Gophers Earn Homecoming Win, Twins Rout Rockies

The Minnesota Twins secured their final series win of the regular season in Colorado, the Gopher football team put on a good show on the way to a homecoming win over Louisiana, the St. Cloud Norsemen shut out the Wings to split the weekend series, and the St. John's football team held off the Auggies for a close win in Minneapolis on Saturday. Meanwhile, the NDSU football team lost their homecoming game to South Dakota and the Granite City Lumberjacks got swept up by West Bend. On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings will look for their first win when they face the Panthers on the road.

RECAPS:

- The Twins earned the series win with a 14-6 defeat of the Rockies on Saturday. Neither team scored in the opening inning, but an RBI double from Matt Wallner and an RBI single from Christian Vázquez put Minnesota up 2-0 in the second. The Twins extended their lead to 6-0 in the third with a grand slam from Trevor Larnach. That marks the eighth grand slam for the team this season, tying the program record set in 1961. The Twins did not stop there, adding five to their total in the sixth, and three more in the seventh. Edouard Julien hit an RBI double and a two-run homer run, Max Kepler knocked out a three-run homer, and Wallner added a solo bomb to put Minnesota up 14-0. Colorado found some momentum in the bottom of the seventh, hitting three home runs to close the gap to 14-4. The Rockies continued their rally in the eighth, scoring two more runs, but still could not catch up to Minnesota. The Twins improve to 87-74 and will close out the series against Colorado (58-103) in the regular season finale on Sunday. Pre-game coverage starts at 1:00 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM KXSS.

- The Norsemen shut out Aberdeen 4-0 in game two to earn the weekend series split at home Saturday night. Gavin Gunderson and Niklas Miller each netted one for St. Cloud in the first period to give the home team a 2-0 advantage. Lucca Munoz scored in the second and again in the third to round out the win. Ryan Manzella made a perfect 18 saves to earn the shut out. The Norsemen improve to 3-2-1-1 and hop up to third place in the Central Division. The team will return to action on Friday when they host the first-place Bruins in game one of a home-and-home series. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The short-handed Gophers rallied from an early deficit to beat Louisiana 35-24 in front of a homecoming crowd Saturday. There were three lead changes in the first half of the game. The Ragin' Cajuns struck first, scoring a touchdown early in the first quarter, and Minnesota tied it up 7-7 eight minutes later. Louisiana pushed ahead again with a field goal in the second. Midway through the quarter, Minnesota scored another touchdown to secure their first lead of the day, 14-10, but the Ragin' Cajuns reclaimed the advantage 17-14 with a touchdown heading into the break. The Gophers scored touchdown number three in the third quarter and gave themselves a lead they never let go. Athan Kaliakmanis completed 12 of 14 for 146 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He was sacked once and added ten carries for 17 yards and a rushing touchdown. The Gophers improve to 3-2 and will stay home next week to host Michigan (5-0). Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The no. 7 Johnnies outlasted Augsburg to win 27-24 on the road Saturday. The Auggies put the first points on the board, scoring a touchdown, but missing the point-after to push out to 6-0 late in the first quarter. SJU scored their first touchdown in the second quarter and did not miss the PAT, taking the lead 7-6. The Johnnies found the endzone again in the second to lead 14-6 at the half. The Auggies came out swinging in the third. They scored their second touchdown, but missed the two-point conversion attempt, failing to tie, but successfully cutting SJU's lead to 14-12. St. John's also scored in the third but missed a kick of their own to lead 20-12 going into the final frame. Augsburg scored a touchdown early in the fourth and once again went for the tying two-point conversion, but the Johnnies intercepted the pass to hold the score at 20-18. St. John's extended their lead to 27-18 with another touchdown two minutes later. With less than four minutes to go, the Auggies found the endzone again and missed another kick but closed the gap to 27-24. The Johnnies got the ball back with 3:39 remaining and wound out the clock to earn the win. Aaron Syverson completed 25 of 37 for 367 yards and four touchdowns. Dylan Wheeler had eight catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. The Johnnies improve to 3-1 and will return home next week to host Concordia College (2-2). Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday in Collegeville.

- The no. 2 Bison suffered their first loss of the season 24-19 at the hands of homecoming spoiler South Dakota on Saturday. NDSU played catch-up all day long with USD scoring a field goal in the opening quarter and then running away with the lead after that. The Coyotes' defense held the Bison to fewer than 20 points for the first time all season. Cam Miller completed 18 fo 25 for 159 yards, one touchdown, and one interception and added 12 carries for 65 yards. Cole Payton had eight carries for 19 yards and a touchdown. The Bison fall to 3-1 and will hit the road Saturday to face Missouri State (1-3). Pre-game coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM KXSS.

- The Lumberjacks got swept by West Bend with a 2-1 road loss on Saturday. The Power took a 1-0 lead in the opening period. Granite City responded with a goal from Ashton Ericksen in the second to tie it up 1-1. West Bend lit the lamp again in the third to scoop up the win. Sam Schowalter made 19 saves and allowed two goals in the loss. The Jacks fall to 2-2-0-1 and will return home next week to host the Loons. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

PREVIEWS:

- The Vikings (0-3) will look to earn their first win of the season when they face the Panthers (0-3) on Sunday afternoon. Both teams are hungry for a victory. There are some question marks for personnel on both sides, especially when it comes to Minnesota's banged-up offensive line. Lewis Cine has been ruled out for the Vikings, but Garrett Bradbury and Marcus Davenport are both listed as questionable and could make their returns following early season injuries. For the Panthers, Xavier Woods is out, and Frankie Luvu, Jonathan Mingo, and Miles Sanders are all listed as questionable. The matchup marks the first time Adam Thielen will face the Vikings. He played for Minnesota for ten years before being released and signing with Carolina in the offseason. Pre-game coverage starts at 11:00 a.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.