The Gophers baseball team sees its first action of the year tonight in the Pro-Alumni game at the Metrodome.
The game showcases former Gophers and current major leaguers such as the Minnesota Twins’ Paul Molitor and Terry Steinbach, the Atlanta Braves’ Denny Neagle, the Seattle Mariners’ Dan Wilson and the Oakland A’s’ Brent Gates.
Women’s tennis
The Gophers opened their season with a win on Saturday, drubbing the Iowa State Cyclones 6-1 at the 98th Street Racquet Club in Bloomington.
Nora Sauska, Alice Rangsithienchai, Jenni Svehla, Tarah Elkins and Helen Wang all won their singles matches for the No. 39 Gophers. Only Elkins’ match went three sets.
Minnesota hosts Drake on Friday.
Women’s track
Two of the four Gophers athletes at the Mercantile Bank Invitational on Friday provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships.
Senior Dani Parkos (47 feet, 9 inches) and sophomore Tina McDonald (47-7 3/4) both provisionally qualified in the shot put at the meet in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Freshman Natalie Smith won both the long jump and the triple jump.
Men’s track
At the same meet, senior Tye Harvey provisionally qualified for NCAAs in the pole vault for the second straight meet. His vault of 17-9 was a career-best.
The Gophers finished fifth overall with 37.25 points. Iowa State won easily with 160 points.
Softball
The Gophers are ranked 20th in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
Minnesota finished 44-18 overall last year and 17-6 in the Big Ten, good for second place. The Gophers made it to the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the first round.
Other Big Ten teams in the poll are defending conference champion Michigan at No. 5 and Iowa at No. 6.
Minnesota opens its season Feb. 13 in Arlington, Texas, against Tennessee and Texas-Arlington.