Minnesota Scene: Gophers play Big Ten co-leader Michigan in baseball

The Gophers baseball team will open a three-game series at Michigan with an 11 a.m. doubleheader Friday. Minnesota (16-10, 2-1 Big Ten) is coming off a 5-1 homestand and is No. 37 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings.

Conference co-leader Michigan (21-6, 3-0) is No. 29 in the RPI rankings.

The Wolverines have won 10 of their past 11 games and are 6-0 at home.

The Gophers have two regulars hitting over .400 — Matt Fiedler at .415 and Terrin Vavra at .413 — and a third, Austin Athmann flirting with that plateau at .397.

First baseman Toby Hanson, out 18 games for Minnesota with an elbow injury, returns this weekend. He was hitting .458 through the team's first seven games.

Michigan pitchers are giving up only 6.5 hits per nine innings, the fourth fewest in the nation.

Senior guard Rachel Banham of the Gophers will be at the Wooden Awards banquet on Friday in Los Angeles. It will air at 7 p.m. on Friday.

On her first night in California, Banham attended a Lakers game and met her favorite player, Kobe Bryant, for the first time. The two had corresponded on Twitter following Banham's 60-point game.

Heather Kampf of Rosemount and Garrett Heath, a native of Winona, Minn., will return to defend their titles in the Medtronic TC 1 Mile which will be held May 12 in downtown Minneapolis. The race is also U.S.A. Track and Field's 1 mile road championship.

This year the event moves to a new course, starting near the Mill City Museum, racing past Gold Medal Park, and finishing along the Mississippi Riverfront near the Guthrie Theater.

• Gophers senior Kierra Smith has qualified for this summer's Rio Olympics after winning the 100-meter breaststroke at the Canadian Olympic Trials. Her time of 1:06.93 was under the Olympic qualifying time and a lifetime best.

• Freshman Justin Karstadt and sophomore Joel Gagnon of the Gophers men's gymnastics team will compete at the 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships opening Friday in Everett, Wash. They are on Canada's team. Karstadt is from Toronto, Gagnon from Regina, Saskatchewan. Gymnasts from 14 counties are entered.

• USA Hockey named Steve Carroll of Edina as its first goaltending development coordinator. He was a two-time All-America goalie at Minnesota State Mankato and the MVP of the NCAA Division II tournament in 1980.