University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
1-0
UC Santa Barbara
0-2
Gophers 2-0 on Opening Day, Down No. 24 SDSU
2/9/2024 10:14:00 PM | Softball
Minnesota picks up its first ranked road win of the 2024 season
GAME ONE
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -Â Sophomore Jess Oakland put together a brilliant outing at the plate Friday, hitting two homers to help propel the Minnesota Golden Gophers past the UCSB Gauchos 8-5.
Sophomore Sydney Schwartz (1-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Minnesota (1-0). The right-hander went 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits, allowing three walks and striking out three.
Oakland went 2-for-4 at the plate, supplementing her two home runs with five RBIs. Senior Sydney Strelow added to Oakland's awesome power-hitting performance by going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Senior Maddy Ehlke also chipped in for the Golden Gophers, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Golden Gophers got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the top of the first inning. Minnesota got on the board thanks to Ehlke's RBI double with two outs.
The Golden Gophers lost the lead they built in the first, but got back on the board in the third trailing 2-1. Minnesota scored twice on Oakland's two-run homer, which brought the score to 3-2 in favor of the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota's lead had evaporated once the fifth inning arrived and turned into a 4-3 UCSB advantage, when the Golden Gophers re-gained control at 5-4. The Golden Gophers scored two runs when a single from Strelow brought home junior Kayla Chavez and Ehlke.
Minnesota kept the Gauchos scoreless before their offense got in gear the next inning. The inning resulted in three runs for the Golden Gophers, all of them scoring on a three-run homer from Oakland to left, bringing the score to 8-4 in favor of Minnesota. UCSB put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Golden Gophers still held on for the 8-5 win.
GAME NOTES
» The Golden Gophers got two home runs off the bat of Oakland.
» Strelow picked up three base knocks in the game for Minnesota.
» The Golden Gophers power output was led by Oakland, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» Oakland drove in five runs for Minnesota.
» Every Minnesota starter reached base safely in the win.
» Minnesota's highest scoring inning was the sixth, when it pushed three runs across.
» The Golden Gophers out-hit the Gauchos at an 11-7 clip.
» Minnesota pitchers limited UCSB to just 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers faced 36 UCSB hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and six fly balls while striking out four.
» The Golden Gophers drew four walks from UCSB pitching.
» Oakland led the Golden Gophers at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI.
» UCSB was led offensively by junior Elicia Acosta, who went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
» Freshman Emily McCoskey led the Gauchos pitching staff, throwing 2.1 innings of three-run ball.
GAME TWO
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -Â The Minnesota Golden Gophers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never trailed from there on the way to a 5-3 win against the No. 24 San Diego State Aztecs on Friday.
Senior Bri Enter (1-0) started in the circle and picked up the win for Minnesota (2-0). The right-hander went six innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on six hits, allowing one walk and striking out three. Sophomore Sydney Schwartz also made an impact in the circle for the Golden Gophers, starting the ballgame and throwing one scoreless inning while allowing no hits.
In the batter's box, the Golden Gophers were paced by junior Taylor Krapf, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double and an RBI. Junior Kayla Chavez furnished a standout performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomore Jess Oakland also helped out for Minnesota, putting together one hit in three trips to the plate while adding a walk and an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Golden Gophers got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the top of the first inning. Minnesota scored twice, with one run coming across on sophomore Addison Leschber's single.
The Aztecs failed to push any runs across before the Golden Gophers offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Minnesota scored three times, including once on Krapf's RBI double, which brought the score to 5-0 in favor of the Golden Gophers. San Diego State put three runs on the scoreboard before the game was over, but Minnesota still held on for the 5-3 win.
GAME NOTES
» Minnesota's highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed three runs across.
» Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» The Golden Gophers out-hit the Aztecs at a 10-6 clip.
» Minnesota went 3-for-8 (.375) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers limited San Diego State to just 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers faced 27 San Diego State hitters in the game, allowing 14 ground balls and two fly balls while striking out three.
» Krapf led the Golden Gophers at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
» San Diego State was led offensively by senior Macey Keester, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
» Senior Allie Light led the Aztecs pitching staff, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schwartz, Sydney (1-0)
L: Camryn Snyder (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Ehlke, Maddy 1 ; Strelow, Sydney 1
HR: Oakland, Jess 2
RBI: Oakland, Jess 5 ; Ehlke, Maddy 1 ; Strelow, Sydney 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Chavez, Kayla 1 ; Oakland, Jess 2 ; Krapf, Taylor 1 ; Ehlke, Maddy 1 ; Hooper, Lucy 1 ; Burnett, Breezy 1 ; DeBord, Morgan 1
SB: Strelow, Sydney 1
HBP: Lindmark, Cassie 1
Batting:
2B: Alexa Sams 1
HR: Elicia Acosta 1
RBI: Ainsley Waddell 2 ; Elicia Acosta 2 ; Emily Carr 1
SH: Erin Mendoza 1
SF: Emily Carr 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Madelyn McNally 1 ; Jazzy Santos 1 ; Alexa Sams 1 ; Elicia Acosta 1 ; Lucy Mogan 1
HBP: Madelyn McNally 1
