Gophers baseball team finishes third in Big Ten baseball race

The Gophers, who were the defending Big Ten regular-season champions in baseball, finished in third place this season after Nebraska and Michigan both won games Saturday while Minnesota (15-8 Big Ten) was idle after winning one of three games against Purdue the day before.

Nebraska (16-7-1) drubbed Penn State 21-3 to win its first conference title. Michigan (16-8) beat Michigan State 2-1 to finish second.

Minnesota, as the third seed, will face host Indiana, the sixth seed, at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the first game of the Big Ten tournament.

Hold for More won the 10,000 Lakes Stakes in pouring rain at Canterbury Park, paying $11.80 to win. His $30,000 share of the $50,000 purse boosted his Canterbury earnings to $323,950, the second-most in the history of the Shakopee racetrack. Orlando Mojica rode the winner for owner Dale Schenian and trainer Francisco Bravo. The all-time earnings leader with $340,452 is Crocrock, who raced from 1999-2005.

The St. Cloud State baseball team defeated Minnesota State Mankato 9-4 in the winners' bracket of the NCAA Division II Central Region in Emporia, Kan. Huskies leadoff hitter Judd Davis was 4-for-5 with a three-run triple in the ninth inning. Mitch Malek also drove in three runs on a sacrifice fly, a single and a solo homer.

Dominic Austing got the victory for St. Cloud State (41-16), giving up two runs and seven hits in 6⅔ innings.

The No. 12 Mavericks (46-10) stayed alive in the regional by later beating Arkansas Monticello 6-5. MSU Mankato scored four runs in the fourth inning — on Teddy Petersen's two-run triple and Jordan Hart's two-run homer — to take a 6-2 lead.

• Jayda Woods won the 800 and 1,600 meters to pace Rocori to the girls' Class 2A title at the True Team state track and field meet in Stillwater. Jessica Bliese won the shot put and discus to help Osakis edge Luverne by 1½ points for the Class 1A title. In the boys' meet, Willmar won the Class 2A title and Holdingford the Class 1A title.

• The NCAA Division III softball super regional game between St. Thomas and host St. Catherine was rescheduled for noon Sunday. If the Tommies win — the Wildcats won the series opener 1-0 on Friday — the deciding game will follow.

• No. 6 Minnesota State Mankato (58-7) will play No. 2 Harding (58-8) at 10 a.m. Sunday in Searcy, Ark., in the deciding third game of their NCAA Division II softball super regional.