Fiser would need to pick up the win and improve to 16-9 on the season. She retired the first 10 batters she faced, including five via strikeout. She finished with seven punchouts in the game with no walks and just two hits. She needed only 77 pitches to get through six innings, never allowing an LBSU batter to get farther than second base.
The Gophers picked up three more runs in the third inning as the top of the order came through once again.
Partain reached on a leadoff single, while Jensen walked. After a sacrifice from DenHartog moved the runners into scoring position, a wild pitch on ball four gave Kemmetmueller a free pass, while Partain scored from third. Later in the frame with the bases loaded, Emily Hansen delivered the big hit with a two-run chopper up the middle.
Minnesota picked up an additional run in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Strelow that brought in pinch-runner Macy Gill, while a pair of home runs in the seventh blew the game open.
Sara Kinch hit a solo homer, her ninth of the season, to lead off the frame, and DenHartog put an exclamation mark on the victory with a grand slam off the scoreboard in left field. It was the first grand slam for Minnesota since DenHartog also hit one against Tulsa on Feb. 21, 2020.
Highlights: Gophers 6, Central Michigan 1
Saturday, February 21
Highlights: Gophers 7, LIU 6
Saturday, February 21
Highlights: Gophers 11, NMSU 4
Saturday, February 14
Highlights: Gophers 8, UTEP 6
Friday, February 13