Maddy Ehlke's three-run triple sends Gophers softball past Indiana

The Gophers came back to beat the Hoosiers for the second day in a row.

April 9, 2023 at 8:46PM
Gophers righthander Autumn Pease prepared to deliver a pitch against Texas A&M on Saturday, May 21, 2022, in an NCAA softball tournament elimination game in Norman, Okla. (Craig Bisacre, University of Minnesota athletics)
Autumn Pease started and finished Sunday’s game — pitching five innings in all — and improved to 16-6. (Craig Bisacre, Gophers athletics/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Maddy Ehlke hit a tiebreaking three-run triple with two out in the fifth inning and the Gophers softball team beat Indiana for the second day in a row, winning 8-5 Sunday at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.

The Gophers (23-15, 4-5 Big Ten) won the final two games of the series against the Hoosiers. Indiana (30-11, 9-2), which fell to second place in the conference standings behind Northwestern, had won 23 games in a row before losing Saturday.

And for the second day in a row, the Gophers came from behind, tying the score after trailing 3-1 and 5-3. In the decisive sixth inning, after Natalie DenHartog stole second to put runners on second and third, Indiana intentionally walked Taylor Krapf to face Ehlke, who an inning earlier drove in the tying run on a fielder's choice. This time, she cleared the bases by hitting a 1-0 pitch for a triple.

Autumn Pease (16-6) started and finished the game for the Gophers, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out five over five innings.

U baseball rolls

Ike Mezzenga hit a three-run double in a six-run first inning, helping the Gophers baseball team beat Purdue 9-3 at Siebert Field.

Kris Hokenson and Boston Merila each drove in two runs for the Gophers (8-22, 3-3 Big Ten), who salvaged the final game of the three-game series with the Boilermakers (14-16, 5-4).

Richie Holetz struck out seven over 6⅓ innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks for the Gophers. Connor Wietgrefe relieved and retired eight of the nine batters he faced, striking out four.

U track records fall

The Gophers men's and women's track and field teams each broke two school records, including both 4x100-meter relay teams, Saturday at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz.

On the women's side, Amira Young's winning 200 time of 23.10 seconds was the fastest time in the event since 2021. young also won the 100 in 11.25 seconds, and she ran the anchor leg of a winning 4x100 relay team that also included Odell Frye, Lauren Hansen and Akilah Lewis, running the event in 43.88 seconds.

On the men's side, Michael Buchanan broke his own record in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing second at 13.78 seconds. The 4x100 relay team of Devin Augustine, Kion Benjamin, Finn Schirmer and Carlon Hosten also finished second at 39.39 seconds.

MNUFC2 starts 3-0

Minnesota United's reserve team stretched its season-starting winning streak to three games with Sunday's 2-1 victory at LA Galaxy II.

Tani Oluwaseyi scored the fastest goal in MNUFC2 history, in the third minute. The Galaxy tied the score three minutes later, but Emmanuel Iwe's successful penalty kick in the 36th minute stood as the winner.

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