Gophers' Alec Basten places fifth in 3K in NCAA indoor meet

Redshirt senior Alec Basten of the Gophers finished fifth in the 3,000-meter run on Saturday in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. His time of 7 minutes, 52.05 seconds was a program record and a personal best by four seconds.

His race was also the last one by any member of the school's indoor team. The program is being dropped after this season — one of three men's teams the university's Board of Regents voted to cut last October to save money and to stay in compliance with Title IX rules.

"I was super impressed with Alec today," said Matt Bingle, Minnesota director of track and field/cross-country. "He looked fresh. He was really locked in mentally, very in control, and very mature.

"He's just a great young man and a great teammate. I was so happy to see him do what he did. It's very well-deserved."

On the women's side, sprinter Amira Young placed eighth in the 200 (23.47). The Big Ten champion ran a career-best 23.16 seconds in Friday's preliminary heats. It was the sixth-best time that day and lowered her own program record for the fourth time this season.

Young also ran 7.32 seconds in the 60-meter semifinals on Friday, finishing 13th.

• Bethany Hasz, a redshirt senior who was second in the 5,000 on Friday, and Basten, who was seventh in the men's 5,000 the same day, received the Elite 90 awards at the meet. They are presented to the female and male student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at each NCAA's championship.

Hasz, a graduate student pursuing a master's in education in sport and exercise science, has a 4.0 GPA.

Basten is pursuing his master of science degree in kinesiology.

Senior Lexy Ramler won the balance beam with a 10 — her third perfect score in that event in college — but the No. 7 Gophers women's gymnastics team lost at Illinois 197.625 to 196.850.

"It always feels so good to nail a routine for my team and run back to all of them cheering," said Ramler, who also finished first in all-around (39.725). Mya Hooten won floor exercise (9.950) — one week after her 10 in that event — for Minnesota, which finished the regular season with a 6-3 dual-meet record, 5-3 Big Ten.

The Gophers had a team total of 49.600 on beam, led by Ramler, which tied the third-highest score in program history.

Natalie DenHartog had a bloop RBI single in the first inning and a two-run homer in the fifth as the Gophers beat Michigan State 5-3 in the first game of a doubleheader and they also won the second game 6-2 in Leesburg, Fla.

In the opener, Autumn Pease pitched six-plus innings, giving up all three runs and five hits, for the win. She struck out nine, walked two before being relieved after allowing a double in the seventh. Amber Fiser got the save.

Katelyn Kemmetmueller hit a solo homer for Minnesota and MaKenna Partain had an RBI double.

In the second game, Sara Kinch hit her second home run of the weekend, Partain went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Emily Hansen was 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run.

Fiser picked up the win, her fourth of the season. She went all seven innings, allowed two runs, one earned. She struck out four.

Minnesota (8-3) has won five straight. The Spartans dropped to 3-8.

The Gophers baseball team lost 11-8 and 7-1 to Illinois at U.S. Bank Stadium. In the first game, Minnesota (1-6) trailed 11-2 before scoring six runs in the seventh inning, its last at-bat.

Zack Raabe was 2-for-2 with a run scored for the Gophers. They used four pitchers, and the first three all gave up at least two runs.

Cam McDonald was 4-for-5 for the Illini (3-3) with three runs, two doubles and two RBI.

In the second game, the Gophers were held to four hits and scored their run on Boston Merila's RBI single.