Minnesota Scene: Gophers shut out Iowa in Big Ten baseball

Catcher Eli Wilson drove in three runs and freshman Pat Fredrickson threw 7⅔ scoreless innings as the No. 25 Gophers defeated Iowa 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in a Big Ten baseball game at Target Field.

Wilson had a two-run single in the third inning and a sacrifice fly in the fifth for Minnesota (25-10, 9-1 Big Ten), which won its ninth game in a row.

Fredrickson (5-0) scattered six hits, struck out two and walked two.

Former Vanderbilt guard Payton Willis committed to the Gophers on Saturday night.

Willis, a 6-4 Fayetteville, Ark., native, will sit out the 2018-19 season, per transfer rules. But he'll have two years of eligibility remaining.

As a sophomore this past season, Willis averaged 5.1 points and 18.5 minutes per game while playing in 31 games.

Out of Fayetteville High School in 2016, Willis was ranked as the second-best player in Arkansas as a senior.

Carlie Brandt had a two-run double in the second inning and Kendyl Lindaman and Maddie Houlihan hit back-to-back solo homers in the third to lead the Gophers to a 6-0 victory over Nebraska in Big Ten softball at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.

It was the sixth consecutive victory for Minnesota (26-14, 9-3 Big Ten), which is averaging 7.8 runs per game in that streak. The Gophers' home winning streak grew to 25 games going back two seasons. Amber Fiser pitched the first four innings, then came back as a reliever to pitch the final 1⅓ innings. She gave up only two hits total to the Cornhuskers (30-16, 8-7).

The No. 2-ranked Gophers men's gymnastics team finished second (411.923) in the NCAA Championships at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. This is Minnesota's fourth finish as the national runner-up in program history, the last time was in 1990.

• Maggie Nichols, a sophomore from Little Canada, helped Oklahoma finish second in the women's NCAA Championships in St. Louis with a score of 198.0375.

Nichols won the all-around title (39.8125) on Friday and tied for first place in floor exercise and bars.