The Gophers softball team lost 17-6 to No. 1-ranked Florida State on Saturday night in the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational in Florida.
The defending national champions took a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Sydney Smith and kept pulling away by scoring in four of the next six innings.
For Minnesota (3-3), Hope Brandner had an RBI single in the first, MaKenna Partain a two-run triple in the second and Natalie DenHartog the final three RBI on a two-run homer — her second of the day — in the fifth and a groundout in the seventh.
Earlier, the Gophers routed Notre Dame 10-0, scoring seven runs in the first inning — three on junior Carlie Brandt's first career homer.
Freshman catcher Emma Burns had a two-run double for Minnesota in the first. DenHartog hit a three-run shot in the fifth.
Junior righthander Amber Fiser got the win, giving up one hit and striking out nine in four innings.
U baseball falls
Gophers 6-7 righthander Patrick Fredrickson was great last season. He was 9-0 with a 1.86 ERA a year ago and named the Big Ten Pitcher and Freshman of the Year.
But he got off to a rocky start Saturday in his first appearance this season. He gave up five runs — two earned — and eight hits in four innings in Minnesota's 11-1 loss to New Mexico in the College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz.
