John Anderson's 1,100th career victory as Gophers baseball coach was a memorable one.
Junior lefthander Tom Windle pitched a no-hitter, walking one and striking out eight in the Gophers' 3-0 victory over Western Illinois on Friday night at the Metrodome.
It was the first no-hitter pitched by a Gophers pitcher since April 4, 1993, when Joe Westfall accomplished the feat against Penn State in seven innings — a victory that was the 401st of Anderson's career. Prior to that, the Gophers also had a no-hitter on April 14, 1970, also in seven innings, over Macalester.
Windle pitched his way into Gophers history on 95 pitches. He sent the first 11 batters down in order before issuing his only walk, coming with two outs in the fourth inning. After his walk, Windle struck out the next batter swinging.
Western Illinois (2-8) had baserunners in the sixth and eighth innings, too, on Gophers error. The second error resulted in a runner on third with one out in the eighth, but Windle rebounded by striking out the next two batters, both looking.
Windle's final strikeout came when he fanned Dan Dispensa swinging for the final out of the game, improving him to 2-1 this season.
Kurt Schlangen went 3-for-4 for the Gophers, while freshmen Dan Motl and Connor Schaefbauer each had a RBI.
U foursome takes third at NCAA indoors
The Gophers distance medley relay team of Harun Abda, Cameron Boy, Nick Hutton and Travis Burkstrand earned first-team All-America honors with a third-place finish on Friday in the first day of action at the NCAA indoor track and field championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Gophers' time of 9:34.21 was second to Penn State's 9:34.00 and Princeton's 9:33.00.
The Gophers also had a pair of competitors move on to finals action on Saturday in Abda (800 meters) and John Simons (mile).
St. Cloud State wrestling leads NCAAs
The St. Cloud State wrestling team completed the first day at the NCAA Division II championships in top order in Birmingham, Ala.
The Huskies finished with 60½ points after the first day, sitting ahead of Notre Dame College (58) and Nebraska Kearney (57).
The Huskies saw seven of their nine wrestlers make it through the first day of competition, and five of those will be in the championship semifinals Saturday: Andy Pokorny (133 pounds), Matt Nelson (141), Jacob D. Horn (149), Clint Poster (157) and Shamus O'Grady (184).
U softball splits
The Gophers (11-7) split a softball doubleheader in the Stanford Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. Sara Moulton (11-5) was the winner in the first game, beating Pacific 1-0 on a three-hitter, and the loser in relief in the second game, when the host Cardinal rallied for a 2-1 victory in the bottom of the eighth.
Bree Blanchette scored the only run in the first game in the fifth inning when she singled, stole secon, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on an error.
In the second game, the Gophers took a 1-0 lead in the top of eight on Erika Smyth's triple, but Stanford scored two unearned runs off Moulton (11-5) in the bottom of the inning.
Swarm falls to Calgary
Host Calgary scored five unanswered goals in the second quarter to take control on its way to a 19-15 victory over the Swarm on Friday, dropping Minnesota to 3-7 on the National Lacrosse League season.
Ryan Benesch had four goals to go along with three assists to reach more than 300 points in a Swarm uniform. He is the third player in franchise history to reach the milestone.
Dane Dobbie led the Roughnecks (6-5) with 10 points.
Etc.
• The first round of the Clover Cup, in which the Gophers women's golf team is participating, was postponed on Friday morning because of heavy rains at the Lonbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz. Teams will play 36 holes on Saturday.
