Four homers, two by Taylor Krapf, power Gophers softball to 10th straight victory

Sophomore catcher Taylor Krapf hit two three-run home runs for six RBI and freshman shortstop Jess Oakland had a double, homer and four RBI to lead the Gophers softball team to a 13-10 victory over Michigan on Saturday.

It was the 10th straight win for Minnesota (35-16, 16-6 Big Ten).

Freshman Sydney Schwartz (2-1) got the victory in relief. The righthander pitched 3 ⅔ shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Senior center fielder Natalie DenHartog also hit a home run for the Gophers.

Krapf leads Minnesota with 14 homers, Oakland has 13 and DenHartog 12 for a career total of 70.

Ellie Mataya went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Wolverines (10-12, 26-23), who fell behind 9-1 after two innings but rallied to lead 10-9 after 3 ½ innings.

The Gophers' second victory over Michigan clinched them their first series win over the Wolverines since 2012.

Brady Counsell's two-run double in the eighth inning was the big hit as the Gophers rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to beat Michigan 4-2 in college baseball at Seibert Field.

After a bases-loaded walk to Boston Merila brought in the first run, Counsell's hit put Minnesota (14-30, 7-10 Big Ten) ahead 3-2. Ike Mezzenga had a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

Reliever Seth Clausen escaped from a bases-loaded, one-out jam against the Wolverines (22-22, 9-8) in the ninth.

Minnesota Duluth routed top-seeded Augustana 9-0 on Laura Dixon's four-hitter in the championship game of the NSIC softball tournament in Rochester.

The title was UMD's first since 2002.

Kat Burkhardt hit a two-run homer for the Bulldogs (40-11) in the first inning and Nicole Schmitt hit another two-run homer in the second.

The Vikings (39-15) reached the final by beating St. Cloud State 4-3 in a game suspended from Friday night by lightning.