The Gophers softball team lost 1-0 to No. 6 Alabama on Friday night in Tuscaloosa when the Crimson Tide scratched for a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Junior righthander Amber Fiser gave up only four hits and struck out five in taking the loss.
Alabama (12-0) got a leadoff single in the seventh, moved the runner to second on a sacrifice bunt and, with two outs, got the runner home on a single to center. Minnesota only had two hits.
The Gophers (5-4) will play Alabama again at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Before facing the Crimson Tide on Friday, the Gophers beat Louisiana-Monroe 5-0 on senior Sydney Smith's three-hitter. She struck out five. Catcher Emma Burns hit two solo homers and left fielder Natalie DenHartog hit a two-run shot. Both of those players are freshman. MaKenna Partain had a triple in the second inning to drive in the first two runs.
Gophers diver wins
Diver Sarah Bacon of the Gophers won the 3-meter event on the third day of the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Bloomington, Ind. Bacon's 430.60 total was a meet and program record.
Three other Gophers earned bronze medals. Tevyn Waddell was third in the 100 butterfly (52:00), Chantal Nack in the 200 freestyle (1:43.70) and Lindsey Kozelsky in the 100 breaststroke (58.96).
The Gophers were in fourth place with 657 points going into Day 4. Indiana was in first place with 938.5 points, followed by Michigan with 827.5 and Ohio State with 779.
U thrower places second
Tess Keyzers of the Gophers took second place in the weight throw (69 feet, 9½ inches) at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. Twin sisters Bethany and Megan Hasz took fourth and fifth in the 3,000 meters, Bethany in 9:26.04 and Megan in 9:27.48.
Etc.
• The Gophers baseball team lost 9-0 to host Dallas Baptist. Minnesota (1-4) had only six hits and committed five errors.
• The St. Cloud State wrestling team, which won its eighth straight NSIC regular-season championship, has six team members on the first all-conference team: senior Travis Swanson (141 pounds), junior James Pleski (149), junior Kolton Eischens (174), senior Chance Helmick (184), senior Vince Dietz (197) and freshman Zach Muller (heavyweight). The Huskies will compete in the Division II Super Regional V meet Saturday in Moorhead, Minn.
