Indiana, the No. 2 seed, hit three home runs in beating the Gophers 5-3 on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Big Ten softball tournament in Urbana, Ill. Minnesota, the No. 3 seed, had a 12-game winning streak.
Taylor Minnick's two-run homer in the first inning off Autumn Pease — the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year — put the Hoosiers ahead 2-0. Sarah Stone hit a solo homer for Indiana in the third and Brianna Copeland another solo in the sixth.
Indiana, which lost two of three to the Gophers in a series April 7-9 in Minneapolis, advanced to the conference tournament title game for the first time in program history.
Minnesota, No. 25 in the softball RPI rankings, will find out if it receives an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament during the selection show at 6 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.
The Gophers scored one run in the second on Delanie Cox's RBI single and two in the fourth on Breezy Burnett's bases-loaded walk and Kayla Chavez's flyout.
Minnesota (37-17) stranded seven runners on base; Tayor Krapf, the Gophers' home run leader with 14, was walked three straight times.
Pease took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits in three innings. She struck out four, walked none.
Junior Jacie Hambrick who followed Pease to the circle pitched two shutout innings while allowing two hits.
