Minnesota scene: Gophers softball, baseball teams finish sweeps at Penn State

The Gophers softball team concluded its regular season with a 10-1 victory over Penn State on Sunday in State College, Pa.

The victory, the Gophers' 22nd in a row, wrapped up a three-game sweep of the Nittany Lions. The Gophers (51-3, 22-1 Big Ten) outscored Penn State 35-3 in the series, clincing the Big Ten title on Saturday.

"I was proud of our girls for coming out after an emotional game [Saturday]. They scored first and we answered back, which is what you want to see," Gophers coach Jessica Allister said.

Rebecca Ziegler led off the bottom of the first inning for Penn State (22-32, 8-15) with a home run off Gophers starter Sara Groenewegen. It was the only hit the Nittany Lions had in the five-inning game.

Allie Arneson drove in three runs and Dani Wagner hit a two-run homer for the Gophers.

The Gophers will be the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten tournament, which begins Thursday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Gophers will have a first-round bye and will play in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Tournament information is here.

The victory completed a three-game series sweep for the Gophers (29-15, 12-6 Big Ten). Minnesota is in third place in the Big Ten with a 12-6 record, just behind Nebraska and Maryland. Minnesota had a non-conference series coming up this weekend with Long Beach State and then finishes the regular season against Purdue.

Terrin Vavra and Micah Coffey each added three hits for the Gophers, who had 14 hits.

Bethel scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 victory over St. Mary's and a sweep of an MIAC baseball doubleheader. The Royals and St. Thomas tied for first place at 16-4. Bethel won a tiebreaker and is the No. 1 seed for this week's four-team double-elimination playoffs in Collegeville and Cold Spring.