Minnesota won by scores of 7-2 and 12-1 to improve to 43-8 on the season.
MADISON, Wis. -- No. 13 Minnesota swept Border Battle rival Wisconsin in a doubleheader Wednesday at Goodman Diamond. The Gophers won the first game 7-2 before routing the Badgers 12-1 in five innings in Game No. 2.
At 19-1, the Maroon and Gold has set a new school record for road wins and evened its all-time series record with UW at 23 wins apiece. The team is now 43-8 on the year with a 17-3 mark in the Big Ten.
Kaitlyn Richardson got Minnesota on the board early in the first game with a two-run double, the school-record 62nd of her career, in the top of the first. Wisconsin got one run back in the bottom of the inning, but the Gophers answered right back in the second with RBIs by Danielle Parlich and Sara Groenewegen.
A UW solo home run in the fourth cut Minnesota's lead to 4-2, but starting pitcher Sara Groenewegen did not allow any more Badger runs. The Gophers added three runs in the seventh, thanks in part to a two-run home run by Taylor LeMay, to cap the scoring for the game.
Groenewegen fanned 13 batters to up her season strikeout total to 298. She is now 26-4 on the year.
After Minnesota staked itself to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the second game, Groenewegen doubled her team's cushion with a two-run home run in the second and a solo homer in the fourth. She now has a team-leading 12 long balls on the year and has 23 for her career, slotting her in a tie with Kari Dorle for fifth in program history.
The fourth inning saw the Gophers score three more runs, including one off a Madie Eckstrom double, to make it 9-0. The Maroon and Gold tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth before the Badgers got on the board with a run in the bottom of the frame. Minnesota now has 19 run-rule wins on the year.
Nikki Anderson pitched a complete game, allowing one unearned run on four hits to improve to 9-2.
