University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNESOTA ADVANCES TO NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN WACO
5/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baylor's Jason Jennings, college baseball's national player of the year, scattered nine hits and went the distance in a 6-4 win over Minnesota in the winners' bracket in the NCAA Regional at Waco Saturday afternoon.
Jennings (13-1) fell behind 2-0 in the second inning as Aron Amundson homered and Mike Arlt produced an RBI single.
But the Bears tied it up in the third when Preston Underdown tripled and scored on a passed ball and Mark Cogdill scored Brewer on a ground ball to the infield.
That started a string of five straight innings in which Baylor scored. By the seventh, BU led 6-3.
The Golden Gophers added a run in the eighth, but Jennings shut the door in the ninth.
Bear third baseman Preston Underdown went 3-for-3 with run scored. Mark Cogdill notched two RBI for the Bears. BU first baseman Matt Williams hit a towering homerun over the leftfield wall in the fourth.
Minnesota center fielder Arlt went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Chadd Clarey (7-3) took the loss while throwing 4 2/3 innings and yielding six hits and four runs. Dan McGrath came on for 1 1/3 innings of relief work and gave up three hits and a run. Vince Gangl was victimized for three hits and a run in two innings of pitching.
In the night's elimination game against Eastern Illinois, Minnesota, down three heading into the bottom of the first, exploded for 11 runs as the Golden Gophers sent 15 men to the plate. Quinlan capped the onslaught with a three-run home run.
The 11-3 lead was short-lived as the Panthers scored four runs in the second and two more in the third off of Gopher starter Kelly Werner. The junior lefty lasted just 2.2 innings with nine runs on nine hits allowed. Persby came in and closed the door.
In 5.1 innings of relief, he allowed just one run on seven hits with a career-high nine strikeouts.
With a tenuous 11-10 lead, the Golden Gophers finally gave Persby some run support with four runs, including a three-run blast from Quinlan in the sixth.
Junior Frank Wagner closed things out in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
With the victory, the Golden Gophers will face Baylor tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. Minnesota will need a pair of victories over the Bears to advance to next week's Super Regional. All of the action can be heard live
