An early-season upset of the No. 10 team in the country has put the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-9) softball team on the map.
It happened Thursday night when they went to Clemson (12-5) and split a doubleheader with the 10th-ranked Tigers – and the Gophers did it in dramatic fashion.
Trailing 3-2 in the seventh inning, Minnesota forced extra innings on an RBI single from junior Taylor Krapf to tie the game at 3-3. Then in the ninth inning, Minnesota scored twice on RBI singles from Maddy Ehlke and Breezy Burnett for the 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth the Gophers held on for the win, with senior right-hander Bri Enter striking out the final batter to end the game and secure the upset.
Clemson would win the second game of the doubleheader 3-1.
Minnesota is participating in the Tiger Invitational, which is hosted by Clemson in South Carolina. The Gophers wrap up the invitational on Friday against Longwood University.
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