The No. 14 Gophers softball team lost twice Saturday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in Tallahassee, Fla., as their losing streak grew to three games after a 5-0 start. That's as many as they lost in the regular season in 2017.
After falling to No. 8 Florida State 3-2 on Friday, the Gophers lost 6-5 to Notre Dame and 9-3 to the Seminoles in a rematch.
Against the Fighting Irish, Kendyl Lindaman had a two-run homer for the Gophers in the third inning to tie the score at 2-all. And Maddie Houlihan had a two-run single in the seventh as Minnesota tried to rally from a three-run deficit.
Amber Fiser took the loss, giving up four earned runs, seven hits and three walks.
Junior Sydney Smith, a transfer from LSU, gave up seven earned runs and 14 hits, including three homers, against FSU. The Seminoles scored four runs in the fourth to take a 6-1 lead and got three more in the seventh.
Gophers sweep in baseball
The Gophers took a 9-0 lead after 5½ innings and beat Kennesaw State 9-3 in the first game of a nonconference doubleheader in Kennesaw, Ga., in the Atlanta Challenge and then won an 11-8 slugfest.
Starter Nick Lackney pitched six shutout innings for Minnesota (2-1), allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out four to get the win in the first game. Toby Hanson's two-run single broke an 8-all tie in the sixth inning of the second game.
U weight throwers excel
The weight throwers for the No. 11 Gophers women's track and field team put on quite a show at the Parents Day Invite at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse.
