Heading into the matchup against #21/24 Northwestern, the Gophers had won eight of their last nine games. This includes two wins versus ranked opponents on the road against #23 Wichita State and #22 Arizona State.
The Gophers now sit at the bottom of the Big Ten, tied with Maryland and Purdue. Northwestern was a formidable opponent and dominated the Gophers in the doubleheader Sunday.
March 24, Game 1
The three-game series started with a bang, going nine innings and ending in a walk-off home run by the Wildcats. Hannah Cady swung at the first pitch and hit a no-doubter to left field off of Jacie Hambrick.
The entire Minnesota offense consisted of two homers. Breezy Burnett hit a grand slam, which started scoring for both teams. Taylor Krapf followed that up with a three-run bomb to put the Gophers ahead 7-6 in the fifth inning.
That would be the last scoring for Minnesota as Northwestern would tie it in the sixth on a single from Skyler Shellmyer. There was nothing going right for either side in the seventh inning, so the series’ first game went to extras.
The final walk-off from Cady was a heartbreaker for the Gophers, who lost 8-7 after having fought back from six unanswered runs from the Wildcats.
March 25, Game 2
In the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader featured on Big Ten Network, the Gophers never found their offense. The opposite was true for Northwestern, who would post nine runs in five innings.
Hambrick started in the circle after a rough relief performance in the first game. Game 2 was more of the same from the Wildcat offense against Hambrick, who would only last two innings, allowing six earned runs.
The Gophers’ only run came on an attempted suicide squeeze from Delanie Cox. After Cox failed to bunt the ball, Wildcat catcher Jordyn Rudd tried to back-pick Amani Bradley at third, who promptly turned home and scored.
That would be all the offense the Gophers could muster, falling 9-1 in the first game of the doubleheader.
It was a shocking dismantling of the Gophers’ offense, which did not produce a single RBI against Lauren Boyd, who pitched all five innings in the circle.
March 25, Game 3
A quick turnaround allowed Minnesota to display a short memory, but it was more of the same in the third game of the series.
Minnesota had the dream start to the game on a home run by Jess Oakland in the first inning. However, Northwestern’s Cami Henry shut down the Gophers after that, going seven innings with only four hits and that one run.
Northwestern beat Minnesota 5-1.
Autumn Pease may have struggled in the game, but Minnesota’s defense did not help her. On the day, Minnesota finished with three errors that accounted for 3 of the 5 runs.
Next up, Minnesota heads home for a three-game series against Penn State on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
