U beats No. 2 Penn State in men's gymnastics; baseball, softball teams win

The Gophers men's gymnastics team closed its regular season Sunday in Lincoln, Neb., with a flourish.

Minnesota totaled 434.000 points to win a four-team meet, which included No. 2-rated Penn State (432.100) which place second. Iowa (429.250) and host Nebraska (426.050) also competed.

Senior Ellis Mannon took first in pommel horse (15.800) and freshman Yaroslav Pochinka (15.100) tied for first in vault to lead the No. 6 Gophers to team titles in those events as well.

Mannon's score was a season high; Pochinka, of Plano, Texas, was competing in only his third college meet.

Center fielder Dan Motl went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two steals and one RBI as the Gophers defeated Monmouth (N.J.) 8-4 at the PK5 Classic in Richmond, Va.

Lefthander Dalton Swayer pitched 5⅔ innings for the win; he gave up two runs, one earned.

Right fielder Matt Fielder was 3-for-3 with two RBI for the Gophers (6-8) and first baseman Toby Hanson 2-for-5 with two RBI.

The No. 16 Gophers beat Montana 5-2 on Sunday in the Fresno State Classic and then edged Cal Poly 1-0 in eight innings on Tyler Walker's walk-off single. The Mustangs (14-15) had won six in a row and Sierra Hyland held the Gophers to only five hits.

Sara Groenewegen threw a three-hitter in her fourth shutout this season for Minnesota (23-4). The teams used international tiebreaking rules in the eighth, meaning each team started its inning with a runner at second base. A sacrifice bunt moved the Gophers runner to third and she scored when Cal Poly's left fielder let Walker's ball drop, expecting it would drop foul. Kaitlyn Richardson hit a three-run homer against Montana.

• Miami became the final team in the NCHC's Frozen Faceoff at Target Center this week by beating Western Michigan 4-0 Sunday to win their best-of-three series.

Friday's semifinal pairings are Miami vs. Denver, St. Cloud State vs. North Dakota, but which teams will play in the first game at 4 p.m. has not been announced yet.