University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, April 10
Iowa City, IA
12:00 PM
University of Minnesota
18-15-1, 5-4
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Gophers Take Series at Iowa Winning 10-2 Sunday
4/10/2022 3:11:00 PM | Softball
IOWA CITY, Iowa - It was clutch, two-out hitting that helped Golden Gophers softball pick up a series win Sunday on the road at Iowa claiming the finale, 10-2, at Bob Pearl Field. Minnesota struck for seven two-out RBI and tallied a pair of home runs securing the victory.
Chloe Evans led the Minnesota (18-15-1 overall, 5-4 B1G) offense with a four-RBI performance and Ellee Jensen scored three times and tallied one of the team's seven extra-base hits. Emily Leavitt and Autumn Pease combined to limit the Hawkeyes to four hits in the short-inning win.
The Gophers took advantage of a two-out walk to Natalie DenHartog in the opening frame as Evans launched a two-run home run pushing the visitors to a quick, 2-0 lead. Leavitt and the defense worked around two free bases from the Hawkeyes to strand a pair in scoring position and maintain the margin.
It was another two-out rally for the Gophers in the third that stretched the lead to three as Jensen reached on an Iowa error before Evans drew a walk. Sydney Strelow pulled a RBI single to left and Jensen slid around the tag at the plate for a 3-0 advantage.
Minnesota continued to dominate the home side with two outs as Makenna Dowell and Kayla Chavez reached in the fourth and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Lauren Espalin. Jensen came through sending a two-run double over the head of the outfielder and DenHartog followed with her 15th home run of the year as the Gophers lead swelled to 7-0.
Leavitt put together a stretch of retiring eight of nine batters heading into the bottom of the fourth where her no-hit bid was stopped as the Hawkeyes tallied consecutive singles and loaded the bases. Iowa broke the shutout hitting a sacrifice fly into center, but Minnesota turned an inning-ending double play as Evans made a running grab and fired home to catch the Hawkeyes in a run down.
Megan Dray extended her strong weekend at the plate lining a double off the wall in left center during the fifth and Sara Kinch traded places with her teammate sending a RBI double down the line making it an 8-1 ballgame. Minnesota turned to Pease for the bottom of the fifth and Iowa got two on base via a walk and single before an error allowed a run to score. Pease battled her way out of the inning and stranded the bases loaded getting a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
After Espalin was hit by a pitch opening the sixth, Jensen pulled a single to left and Evans delivered again, lining a two-run double into the right-center gap as the Gophers built a 10-2 edge. Pease shut the door on Iowa striking out a pair to seal the run-rule win.
Up Next
The Gophers continue their road swing Apr. 15-17 heading to Lincoln, Neb., for a three-game series against Big Ten Conference-leading Nebraska.
Chloe Evans led the Minnesota (18-15-1 overall, 5-4 B1G) offense with a four-RBI performance and Ellee Jensen scored three times and tallied one of the team's seven extra-base hits. Emily Leavitt and Autumn Pease combined to limit the Hawkeyes to four hits in the short-inning win.
The Gophers took advantage of a two-out walk to Natalie DenHartog in the opening frame as Evans launched a two-run home run pushing the visitors to a quick, 2-0 lead. Leavitt and the defense worked around two free bases from the Hawkeyes to strand a pair in scoring position and maintain the margin.
It was another two-out rally for the Gophers in the third that stretched the lead to three as Jensen reached on an Iowa error before Evans drew a walk. Sydney Strelow pulled a RBI single to left and Jensen slid around the tag at the plate for a 3-0 advantage.
Minnesota continued to dominate the home side with two outs as Makenna Dowell and Kayla Chavez reached in the fourth and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Lauren Espalin. Jensen came through sending a two-run double over the head of the outfielder and DenHartog followed with her 15th home run of the year as the Gophers lead swelled to 7-0.
Leavitt put together a stretch of retiring eight of nine batters heading into the bottom of the fourth where her no-hit bid was stopped as the Hawkeyes tallied consecutive singles and loaded the bases. Iowa broke the shutout hitting a sacrifice fly into center, but Minnesota turned an inning-ending double play as Evans made a running grab and fired home to catch the Hawkeyes in a run down.
Megan Dray extended her strong weekend at the plate lining a double off the wall in left center during the fifth and Sara Kinch traded places with her teammate sending a RBI double down the line making it an 8-1 ballgame. Minnesota turned to Pease for the bottom of the fifth and Iowa got two on base via a walk and single before an error allowed a run to score. Pease battled her way out of the inning and stranded the bases loaded getting a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
After Espalin was hit by a pitch opening the sixth, Jensen pulled a single to left and Evans delivered again, lining a two-run double into the right-center gap as the Gophers built a 10-2 edge. Pease shut the door on Iowa striking out a pair to seal the run-rule win.
Up Next
The Gophers continue their road swing Apr. 15-17 heading to Lincoln, Neb., for a three-game series against Big Ten Conference-leading Nebraska.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leavitt, Emily (8-7)
L: Loecker, Denali (9-6)
Batting:
2B: Jensen, Ellee 1 ; Evans, Chloe 1 ; Dray, Megan 1 ; Kinch, Sara 1 ; Dowell, Makenna 1
HR: DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Evans, Chloe 1
RBI: Jensen, Ellee 2 ; DenHartog, Natalie 2 ; Evans, Chloe 4 ; Strelow, Sydney 1 ; Kinch, Sara 1
SH: Espalin, Lauren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Espalin, Lauren 1 ; Jensen, Ellee 3 ; DenHartog, Natalie 2 ; Evans, Chloe 1 ; Dray, Megan 1 ; Dowell, Makenna 1 ; Chavez, Kayla 1
HBP: Espalin, Lauren 1 ; Dowell, Makenna 1
Batting:
RBI: Carter, Nia 1 ; Banes, Grace 1
SF: Banes, Grace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Claypool, Kate 1 ; Schulte, Zoe 1
HBP: Klosterman, Brylee 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C/1B
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballUT
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
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