Eli Wilson hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Gophers beat Nebraska 5-2 on Friday in their Big Ten Conference home opener in baseball. It was his first homer of the season; he also had an RBI single in the third.
Max Meyer pitched the first eight innings for Minnesota (10-13, 4-0 Big Ten), holding the Cornhuskers (12-8, 3-1) to two runs on seven hits and striking out a career-high 11. Reliever Brett Schulze got the win, striking six out in his two scoreless innings.
U swimmer places 3rd
Gophers freshman Max McHugh placed third in 100-yard breaststroke (50.52 seconds) in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas.
Earlier in the day, he had the best time in the preliminaries, a program-record 50.30 seconds. That time was the fourth fastest in NCAA history.
U softball rolls
Junior righthander Amber Fiser pitched a three-hitter as the No. 19 Gophers beat Purdue 5-1 in Big Ten softball in their home opener. Freshman Natalie DenHartog had a single and double — two of the team's four hits — and two RBI for Minnesota (23-9, 4-0 Big Ten). Three other runs scored on wild pitches.
Fiser had a no-hitter until the sixth and struck out eight. The Boilermakers (24-11, 2-2) scored their only run in the ninth.
Etc.
• Junior college player Juwan Mitchell committed to the Gophers on his Twitter account. The 6-2, 200-pound inside linebacker is from Middleton, N.J., and out of Butler Community College in Kansas. He is ranked a three-star recruit by 247Sports.
• Tess Keyzers of the Gophers won the shot put (54-2½) at the Stanford Invitational; her throw was the second longest in program history.
