After sweeping then-No. 22 Northwestern, the Gophers softball team won three out of four games in its home series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers this weekend.
The star of the weekend was junior pitcher Autumn Pease, who tabbed a no-hitter with three strikeouts and a walk in a 2-0 victory over the Cornhuskers in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader. Pease is 10-1 on the season with a 1.29 ERA, 79 strikeouts and 14 walks through 16 appearances and 81.1 total innings pitched.
The Gophers also picked a win in a shoot-out on Friday night, coming back from a 7-6 deficit in the seventh inning and rallying to win 8-7 after scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh. MaKenna Partain hit a single to score the tying runner, Carlie Brandt. Yet, the throw from Nebraska right fielder Tristen Edwards was off target, which scored the winning runner, Sara Kinch.
Kinch had a career day Friday, hitting 3-for-3 with a home run and two singles. She was the Gophers’ top batter in the series with three home runs.
In the third game of the series, the Gophers continued not allowing the Cornhuskers to score any runs in the concluding game of the doubleheader, with a dominating 9-0 victory. The Gophers achieved the shutout by a combined effort from starter Amber Fiser and Ava Dueck, who closed the last inning.
In the last game of the series Sunday, the Cornhuskers snapped Minnesota’s eight-game winning streak. Unlike in the second game, Nebraska got the bats going off of Pease. Pease allowed three earned runs and walked one while striking out one.
The Cornhuskers were able to bring in two runs off Fiser in the 6th inning, breaking a 4-4 tie. A home run by Edwards scored Billie Andrews and was the eventual deciding score as the Cornhuskers won 6-4. Fiser allowed three earned runs, walked three and struck out three.
Nebraska’s win over Minnesota on Sunday marked the Cornhuskers’ first win over the Gophers since 2015, breaking a 14-game losing streak.
Up next, the Gophers (22-6) take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (15-13) in a four-game home stand from April 23-25.
