The Gophers were back in action Friday through Sunday against the Houston Cougars, looking to build on their March 15 win against Gonzaga.

Having already hosted eight games there, U.S. Bank Stadium had begun to feel like home for Minnesota.

That feeling quickly diminished once the Gophers failed to defeat the Cougars in three games, dropping their record to 3-8 inside the Minnesota Vikings’ home stadium.

March 17

The first game of the series was a pitching duel between Tucker Novotny and Maddux Miller.
Through the first four innings of the game, there were only five hits between both teams.

The breakthrough came on an RBI groundout in the fifth inning by Ian McMillan, and Houston added another on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Bianco, making the score 2-0.

In the seventh inning, the Cougars added what became the deciding run from an RBI single from first baseman Justin Murray.

Brett Bateman made one of the best catches you will ever see, robbing Houston’s Zach Arnold of a home run. The play would be featured as the 4th best play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of Saturday.

Trailing by 2 entering the bottom of the eighth, the Gophers fought their way back into the game on the back of back-to-back home runs from Brady Counsell and Ike Mezzenga.

Those two runs were the only offense the Gophers could muster as they fell 3-2 to Houston in Game 1.

March 18

In Game 2, the Gophers were the ones to jump out to an early lead on a solo home run off the bat of Weber Neels.

Gophers ace George Klassen was on the mound and held a no-hitter through five and two-thirds innings. That would be the only offense Houston could muster against Klassen as he went seven and two-thirds innings and struck out eight hitters.

The eight strikeouts and seven and two-thirds innings pitched were career highs for Klassen, who was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.

Freshman Weber Neels hit his second homer of the day in the seventh inning, giving the Gophers a 2-0 lead.

For the second day in a row, Murray produced in the clutch for the Cougars, launching a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game.

Minnesota failed to score in the ninth, and in extras, Houston added 2 more in the top of the tenth, which proved backbreaking as the Cougars won 4-2.

March 19

Game 3 started off with a bang as Jake Perry homered in the bottom of the first inning to give Minnesota an early lead.

After a throwing error allowed the tying run to score in the top of the third, Alex Lopez singled up the middle to score 2 more and put Houston up 3-1.

The Gophers would not go away; Jake Larson doubled down the right field line, driving in Brady Jurgella, pulling the Gophers within 1.

That is as close as Minnesota would get as the Cougars tacked on 2 more in the eighth off of a sacrifice fly by Zach Arnold and a solo home run by Lopez.

Once again, the Gophers came up short and dropped the third game 5-2, Houston completing the sweep in Minneapolis.

A two-game road trip is up next for Minnesota as they take on Illinois State, looking to get back on track before Big Ten play begins.

After a dominant home stand for Gopher softball, where they won all five games, they traveled to Wichita, Kansas.

Minnesota spent last Friday in Kansas beating South Dakota State 9-5 and #23 Wichita State 5-2.

The two games in the Shocker Invite marked the beginning of a seven-game road trip for the Golden Gophers.

March 17 vs. South Dakota State

Minnesota started the weekend against the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits, who came into the game 16-12 after beating Northern Colorado in their first game of a doubleheader.

South Dakota started off strong with three extra-base hits that gave them a 3-0 lead off of Autumn Pease.

After Pease was removed early from this game, the Gophers responded by putting up 5 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Offense was the Gophers’ biggest strength, with Kayla Chavez going 2/4 with 3 RBIs and Jess Oakland hitting a 2-run home run to put the game out of reach in the late stages.

The Gophers would take Game 1 of their doubleheader by a score of 9-5 over the Jackrabbits.

March 17 vs. #23 Wichita State

The Gophers jumped to a quick 2-0 lead and never looked back against the hosts.

Natalie DenHartog had a day at the plate, going 3/4 with two home runs and 3 RBIs that propelled the Gophers to the 5-2 victory.

Minnesota ended up pitching by committee, using four pitchers in the game. The Gopher ace Pease, who came on in the sixth, got her 11th win on the season (11-3 record).

The win marked the fourth ranked victory for the Gophers in their 2023 campaign, pushing them above .500 against ranked opponents now 4-3.

Following the two wins in the doubleheader, the Gophers jumped on a plane and headed to Stillwater for the Oklahoma State Mizuno Invitational.

March 18 vs. #22 Arizona State

Another day, another doubleheader for Minnesota. Their first matchup on Saturday was against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Arizona went into the game 0-2 in the Mizuno Invitational, losing to both Central Florida and Oklahoma State.

The Sun Devils struck first, putting up three runs in the bottom of the third on a three-run shot by second baseman Jazmyn Rollin.

There was an immediate response by Minnesota, who promptly tied the game in the top of the fourth with two home runs from DenHartog and Taylor Krapf.

The long ball was key for the Gophers as Sydney Strelow would hit a clutch homer in the top of the seventh.

Strelow’s home run proved to be decisive as the Gophers went on to win 4-3 over the Sun Devils.

March 18 vs. #2 Oklahoma State

In Minnesota’s fourth game in two days, the Gophers faced a red-hot Oklahoma State team that was 23-2 coming in on a five-game win streak.

Jacie Hambrick got her second start of the weekend and went three innings, only giving up 1 unearned run before being replaced by Bri Enter.

The floodgates opened in the fifth inning when Oklahoma scored five times, making it 6-0.

Strelow continued her strong play over the weekend with a 2/2 day at the plate with a walk.

But that was a third of the offense for the Gophers, as Oklahoma’s Lexi Kilfoyl tossed a complete game shutout, helping the Cowboys to their sixth consecutive victory.

Up next for the Gophers is Big Ten play against Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, for a three-game series starting Friday at 3 p.m.

Sophomore forward Jamison Battle and junior guard Ta’Lon Cooper entered the NCAA transfer portal Thursday; Cooper also intends to pursue the NBA Draft. 

Battle and Cooper entering the portal comes after tough news about Jaden Henley and Treyton Thompson entering on Monday. The Gophers now have four open positions for next season. 

Battle, a hometown player from Robbinsdale, led the Gophers in scoring in the 2021-22 season with 17.5 points. 

He started the 2022-23 campaign with a foot injury and never regained that elite scoring ability, averaging 12.4 points and 3.8 rebounds this past season.

For Cooper, the transfer from Morehead State, the NBA Draft may be his next stop as he looks to test the waters.

In his first and only season with the Gophers, Cooper averaged 9.8 points, 4 rebounds, and 6.3 assists, ranking seventh in the nation in assists per game.

Battle and Cooper were veteran leaders on this young Minnesota roster, which included four freshmen playing regularly throughout the season.

Head Coach Ben Johnson will look for upperclassmen Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen to fill the gaps. Both Fox and Ihnen are coming off injuries that kept them sidelined all of the 2022-23 season.

The Gophers men’s basketball roster will see major turnover next season with at least four open scholarships.

Following a 9-22 season, going 2-17 in Big Ten play, the Golden Gophers will look to bring on some experienced talent moving into next season. Look for Johnson to be aggressive in his pursuit for talent in the transfer portal to fill the void left by Battle and Cooper.

This past weekend, the Gopher Indoor Classic took place at U.S. Bank Stadium, including six teams from different conferences.

Minnesota had a great weekend both at the plate and in the circle. The pitching staff shut down opposing offenses, holding opponents in the five games to only three runs total.

March 10 vs. North Dakota State

During Minnesota’s first game of the weekend, Autumn Pease tossed a complete shutout game, only allowing three hits.

Maddy Ehlke rewarded Pease’s pitching with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a double that scored Jess Oakland.

Kayla Chavez added an insurance run in the sixth inning on a double that scored leadoff hitter Natalie DenHartog.

The Gophers only managed four hits in the game, but they were enough with the incredible pitching in the circle by Pease to win 2-0.

March 11 vs. Central Michigan

Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday saw the Gophers take down Central Michigan 2-1 in style with a walk-off home run by Chavez.

Jacie Hambrick started in the circle for the Gophers, going three innings, only allowing one hit and no runs. The win would go to Pease, who came in for Bri Enter during the sixth inning and threw two scoreless innings.

The Chavez home run sparked the team as they went on to outscore their opponents 24-2 in the next three games.

March 11 vs. Idaho State

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Gophers made quick work of the Idaho Bengals, winning 9-0 in just six innings.

Ehlke repeated what she had done on Friday with a double that scored Oakland and went on to have a 2/3 day at the plate.

Minnesota got some help from its bench, as Clare Ceynowa came in as a pinch hitter and sent one over the fence for a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Shortstop Oakland had a great game at the plate, going 2/4 with a three-run home run that would end the game in the sixth inning.

All of this hitting could not outshine the master class put on by Pease in the circle, again finishing the weekend with a 3-0 record (named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week).

These successes culminated in another complete game shutout, the second of the weekend, with only one hit, no walks and 12 strikes delivered to the Bengals.

March 12 vs. Drake

The second straight day with two games for the Gophers was even better than the first. In their first matchup of the day against Drake, the Gophers won 7-2.

The Gophers jumped out to an early lead in the first on an Oakland RBI single and never looked back.

Adding six more runs over the next five innings, the Gophers built a 7-0 lead going into the final frame.

The Drake Bulldogs put up a fight, scratching in two runs in the final half-inning off of Sydney Schwartz. Coming on in relief, Schwartz wavered but never folded and guided the Gophers to their fourth victory of the Gopher Indoor Classic.

March 12 vs. St. Thomas

The final game of the 15 played in the Gopher Indoor Classic was a tale of two teams.

Going into the showdown between the two schools separated by roughly three miles, St. Thomas came in 0-4, while the Gophers held a record of 4-0.

The result was a to-be-expected Maroon & Gold domination, the Gophers winning in just five innings by a score of 8-0 off the back of three home runs from Ehlke, Breezy Burnett and Oakland.

Hambrick tossed her second victory in her second game of the day, this one better than the first, a complete game shutout, only allowing one hit.

Chavez continued her stellar weekend with a 3/3 performance that included an RBI double in the second inning scoring Amani Bradley.

Next up for the Gophers is a road trip to Kansas to play in the Wichita State Tournament starting on Friday — a crucial five games, which lead directly into conference play the following week against Northwestern.

Lindsay Whalen will be stepping down as head coach of the University of Minnesota women’s basketball program after five seasons coaching the Gophers, the University announced Thursday.

Whalen will be a special assistant to the athletic director until April 12, 2025.

“I want to thank Mark [Coyle] and the University for giving me the opportunity to lead this program five years ago,” Whalen said in a press release Thursday. “We did things the right way and created a lot of memories, but now is the right time for me to step aside and return to being a proud alum. I look forward to supporting and cheering on the next head coach.”

The Gophers’ 2022-23 season concluded Wednesday when they lost to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at the Target Center.

In Whalen’s five seasons, the Gophers went 71-76 overall, and 32-58 in Big Ten play. She leaves behind a young roster with plenty of talent, headlined by their 2023 recruiting class, which ranked best in program history.

Freshman guard Mara Braun led the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game. In addition, freshman point guard Amaya Battle broke the freshman single-season assists record (133). The class of 2023-24 included players like Dominika Paurová, North Carolina State transfer Sophie Hart and Maple Grove local Kennedy Klick.

Whalen had a serious impact on Minnesota basketball when she was a player, having led the Gophers to their first Final Four in 2004 as a player and putting together a Hall-Fame WNBA career for the Minnesota Lynx. She was even inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2022.

The search for the 13th head coach in Gophers women’s basketball program history is expected to begin immediately.

“I want to hire somebody that fits our culture and what I mean by that is, we talk all the time about, again, doing it right — Minnesota matters,” said University of Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle. “I want somebody who understands and will do things the right way … most importantly provide a first class experience to our student athletes.”

After a rough start to the season in Arizona, the Gophers headed to Fort Myers for a three-game series with St. Louis, a series in which the Gophers would not come out on top.

The extended road trip proved detrimental to Minnesota as the hitting never got going for the Gophers. Before the bottom of the 9th inning of game three, the Gophers trailed 30-6 overall in runs scored.

Feb. 24 vs. St. Louis

The Gophers jumped out to their only lead of the series in the first inning of Game 1. After St. Louis pitcher Dawson Smith retired the first two runners, Minnesota strung together three hits and scored twice, making it 2-0.

Junior shortstop Ike Mezzinga was one of the few bright spots for the Gophers in the game, going 3-4 from the plate with an RBI. No other Gopher had more than one hit, leaving five runners stranded on seven hits, resulting in a tough day at plate for Minnesota.

Minnesota kept the game close going into the seventh inning, tied at 2. The Gophers RHP Caden Capomaccio got into a bit of a jam after allowing a double to Knox Preston and hitting the next batter. With two on and only one out in the top of the seventh, St. Louis right fielder Patrick Clohisy sent one over the right field wall for a three-run home run.

The deficit proved too much for the Gophers to overcome and they fell 6-3 to St. Louis in Game 1 of the series.

Feb. 25 vs. St. Louis

In the second game, the course was different. Minnesota quickly fell behind in the second inning, and St. Louis never looked back. It was another game where the Gophers out-hit their opponents but stranded too many runners (12).

Trailing 3-1 going into the fourth inning, the Gophers received much needed help from the long ball. Sam Hunt sent a pitch from Caleb Thomson over the left field wall to bring the Gophers within a run.

It was a solid day for juniors Brett Bateman and Boston Merila, who both provided offensive help. Bateman went 2-4 at the plate with two RBIs, while Merila added a 3-4 performance from the dish, scoring once.

Minnesota had to use five different pitchers, surrendering eight runs. Those five pitchers only managed seven strikeouts over the entire game. It was a rough night on the bump for the Gophers as they would fall 8-3, effectively losing the series.

Feb. 26 vs. St. Louis

On the final day of the road trip, Minnesota was looking for its first win of the season. The result was not what they were hoping for, trailing from the jump after allowing a single to Cole Smith in the top of the first inning.

The scoring for St. Louis did not stop there, as they would tack on four more at the top of the fourth. In the inning, the St. Louis Billikins managed three hits and two walks, causing the Gophers to go to their bullpen early. Gopher George Klassen finished his second start of the year with a stat line of three earned runs allowed and five walks in just three innings pitched.

The beating continued in the top of the ninth innings, where the Billikins scored nine runs. St. Louis only needed seven hits to get nine runs because the Gophers hit four batters in the inning.

After absorbing all that punishment and trailing 16-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, Minnesota showed great heart. In the final frame, the Gophers managed to get all nine runs back with a little help from the Billikens, who had two errors in the inning. It wasn’t enough though, as St. Louis completed the sweep, finishing the game off with a 16-9 victory.

Minnesota, now 0-7, will be back in action at U.S. Bank Stadium on Wednesday against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. It’s back to the drawing board for Head Coach John Anderson, who will look to get Minnesota its first win against the Panthers.

Minnesota started the 2023 baseball season in Surprise, Arizona, against some difficult competition.

The Gophers lost all four games they participated in during the 2023 Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic Friday through Monday. They faced New Mexico, No. 14 University of California-Santa Barbara (ranked No. 14/RV nationally) and No. 18 Oregon State, according to Baseball America’s rankings.

Feb. 17 vs. UC-Santa Barbara

The first game featured a matchup against the University of California-Santa Barbara, who came into the season ranked 14th in the country.

The Gophers’ outfield went 6-13 from the plate driving in three of the team’s seven runs. Kris Hokenson, the freshman right fielder, started his Minnesota career scoring twice.

The Gophers needed more production, though, as they ultimately fell to the Gauchos 7-9.

Feb. 18 vs. Oregon State

Following the season-opening loss, the Gophers received an immediate chance at redemption, facing off against Oregon State. It was another tough matchup for the Gophers as they trailed the entirety of the game, even though they managed to out-hit the Beavers 13-5.

The star of the game for the Gophers once again came from the outfield as junior center fielder Brett Bateman went 4-5 and scored twice.

Going into the top of the seventh inning, Minnesota trailed 8-2. The Gophers managed to cut the lead to one, scoring five runs to make it interesting in the closing stages.

Despite their best efforts, the Beavers halted the Gophers’ late-inning rally, and Ryan Brown registered his first save of the season for Oregon State.

Feb. 19 vs. UC-Santa Barbara

The Gophers never got going during the second game in three days against the Gauchos. After putting up a valiant effort in their first matchup, this time, Santa Barbara took the lead early on and never looked back, winning the game 13-2.

For UC-Santa Barbara, Ivan Brethowr went a perfect 4-4 from the plate, in addition to two walks and an RBI.

On the other side, in a loss like this, one of the main things Minnesota can see as a positive is the plate discipline. Minnesota drew 11 walks in the game, which helped get runners on base, but the Gophers stranded 13 in the loss.

Feb. 20 vs. New Mexico

In their final game of the Classic, Minnesota took on New Mexico. Heading into the game, New Mexico held a 2-1 record, having beaten Oregon State and Santa Barbara.

After a great day on the hill from both teams, Lenny Junior Ashby launched a pitch from Seth Clausen over the right field fence for a two-run home run, giving the Lobos a 3-2 lead. Although the Gophers outhit the Lobos 14-12, they lost on a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Sean Stephens became the hero for New Mexico after coming on as a pinch runner; he got the hit that sealed a 4-3 win over Minnesota in extra innings.

The Golden Gophers will look to turn their season around in Fort Myers, Florida, where they will face off against St. Louis in a three-game series starting Friday.