University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
19-11, 0
No. 21/24 Northwestern
15-8, 0
Pease Throws Eight Strikeouts in 8-7 Loss to Northwestern
3/24/2023 7:16:00 PM | Softball
EVANSTON, Ill. - Senior Autumn Pease dominated on Friday, striking out eight Northwestern hitters over 5.2 innings of work, but it was not enough as the Minnesota Golden Gophers lost to the No. 21/24 Wildcats 8-7.
In addition to her eight strikeouts, Pease (12-4) tossed 5.2 innings, giving up seven runs, all of them earned, on 10 hits and walking one for Minnesota (19-11, 0-1 Big Ten). Senior Bri Enter also made an impact in the circle for the Golden Gophers, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings while allowing one hit, with no walks and one strikeout.
Sophomore Taylor Krapf led the way offensively for the Golden Gophers, going 3-for-4 in the ballgame with a home run and three RBI. Freshman Breezy Burnett put together a standout day at the plate as well, going 1-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. Sophomore Kayla Chavez also contributed, going 3-for-5 for Minnesota.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Golden Gophers put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the second inning. Minnesota got a grand slam from Burnett off of senior Danielle Williams, scoring all four of their runs in the inning.
The Golden Gophers lost the lead they built in the second, but got back on the board in the fifth trailing 6-4. Minnesota scored three runs, all of them coming on a three-run homer off the bat of Krapf, scoring freshman Jess Oakland and senior Natalie DenHartog, which brought the score to 7-6 in favor of the Golden Gophers. The Golden Gophers were unable to hold the lead, as Northwestern scored two times over the remaining four innings to grab the 8-7 win.
GAME NOTES
» The Golden Gophers got three-hit games from both Chavez and Krapf.
» Pease fanned eight Wildcats hitters.
» Burnett drove in four runs for the Golden Gophers.
» Minnesota's highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed four runs across.
» Minnesota went 3-for-9 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers faced 40 Northwestern hitters in the game, allowing five ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out nine.
» Krapf led the Golden Gophers at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.
» Northwestern was led offensively by senior Skyler Shellmyer, who went 3-for-5 with four RBI.
» Junior Lauren Boyd led the Wildcats pitching staff, throwing three scoreless innings.
UP NEXT
Minnesota will continue the series against Northwestern tomorrow 1:00 p.m. and will wrap things up on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Tomorrow's contest can be streamed on B1G+ and Sunday's game will be broadcast live on BTN.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boyd, Lauren (4-3)
L: Pease, Autumn (12-4)
Batting:
HR: Krapf, Taylor 1 ; Burnett, Breezy 1
RBI: Krapf, Taylor 3 ; Burnett, Breezy 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Oakland, Jess 1 ; DenHartog, Natalie 1 ; Krapf, Taylor 2 ; Valencia, Nani 1 ; Cox, Delanie 1 ; Burnett, Breezy 1
HBP: Oakland, Jess 1 ; Cox, Delanie 1
Batting:
2B: Rudd, Jordyn 1 ; Cuchran, Nikki 2
3B: Lindsey, Ayana 1
HR: Cady, Hannah 1
RBI: Shellmyer, Skyler 4 ; Rudd, Jordyn 2 ; Cady, Hannah 1 ; Lindsey, Ayana 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shellmyer, Skyler 1 ; Nelson, Maeve 1 ; Cady, Hannah 1 ; Cuchran, Nikki 2 ; Lindsey, Ayana 3
SB: Shellmyer, Skyler 1 ; Lindsey, Ayana 2
HBP: Nelson, Maeve 1 ; Cady, Hannah 2 ; Cuchran, Nikki 1
