Arizona State coach Craig Nicholson was getting some tough questions after the No. 3-rated Sun Devils lost two games on Sunday, the first to the Gophers 3-2.

"We are not putting all three parts of the game together," said Nicholson, the first-year ASU coach whose team lost to Ball State 3-0 later on Sunday. That's his former team. "We didn't hit like we normally hit. You can't take anybody for granted."

Certainly not the Gophers, even though they come from the land of ice and cold. The No. 19 Gophers, with ace Sara Moulton on the mound, rallied to beat the Sun Devils with three runs in the sixth inning off ASU's ace.

That makes Jessica Allister's club 15-2, which is the best start in program history and the best record of any team in the Big Ten. One loss was to No. 1 Florida in a rout, the other was to Florida International 3-1 on Sunday in the U's first game.

But the Gophers bounced back from that second loss quickly. Facing All-America pitcher Dallas Escobedo -- 30-6 last season with a 2.32 ERA -- they tied the score 1-1 in the sixth on Kaitlyn Richardson's run-scoring double. Then multi-talented freshman Sara Groenewegen, hitting cleanup, drilled a two-run single for a 3-1 lead.

And against ASU -- a team which has played in six of the past eight College World Series, more than any other program in that stretch, including a trip last year, all three parts of the Gophers' game was clicking.

Moulton improved to 10-1 in the circle. She pitched a four-hitter, struck out eight and got out of a huge jam in the bottom of the sixth. ASU had closed to within 3-2 and had runners on third and second with nobody out.

But on a ball hit to Moulton, she started a double play as the runner from third tried to come home. The ball went to the catcher, then to third for a tag and one out. Then Richardson threw to second base and caught the runner there.

The Gophers, at the plate, got seven hits, including four they bunched together in the sixth.

This is a team that wants to be where the Sun Devils are at. And Sunday's win over ASU was a big step in that direction.