Huskies and Bennies Sweep Doubleheaders, Gophers Fall to Michigan

The St. Cloud State and St. Ben's softball teams swept their Saturday doubleheaders and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Wild notched wins as well. The St. Cloud State baseball team earned a Saturday split against Augustana. The Gopher men's hockey team fell in the Big Ten title game, and the St. Cloud Norsemen, Granite City Lumberjacks, and Minnesota Twins all suffered losses. On Sunday, the Gopher women's basketball team will face the Jackrabbits in the second round of the WNIT Tournament and the St. John's baseball team will face Crown College in a doubleheader home-opener.

RECAPS:

- The SCSU softball team swept their Saturday doubleheader at the Missouri Western Hy-Vee Classic. The Huskies took game one 5-4 over the University of Central Missouri. In game two, St. Cloud State shut out Northeastern State University 10-0. Raven Vanden Langenberg and Alexandria Pinkowski each had three runs on the day. The Huskies improve to 10-9 and will face both teams again in the reverse order in another doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch is set for 10:00 a.m.

- The CSB softball team swept Bethany Lutheran College in a doubleheader home-opener on Saturday. The Bennies won the first game 3-0 behind a strong performance by pitcher Elly Novak who gave up just three hits, no runs, and threw four strikeouts. St. Ben's took game two 6-4. Gabby Spencer led the team with three runs on the day. The Bennies improve to 11-1 and will host Buena Vista University in a Sunday doubleheader. Game one is set to begin at noon.

- The Timberwolves outscored the Milwaukee Bucks in every quarter but one to earn a 138-119 win and extend their current streak to four games. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 25 points each. The two also combined for 16 rebounds. The Wolves improve to 42-30 and will travel to Dallas to face the Mavericks on Monday. Pre-game coverage tips off at  7:00 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The Wild kept their streak of dominance over Chicago this season alive with a 3-1 win at home on Saturday. Minnesota popped out to an early 1-0 lead and sealed up the win with two goals in the third period. Frédérick Gaudreau, Jordan Greenway, and Ryan Hartman each lit the lamp once for Minnesota. The Wild improve to 36-20-4 and will host the Golden Knights (34-26-4) on Monday night. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The SCSU baseball team split their Saturday doubleheader against Augustana on the road Saturday. The Vikings took game one 5-2, but the Huskies rallied to put up an impressive 11-2 win in game two. Paul Steffensen led St. Cloud with four runs on the day, including three in the second game. The Huskies are now 9-7 and the Vikings stand at 11-4-1 overall. The two teams will conclude the three-game series in Sioux Falls on Sunday at noon.

- A late rally by the Gopher men's hockey team was not enough to overcome the deficit and they fell 4-3 to the University of Michigan in the Big Ten Championship. The teams were evenly matched with the Wolverines only outshooting the Gophers 31-28. Matthew Knies led all scorers with two goals for Minnesota and was largely responsible for the comeback attempt. Justen Close made 27 saves and allowed four goals in the Minnesota net. The Gophers fall to 24-12 overall and will learn their fate when it comes to the NCAA Tournament Sunday evening.

- The Norsemen snapped a six-game win streak with a 6-3 loss to Austin at home on Saturday. Six different players scored for the Bruins. Ryan O'Neill, Blake Mesenburg, and Blake Perbix each netted one for St. Cloud. The Norsemen fall to 32-15-2-1 and will travel to Bismarck to face the Bobcats (24-25-1-2) on Friday.

- The Lumberjacks dropped game two of the West Division Finals 3-1 to Mason City. Luke Delzer scored the lone goal for Granite City in the third period to avoid the shutout. The two teams will play once more on Sunday night to decide who will advance to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament and whose season will come to an end.

- The Twins lost a quiet spring training game 1-0 to the Red Sox on Saturday. Minnesota falls to 0-3 and will get another chance to earn their first preseason win on Sunday when they face the Tampa Bay Rays. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

PREVIEWS:

- The Gopher women's basketball team (15-17) will face South Dakota State University (24-9) in round two of the WNIT Tournament on Sunday. The teams have faced off a total of six times, with Minnesota losing the last three straight. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.

- The SJU baseball team (5-9) will host Crown College (7-4) for a doubleheader on Sunday. This will mark just the second and third times in program history that the two teams have faced. The first was in March of 2021 with the Johnnies coming out on top 13-10. First pitch for game one is set for 12:30 p.m.