Gophers Fall In WNIT Championship In Sat. Sports Recap

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

-- The postseason party ended in a loss Saturday for the Gophers who fell in the WNIT Championship Game 50-69 to Saint Louis University.  Minnesota had a couple of early leads but fell behind 33-21 at the half and could never catch up. The Gophers were led by Mallory Heyer’s double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. They also got 8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals from Grace Grochalski. Minnesota finishes the season with a 20-16 overall record.

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COLLEGE SOFTBALL

--SCSU lost both ends of their doubleheader to Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Game one was close with the Huskies grabbing an early 1-0 lead in the 1^st on an RBI single by Bethany Weiss. MN State came back in the 3^rd scoring twice. That would be all the scoring for both sides and SMSU got the 2-1 win. The Huskies struggled to find any offense in the second game losing 8-0. Next up for St. Cloud is a doubleheader against Bemidji State on Wednesday.

--It was Déjà vu for St. Ben’s on Saturday as they would take down Augsburg in both games of their doubleheader by a 9-0 score. Megan Erickson led the Bennies in game one going 2-3 with a Grand Slam and 5 RBI. In game two Tori Benson had 3 RBI and Ellie Peterson threw 4 innings, allowing only 1 hit and struck out 3 picking up her 4^th win on the season. The Bennies extended their winning streak to 7 games and sit in a four-way tie for first place in the MIAC with a 4-0 conference record.

-- The Gophers came from behind twice to take both games in their doubleheader against Ohio State. In Game 1, Minnesota was trailing 6-2 in the 5^th when they cut the lead to 6-4. Then in the 6^th inning, the Gophers erupted for 10 runs led by Taylor Krapf who homered and doubled in the inning, and they would win 14-6. In game 2, the Gophers would do it again. Trailing 11-8 entering the bottom of the 7^th Minnesota scored 4 times to get the 12-11 win. Nani Valencia and Morgan DeBord both homered in the 7^th to lead the rally. The two victories were the Gophers' first conference wins of the year making their Big Ten record 2-7 and improving to 19-15 overall.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

--St. Cloud State defeated Northern State 8-2 to earn a four-game sweep of the Wolves. Northern State took an early lead with one run in the bottom of the 1^st. SCSU grabbed the lead in the 4^th with two runs. They added to the lead with a run in the 5^th and one in the 6^th and then broke the game open with four runs in the 8^th. Jack Habeck was outstanding for the Huskies going 6.1 innings allowing only one run with six strikeouts. St. Cloud State has won six games in a row improving their record to 18-11.

-- St. John’s took down Gustavus Adolphus in both games of their doubleheader but it took extra innings in both games. The Johnnies won game 1 6-3 scoring three times in the 8^th inning led by Joe Becker’s HR, his 5^th of the year. In Game 2, the Gusties were down to their last out before Brady Schmitz drove in the tieing run with an RBI single. The Johnnies bounced right back in the 8^th again scoring three times to take the game 8-5. Becker’s HR in game 1 was his 14^th career HR and ties him with three other players for 7^th all-time.

--The University of Minnesota split their doubleheader with Illinois on Saturday. The Gophers rallied in game one in the 7^th inning, trailing 4-1 entering the bottom of the 7^th scoring three runs on a bases-clearing double by Jake Perry to tie the game. The Illini rallied back in the top of the 8^th scoring three times of their own to take the game 7-4. Game 2 resulted in a win as the Gophers never trailed in the contest. Minnesota put up four runs in the first two innings and added four more through the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th innings and Illinois could not come back losing 8-3. Next up for Minnesota is North Dakota State on Tuesday.