Gophers win twice in softball, including win over No. 9 Texas

The No. 22 Gophers softball team got its biggest victory of the season, beating No. 9 Texas 4-1 on Friday night in the Longhorn Invitational.

Sydney Smith pitched the first four innings, giving up no runs and only two hits. Amber Fiser threw the last three innings and limited the Longhorns (19-4) to one run and one hit.

Freshman Natalie DenHartog's two-run double in the top of the seventh inning gave the Gophers (13-6) a 3-0 lead.

Earlier in the day, in their first tournament game, the Gophers beat Southern Texas 7-0 on sophomore Hannah Bailey's four-hitter in her first career start. DenHartog hit two homers, one a three-run shot and one solo, and Katelyn Kemmetmueller hit a solo homer.

Sophomore Max Meyer, normally the Gophers' closer, got his first college start and he was impressive.

Ultimately, though, Meyer took the loss as No. 4 Oregon State, the defending College World Series champion, edged Minnesota 2-1 in the Seattle Baseball Showcase. Meyer pitched six innings, giving up a two-run homer to catcher Adley Rutschman in the sixth and four hits total to the Beavers (11-1), striking out eight and walking none.

The Gophers (2-9) got their run in the third on Ben Mezzenga's double and Cole McDevitt's RBI single.

Senior Brett Velasquez beat Tyler Kreith of Maryville 8-1 at 125 pounds, becoming a four-time All-America. He won a national title in 2016.

Kolton Eischens defeated Cornell Beachem of Notre Dame (Ohio) 6-4 at 174.

Vince Dietz pinned Nick Baumler of Upper Iowa at 6:56 at 197. Dietz was the national runner-up last year and is 30-0 this season and ranked No. 1.

St. Cloud State is the defending team champion.

Six Augsburg wrestlers advanced to the semifinals at the NCAA Division III National Championships in Roanoke, Va. Among them were two defending national champions, Ryan Epps at 157 pounds and Lucas Jeske at 165.

• The Gophers men's gymnastics team won a three-meet in Columbus, Ohio, with a score of 406.300. Second was host Ohio State (405.550), followed by Nebraska (402.300). Shane Wiskus of Minnesota won the all-around with a career-high score (84.350) and also took first on rings and high bar.

• The Gophers women's gymnastics team placed second (197.025) in the Elevate the Stage meet in Birmingham, Ala., led by Paige Williams, who tied the program record in floor exercise (9.975).