Huskers Fall in Game Two at No. 24 Minnesota

After being shut out over the first three innings, No. 24 Minnesota scored nine times over its final three at bats en route to a 9-0 six-inning victory over the Nebraska softball team in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader in Minneapolis.
 
Minnesota (22-5) picked up its eighth straight win behind a second straight shutout. First-team All-American Amber Fiser, who gave up seven runs on Friday, tossed 5.0 shutout innings on Saturday, allowing only two hits while improving to 10-4 on the season.
 
Freshman Kaylin Kinney (0-1), making her third career start, allowed four runs (three earned) in a career-high 4.0 innings for Nebraska (14-13). Junior Karlee Seevers allowed two runs in 1.0 inning of work and freshman Caitlynn Neal was charged with three runs in one-third of an inning. 
 
Offensively, Kinney was 1-for-2 with double to produce one of Nebraska’s two hits. Senior Cam Ybarra had a single to account for the Huskers’ other hit.
 
Nebraska had a chance to grab the lead in the top of the third inning. Kinney led off with a double and junior Anni Raley followed with a hard grounder up the middle. Minnesota shortstop Carlie Brandt made a nice diving stop to retire Raley at first, but Kinney aggressively advanced to third on the play. But Kinney was stranded there after the next two Huskers were retired.
 
Minnesota also stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the third, before Nebraska stranded a runner at second base in the top of the fourth.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, a two-out single, a walk and a wild pitch put Gophers on second and third for Brandt. On a 2-2 pitch, Kinney certainly appeared to have struck out Brandt looking – especially after Husker freshman Billie Andrews was called out on a similar pitch in the top of half of the inning – but the pitch was ruled a ball. The count then went full and Brandt fouled off two more pitches before lining a two-run double to the wall in left center. Following a walk, an error allowed a third run to score as Minnesota pushed its lead to 3-0.
 
Kinney walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth which marked the end of her day. Seevers was greeted by a bloop single to right before Sara Kinch hit a three-run homer to left to double the Gophers’ lead to 6-0. But Seevers bounced back and got out of the inning without any further damage.
 
Nebraska was retired on just four pitches in the top of the sixth inning before Minnesota wrapped up the win in the bottom of the frame on a walk, an infield single and a walk-off three-run homer from Big Ten home run leader Natalie DenHartog.