The Gophers baseball team, behind four RBI from Tony Skjefte, defeated Northwestern 8-3 on Friday in its home opener at Siebert Field.
Skjefte, a senior third baseman, had a two-run single in the first inning to put the Gophers (8-13, 1-3 Big Ten) ahead 2-1. He had another two-run single in the Gophers' six-run third inning while Austin Athmann had a two-run double.
Ben Meyer pitched 8⅓ innings for the Gophers, giving up three runs and six hits. He struck out five and walked two. The Wildcats (5-19, 0-1) scored on a solo homer in the first and a two-run homer in the ninth.
U wins in softball
The No. 12 Gophers outslugged Nebraska 8-7 on Friday in Big Ten softball in Lincoln, Neb., for their 14th consecutive victory.
Both teams hit three homers, and each team scored in five of the seven innings.
Sam Macken's solo homer in the top of the seventh gave the Gophers (28-4, 4-0 Big Ten) an 8-6 lead. Nebraska (17-13, 5-1) hit its third homer in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to one.
Hannah Granger hit a solo homer in the third inning to give the Gophers a 5-0 lead. Paige Palkovich hit a two-run homer in the sixth for a 7-4 lead.
Etc.
• The Gophers finished fourth in the Big Ten men's gymnastics meet at Penn State. Senior Ellis Mannon placed sixth in the all-around and was one of eight Gophers advancing to Saturday's individual event finals.
