Senior shortstop Mike Handel went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer and a run-scoring double to lead the Gophers to an 8-1 rout of Penn State on Saturday in Big Ten baseball at Siebert Field.

Starter Tim Shannon got the victory, giving up one run and five hits in 6â…“ innings. He struck out four.

The Gophers (15-19, 5-9 conference) took a 2-0 lead in the third on Tony Skjefte's two-run triple. Handel's homer made it 5-0 in the fourth.

Gophers center fielder Dan Motl extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a two-run single in the eighth for a 7-1 lead vs. Penn State (12-22, 2-8).

U softball stays on roll

The No. 13 Gophers softball team won its sixth consecutive game Saturday, defeating Michigan State 7-1 in East Lansing, Mich.

Freshman Kylie Stober started for the Gophers but gave up a solo homer in the first inning and, with two runners aboard and two outs, was relieved by Nikki Anderson.

The junior lefthander pitched 6⅓ shutout innings, allowing just three hits, to earn her seventh victory of the season — she's 7-2 — and second in as many days for the Gophers (36-7, 11-3 Big Ten).

Gophers catcher Taylor LeMay was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. Her two-run single in the third inning gave the Gophers a 3-1 lead. The Spartans' record fell to 16-28, 1-14 in the Big Ten.

Etc.

• The Calgary Roughnecks defeated the Minnesota Swam 10-6 at the Xcel Energy Center in the National Lacrosse League. Johnny Powless had two goals for the Swarm who fell behind 3-0 in the first period. The home team got within 8-6 on Samuel Bradman's first NLL goal in the fourth. Frankie Scigliano had 43 saves for the visitors; Zach Higgins had 28 stops for the Swarm and Brodie MacDonald two.

• Junior Jess Herauf of the Gophers won the heptathlon with a score of 5,912 points, 176 more than the runner-up, in the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville. Her score was a school record, and a personal best by more than 400 points.

• Jose Mendez, a sophomore on the Gophers men's golf team, shot rounds of 71 and 69 on Saturday and is in seventh place in the Hawkeye-GRE Invitational in Iowa City. He is 4 under. His team is at even par (576) and is in fifth place.

• Fifth-ranked Minnesota State Mankato swept visiting Concordia (St. Paul) 8-5, 10-4 in a baseball doubleheader. The Mavericks (29-4, 19-3 NSIC) have now won 12 games in a row.