In her first season with the Gophers, Sara Moulton put together an impressive résumé.
Saturday she added a no-hitter to her list of accomplishments.
Moulton was sixth in the Big Ten with a 2.06 ERA, she holds the single-season win record for Minnesota with 28 and pitched 32 complete games including 14 shutouts. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last year and was also named to the All-Big Ten Second Team.
Now a sophomore, Moulton has continued where she left off. The latest impressive clip on her résumé is just the 15th no-hitter in Gophers history. It was the first since Briana Hassett’s on April 24, 2007.
Moulton struck out nine in the effort. She walked two and had two hit batsmen.
Freshman Tyler Walker backed Moulton offensively. The shortstop hit her first collegiate home run, stole a base and scored both of the team’s runs in the game.
That game was the first of four that Minnesota played in Las Vegas, Nev., at the Sportco Kick-Off Classic to open its season.
Moulton pitched in all four games and was the pitcher of record in three of them (2-1).
The Gophers’ second win came when they defeated Weber State 8-0 in just five innings, when the mercy rule took effect.
Minnesota took advantage of three Weber State errors and scored two runs on wild pitches — and five total unearned runs — in the win.
Moulton pitched just three innings but had eight strikeouts.
Freshman Erica Meyer went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs in the game.
Kaitlyn Richardson, also a freshman, contributed three RBIs to the effort. Richardson’s two RBIs in the fifth inning pushed the score to 8-0, which induced the mercy rule.
The team’s third win of the tournament featured another offensive outpour, when it defeated Cal State-Bakersfield 10-0.
Catcher Kari Dorle went 4-for-4 with two homeruns and three RBIs.
Richardson contributed another three RBIs. She and Hannah Granger both hit their first collegiate home runs in the shellacking.
Minnesota’s only loss came in its second game of the tournament, a 2-1 loss to host UNLV.
Moulton pitched six innings of three-hit, two-run ball, but Minnesota struggled offensively and was only able to generate one run in the game. Sara DuPaul drove in the lone run.
The team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., to participate in the Littlewood Classic next weekend. No. 1 Arizona State, the defending champions, will host the tournament.
The Gophers will play five games against four different teams, including ASU, in the three-day tournament.