Minnesota Scene: Record crowd watches Gophers finish softball sweep

The fifth-ranked Gophers completed a weekend softball sweep of Iowa with a 3-0 victory in front of an announced 1,383, a record crowd for Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, a day after drawing nearly 1,200 fans for Game 2 against Iowa.

"Today's crowd was unbelievable," Gophers coach Jessica Allister said.

Sara Groenewegen recorded her second victory of the weekend over the Hawkeyes (15-27, 7-10 Big Ten).

Maddie Houlihan drove in all three runs, on a two-run inside-the-park homer in the third inning and an RBI single in the fifth. It was her second consecutive three-RBI game.

Danielle Parlich scored twice, giving her a team-leading 48 runs for the Gophers (43-3, 16-1).

The Gophers got back-to-back homers from Toby Hanson and Matt Stemper in the fourth inning, but those accounted for their only runs in a 9-4 loss to visiting Nebraska in the finale of a three-game series at Siebert Field.

Minnesota is 23-12, 8-4 in the Big Ten.

Toby Anderson (4-4) took the loss.

Senior Emie Peronnin shot a closing par-72 and finished third overall, and the Gophers placed eighth in the Big Ten women's golf tournament in Maineville, Ohio. Peronnin, at 4-under 212, was one of only three golfers in the championship to score below par over the 54 holes.

Elodie Van Dievoet of Michigan was medalist at 208. Michigan State, led by Wayzata graduate Sarah Burnham's runner-up finish (211) — including a 9-under 63 in the second round — won the team crown with a score of 866, by two strokes over Northwestern at the TPC River's Bend. Ohio State (877) was third.

Peronnin, of France, posted the first top-five conference finish for a Gopher since 2010.

Senior Coley Ries pitched her second consecutive perfect game as the Minnesota State Mankato softball team swept visiting MSU Moorhead 7-0 and 7-3, extending the Mavericks' winning streak to 14 games. Ries (23-2) struck out 18 in seven innings in the Game 1 victory.

Mankato improved to 44-6 overall, 22-2 in the NSIC. MSU Moorhead is 8-33 and 3-21.

• Augustana won its eighth consecutive NSIC women's golf, title, running away to a 39-stroke victory over Minnesota State Mankato at Dacotah Ridge in Morton, Minn. The Vikings' Kali Trautman repeated as medalist, overtaking second-round leader Savannah Stone of Concordia (St. Paul), who tied for third.

• No. 1 singles player Felix Corwin won in three sets, including a second-set tiebreaker, and the Gophers men's tennis team won its regular-season finale 4-3 over Indiana at the Baseline Tennis Center.