The Gophers split its games at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Tallahassee, Fla., over the weekend, with Sara Groenewegen tossing a gem Friday night.
The junior pitcher threw a no-hitter against Virginia Tech to start the weekend, and the Gophers added another victory over the Hokies on Saturday. Minnesota lost its final two games to No. 13 Florida State Saturday and Sunday by three runs.
“We were really resilient,” senior Paige Palkovich said Sunday morning. “We were able to string together at-bats and [were] ready to do whatever it took to get on base or move a runner.”
No. 20 Minnesota (5-4) won 8-0 on Friday and put up two runs against Virginia Tech (1-8) in the first two innings.
The Gophers offense exploded in the third inning with five runs scoring in the frame. Junior Sam Macken hit a double. Sophomore Danielle Parlich had an RBI single, and later, Palkovich hit a three-run home run to clear the bases. Senior Sydney Fabian recorded an RBI before the inning was over to put the Gophers up 7-0.
The lead was more than enough from Groenewegen, who threw the fourth no-hitter of her career. In her five innings of work, she had 10 strikeouts and one walk on 68 pitches.
“Going into each game I have the same mentality that it’s going to be hard, so I honestly don’t pay attention to that,” Groenwegen said.
“Yes, I came away with a no-hitter, but it’s a testament to the team, too.”
Minnesota used another big inning to defeat Virginia Tech again on Saturday 9-3, with four of the team’s runs coming in the fourth inning.
Sophomore Sydney Dwyer, Fabian and Macken all tallied RBIs in the fourth, and Palkovich hit a bases-clearing double toward the end of the inning.
Groenewegen pitched four innings and allowed one hit, while sophomore Kylie Stober earned her first save of the season in a three-inning outing.
Minnesota lost 5-4 in its second game Saturday to No. 13 Florida State (7-3). The Seminoles scored two runs in the first innings, but Macken responded with a solo home run in the third.
Florida State added another run in the bottom of the inning, and both teams scored one run in the sixth. The Gophers tied the game 4-4 in the top of the seventh, but the Seminoles hit a walk-off home run to win the game.
“Even though the result didn’t go our way yesterday, we built a lot of confidence,” Palkovich said. “The game didn’t end up how we wanted, but even when we were down it didn’t feel like we were down.”
Neither team scored in the first six innings on Sunday, until Florida State put up two runs in the top of the seventh and held on for a 2-0 victory.
Groenewegen allowed the two runs on four hits and had five strikeouts and two walks in the game.
