Matt Fiedler leads Gophers over Iowa in Big Ten baseball opener

Matt Fiedler pitched seven solid innings and had a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to lead the Gophers to a 4-1 victory over Iowa on Friday in their Big Ten opener at Siebert Field.

Fiedler, a junior righthander who played for St. Paul Academy in high school, gave up only three hits and struck out seven while walking four.

He also was 2-for-4 with two runs scored as Minnesota (14-9) won its fourth in a row.

The Gophers also scored on a fielder's choice in the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. In the sixth, the Gophers got two more runs on Micah Coffey's RBI single off the pitcher and on a double play. With the loss, Iowa (10-13, 2-2) has lost nine of 10 road games this season.

The No. 22 Gophers hit four home runs, including a grand slam by Sydney Dwyer and a three-run shot by Taylor LeMay, in routing host Northwestern 16-0 in five innings Friday in Big Ten softball. Sara Groenewegen and Kayla Wenner hit two-run homers in the first inning to put Minnesota ahead 4-0.

Groenewegen also was the winning pitcher, giving up two hits and striking out six in four innings.

Dwyer, LeMay and Groenewegen all had four RBI for Minnesota (23-9, 4-0 Big Ten). Dwyer's grand slam was part of a seven-run second inning.

The Gophers finished third in the Big Ten men's gymnastics meet. Ohio State, competing in its own St. John's Arena, won easily with a score of 434.450. Illinois was next (429.700) and then the Gophers (429.100) — with their best finish since 2013.

The Gophers' Tristan Duran, a sophomore from Franklin Lakes, N.J., finished third in the all-around competition, behind two Buckeyes, with a score of 86.900.

Individual event finals will start at 6 p.m. Saturday (BTN).

The No. 16 Gophers women's gymnastics team will host No. 2 Florida, No. 11 Denver, No. 20 Missouri, No. 31 BYU and No. 28 Ohio State at 4 p.m. Saturday in an NCAA regional at the Sports Pavilion.

The top two teams from each regional, along with the top all-around gymnasts from the non-advancing teams, will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, which run April 15-16 in Fort Worth, Texas. Additionally, event winner will advance to the national meet in their respective events if they are not a part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.

• The Gophers women's tennis team beat visiting Michigan State 5-2 after taking a decisive 4-0 lead on Julia Courter's 6-0, 6-4 victory over Emily Metcalf at third singles. Caroline Ryba of Minnesota won 6-3, 7-6 (5) over Erin Faulkner at No. 1 singles. … In men's tennis, the Gophers lost 4-0 at No. 15 Illinois.

• Luca Wieland of the Gophers qualified for the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at the Stanford Invitational with a personal best of 14.83 seconds.