The Gophers took over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten baseball standings Saturday by rallying for a 10-5 victory over Michigan State at Siebert Field.
The Gophers (33-13, 15-4) and Michigan (31-16, 14-5) began the day tied for first, but Michigan lost to Illinois 10-4 on Saturday. Each team has four regular-season conference games remaining.
Michigan State (18-27, 9-10) took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh. The Gophers scored eight runs in the seventh to take a 9-4 lead. Cole McDevitt led off the Gophers seventh with a solo home run and added an RBI single later in the inning as the Gophers batted around. Riley Smith's two-run single capped the inning.
Purdue (30-17, 14-5) moved into a tie with Michigan for second place.
Gophers tennis makes Sweet 16 via upset
Freshman Jackson Allen's three-set victory lifted the Gophers men's tennis team to a 4-0 sweep of 14th-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., and gave Minnesota its first berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 since 2000.
The Gophers posted doubles victories in the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Felix Corwin earned the 6-4 win for himself and partner Josip Krstanovic in the No. 1 spot with an ace on match point. Corwin, ranked 53rd, also won at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-2 over 30th-ranked Alex Bakshi.
Division III softball
Hayley Dunning's second no-hitter in 14 days led seventh-ranked St. Thomas to a 1-0 win over visiting Central (Iowa) in their NCAA Division III softball regional championship game.
• St. Benedict advanced to the championship game of its Division III regional in Decorah, Iowa, with two elimination-game victories by Alex Smith, 7-0 over Lake Forest and 6-1 over Cornell. The Blazers will play host Luther for the championship on Sunday.
