The Gophers softball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling 15-2 to top-ranked Florida on the final day of the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas. The Gophers had tied a program record with their 8-0 start before losing to the Gators (11-0).

Florida opened the scoring with four runs in the third, the final inning for Gophers starter Sara Moulton (5-1), and made it 7-0 in the fourth on Taylor Schwartz's three-run double off freshman Sara Groenewegen.

The Gophers scored in the bottom of the fourth on Hannah Melick's RBI single and Kayla Wenner's grounder.

Florida pulled away with an eight-run inning that included two two-run home runs. The game ended after Minnesota was shut out in the bottom of the sixth.

U baseball scores sweep

The Gophers completed a season-opening three-game baseball sweep of Northern Illinois with an 11-5 victory in Glendale, Ariz. Junior Mark Tatera went 4-for-5 with five RBI to lead the Gophers.

The Gophers broke the game open with a six-run eighth inning. Tatera tripled to lead off the inning and also had a two-run single in the inning. Five of the runs in the rally were unearned.

Catcher Austin Athmann was the only other Gopher with more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Gophers tennis

Leandro Toledo improved to 7-2 in singles, but the Gophers men's tennis team opened the Big Ten season with a 4-3 loss to Iowa at the Baseline Tennis Center, ending a 15-match winning streak against the Hawkeyes dating to 1998. … The Gophers women won the doubles point and swept the first five singles matches in a 6-1 home victory over Oregon.