Gophers softball team climbs to No. 8 in one major poll

For the first time this season, the Gophers softball team cracked the top 10 in one of the major college softball polls.

Minnesota (37-10, 18-1 Big Ten) is No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll — up three spots — and No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA poll.

The Gophers expect big crowds at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium this weekend when they play conference leader Northwestern (41-7, 20-0). Only a limited number of seats remain for the Friday and Saturday games and only standing room tickets for Sunday's game.

The Iowa Wild will play the Chicago Wolves in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The best-of-seven series opens at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allstate Arena.

The Wild, in the playoffs for the first time, beat the Milwaukee Admirals 2-1 on Monday night in deciding Game 5 of a first-round series. The Wild and the Wolves evenly split eight regular-season games.

Taylor Brunn of Concordia Academy on Monday became the all-time leader in career hits in Minnesota high school softball.

Brunn went 4-for-4 in the Beacons' 11-1 victory over DeLaSalle. Brunn, who has committed to play at Minnesota Crookston, now has 249 career hits. She surpassed the total of current Gopher Maddie Houlihan, who had 248 hits in her career at Benilde-St. Margaret's.

• Minnetonka High School named Tracy Cassano its girls' hockey coach. She was the Burnsville girls' hockey coach the past five seasons.

• Gophers sophomore golfer Angus Flanagan, the co-medalist in the recent Big Ten meet, was named to the all-conference second team.

• The Gophers men's tennis team (16-9) was selected for the NCAA tournament. It will play San Diego (20-4) at noon Friday in Los Angeles in the first round.

• Concordia (Moorhead) women's basketball coach Jessica Rahman announced her retirement after 16 seasons. She had a 226-102 record vs. MIAC opponents, and her 273 wins overall make her the program's winningest coach.

• Karen Weiss of Afton, Minn., shot an 8-over 80 at Edina Country Club in sectional qualifying to earn a spot in the U.S. Senior Women's Open, which will be held May 16-19 in Southern Pines, N.C.