The Gophers baseball team began Big Ten play by rallying from an early seven-run deficit for a 16-9 victory at Iowa on Friday.

Iowa scored six unearned runs in the first two innings to take a 7-0 lead. The Gophers tied the score with seven runs in the third and eventually opened a 16-7 lead after six innings.

Josh Fitzgerald and Jake Perry each drove in three runs for the Gophers (11-10).

Iowa (13-11, 2-2), the favorite in the Big Ten preseason poll, outhit the Gophers 14-11.

U softball rolls

Taylor Krapf drove in seven runs with a double and grand slam to power the Gophers softball team to a 16-1 victory in five innings over host Illinois.

Krapf's second-inning slam gave the Gophers a 6-0 lead. Morgan DeBord and Jess Oakland also hit home runs for the Gophers (16-15, 2-2 Big Ten).

Etc.

• The Gophers men's basketball team had a fifth player enter the transfer portal. Kris Keinys, a freshman forward from Lithuania who played in five games and averaged 1.4 points, joined Pharrel Payne, Joshua Ola-Joseph, Braeden Carrington and Isaiah Ihnen.

• The Saints' season opener against Columbus was pushed back three hours to 5:07 p.m. Saturday at CHS Field to give the grounds crew more time to prepare the field following the recent winter storm. The game will no longer be televised. Twins top pitching prospect David Festa is scheduled to start for the Saints.