Minnesota Scene: Gophers' Groenewegen shuts out Oregon State in softball

Sara Groenewegen pitched a five-hitter with 14 strikeouts and also drove in a run for the seventh-ranked Gophers in a 6-0 softball victory Monday at Oregon State.

Oregon native MaKenna Partain had three hits and Groenewegen, Sydney Dwyer and Kendyl Lindaman had two hits for the Gophers (22-2). Dwyer had a two-run double, giving her 32 RBI, Lindaman hit her team-leading sixth home run.

Groenewegen, staked to a 3-0 first-inning lead after the start of the game was delayed an hour by rain, improved to 10-1.

Gophers senior Bailie Holst was among 16 gymnasts selected to the All-Big-Ten first team announced Monday.

Holst was the all-around champion at the Big Five gymnastics meet over the weekend in Iowa, and shared the league's gymnast of the week award with Nebraska's Jennie Laeng. It was Holst's first weekly award.

Minnesota's Bailey Abernathy and Ciara Gardner made the second team.

The Gophers women will compete at the Big Ten championships Saturday at Rutgers.

Barb Smith, part of four NCAA tournament teams during six years as a Gophers women's assistant basketball coach from 2004-05 to to 2009-10, was fired as head coach at Illinois State.

The Redbirds went 28-93 in four seasons under Smith.