University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
3-7
Fresno State
5-5
Minnesota Sweeps Day 1 of the Mary Nutter Classic Highlighted by an Upset of #22 Missouri
2/21/2025 6:23:00 PM | Softball
GAME 1 | Minnesota 7, Fresno State 6
CATHEDRAL CITY, Cali --The Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-7, 0-0 B1G) needed eight innings to finish the job, but secured the 7-6 extra-innings win, walking it off on a single off the bat of senior Margaret Tobias to claim victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs (6-4, 0-0 Mountain West) Friday.
Sophomore Cameron Grayson (1-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Minnesota. The right-hander went one inning, giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits, allowing no walks and striking out one. Junior Sydney Schwartz started the ballgame and went six innings, surrendering three runs, earned, on five hits, walking none and striking out one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gophers got on the scoreboard first, starting in the second inning. Minnesota got an RBI single from senior Kayla Chavez, scoring freshman Jae Cosgriff from third base.
The 'U' then held the Bulldogs scoreless before getting back on the board the very next inning. Senior Nani Valencia came across to score the lone run of the inning for Minnesota, which brought the score to 2-0 in favor of the Gophers.
Fresno State narrowed Minnesota's lead to 2-1 before the Maroon and Gold stretched the advantage to 3-1 in the fourth inning.
Minnesota lost the lead they built in the fourth, but got back on the scoreboard in the seventh trailing 4-3. The Gophers sent home a run on Valencia's one-out solo home run off junior Serayah Neiss, tying the score at 4-4.
Fresno State then broke the tie and took a 6-4 lead before Minnesota scored three runs in the bottom half of the eighth to grab the win, walking it off on an RBI single off the bat of Tobias.
GAME NOTES
» Minnesota's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed three runs across.
» The Golden Gophers out-hit the Bulldogs at a 9-8 clip.
» Minnesota went 5-for-13 (.385) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers faced 33 Fresno State hitters in the game, allowing 17 ground balls and five fly balls while striking out two.
» Valencia led the Golden Gophers at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI and extending her hit streak to 10 games
» Fresno State was led offensively by sophomore Madison Rey, who went 3-for-4 with three doubles and an RBI.
» Freshman Hannah Duncan led the Bulldogs pitching staff, throwing 1.2 shutout innings.
GAME 2 | Minnesota 3, Missouri 1
CATHEDRAL CITY, Cali --Senior Taylor Krapf homered and drove in three, helping the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-7, 0-0 B1G) to win a nailbiter on Friday, as they beat the Missouri Tigers (8-7, 0-0 SEC) 3-1.
Junior Presley Hosick (2-4) got the win for Minnesota. The right-hander went five innings, giving up one run on five hits. Junior Sydney Schwartz came in from the Bullpen and went two shutout innings while allowing one hit, walking one and striking out three.
In the batter's box, the Gophers were paced by Krapf, who went 1-for-3 on the day with a home run and three RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gophers got on the scoreboard first, starting in the third inning. Minnesota scored three times, all of them coming across on a three-run homer off the bat of Krapf. Missouri put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the 'U' held on for the 3-1 win.
GAME NOTES
» Minnesota's highest scoring inning was the third, when it pushed three runs across.
» Minnesota pitchers limited Missouri to just 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers faced 30 Missouri hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out three.
» Krapf led the Gophers at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.
» Missouri was led offensively by junior Haidyn Sokoloski, who went 3-for-3 with a double.
»Sophomore Marissa McCann led the Tigers pitching staff, throwing six innings of three-run ball.
UP NEXT
The 'U' will be back in action tomorrow. They will take on #14 Duke at 2:00PM CT and then will face #7 Tennessee at 4:30PM CT to round out the day. All games will be at the Big League Dreams Softball Complex in Cathedral City, CA. Each game will have live stats and be broadcasted on FloCollege.
For more information on Gopher Softball, fans can continue using GopherSports.com, as well as follow along on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grayson, Cameron (1-0)
L: NEISS, Serayah (0-0)
Batting:
2B: REY, Madison 3
RBI: REY, Madison 1 ; BUNKER, Kennedy 1 ; ALMEIDA, Lauren 1 ; IRIGOYEN, Taryn 1 ; SIPE, Kiara 1
SH: TINGEY, Ava 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ELIAS, Natalie 1 ; REY, Madison 3 ; REBOLLEDO, Alyssa 1 ; TINGEY, Ava 1
SB: IRIGOYEN, Taryn 1 ; TINGEY, Ava 1
Batting:
3B: Burnett, Breezy 1
HR: Valencia, Nani 1
RBI: Tobias, Margaret 1 ; Valencia, Nani 1 ; Chard, Cameron 2 ; Chavez, Kayla 1 ; Burnett, Breezy 1
SF: Chard, Cameron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Valencia, Nani 2 ; Cosgriff, Jae 2 ; Werner, Maggie 1 ; Chavez, Kayla 1 ; Burnett, Breezy 1
SB: Chavez, Kayla 1
