DeBoer, Burdick power Washington softball to 8-6 win over Minnesota

After a tough weekend in Palo Alto, California, where they lost three of four, the Washington Huskies returned to Big Ten play and rebounded nicely on Friday night in an 8-6 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

In the win, coach Heather Tarr's team was led by star first baseman Alexis DeBoer, who powered Washington's offense just as she has all season long. On a 2-for-4 day with 4 runs batted in, the Preseason Second Team All-American opened the scoring by mashing a three-run home run to dead center in the third inning, her 13th of the year, before giving the Huskies some breathing room in the sixth with a run-scoring single.

Then in the fourth inning, the Huskies took advantage of a pair of Minnesota errors to create some breathing room. With two runners on, freshman center fielder Kaycie Burdick slapped an RBI single into center field when chaos ensued, as first baseman Maggie Warner cut the ball off and tried to throw out Marley Teasley at third base, but threw the ball away, which allowed both Teasley and Burdick to come around and score to give the Huskies a 7-2 lead at the time.

For Burdick, her impressive first year on Montlake continued, as she went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored.

It wasn't ace Morgan Reimer's sharpest day in the circle, as the sophomore let up 6 runs on 7 hits, including a two-run home run in the fifth inning to catcher Cassie Johnson, with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings, but she still did more than enough to earn her nation-leading 21st win of the season before giving way to Sophia Ramuno. The senior slammed the door shut over the final 1 1/3 innings, letting up a pair of hits but striking out 3 to seal the win.

Sydney Schwartz took the loss for Minnesota and dropped to 10-10 on the year, after allowing 7 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits with a walk and 4 strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings.

With the win, the Huskies improved to 32-9 on the year and remained perfect in Big Ten play at 13-0. They'll look to seal the series on Saturday, April 11, at 5:00 p.m. PT.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: DeBoer, Burdick lead Washington Huskies in 8-6 win over Minnesota