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University of Minnesota Athletics
Baseball Slips to Michigan in Ninth, 4-3
4/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
True freshman Tim Theis took the loss in relief, falling to 1-1 on the year.
For the second consecutive game, junior Luke Appert belted a two-out home run in the bottom of the first inning to spark the Golden Gopher offense. It was Appert's sixth round tripper of the season, and it put Minnesota up 1-0. Senior Jason Kennedy stole second base, after drawing a walk; then, senior Scott Howard ripped a double down the right field line, scoring Kennedy, and giving the Maroon and Gold a 2-0 cushion after one inning of play.
Michigan cut the lead in half on Brandon Jominy's solo home run to left in the second inning. For Jominy, it was the first home run of his career.
Senior Chris Guetzlaff lined a one-out single into right field to get on base in the fourth inning, then moved up to second on a passed ball by catcher Alex Coleman. Senior Jeremy Beaulieu brought Guetzlaff around with a double into the left-center field gap, giving Minnesota a 3-1 lead after four. That was the last hit the Golden Gopher offense would manage until the eighth inning.
Minnesota pitching held the Wolverine offense scoreless for four-plus innings, but a one-out triple by Matt Butler, followed by a turf single to first by Gino Lollio brought Michigan back within one. Butler finished the day 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple.
Minnesota had an opportunity to extend its lead again in the bottom of the eighth inning. Appert began with a double into right-center field, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Kennedy lifted a fly ball to right that appeared to be a routine sacrifice fly, but Lillio's throw home was right on the mark, and Appert was called out at the plate to keep the score at 3-2.
Down 3-2 in the top of the ninth inning, Michigan put runners on first and second with one out. Theis then caught Lollio looking on strike three for the second out of the inning, but the runners advanced to second and third on the double steal. Wuerful stepped in to pinch hit for Mike Sokol, and knocked a single into left field, scoring both runners and giving Michigan a 4-3 lead.
Minnesota could not respond in the lower half of the ninth inning, and dropped to 5-3 in the conference with the loss.
Sophomore Jay Gagner started the game for the Golden Gophers, going five innings and striking out a career-high eight batters. Gagner allowed just one earned run in the no decision, dropping his ERA to a team-low 3.38.
Appert led the Maroon and Gold offense with his two extra-base hits. The second baseman finished the weekend with a .385 average (5-for-13) with a double, a triple and two home runs. He slugged 1.077 and racked up 14 total bases.
Minnesota (13-15, 5-3) will be on the road all of next week, heading to 12th-ranked Nebraska for a midweek game, then to State College, Pa. to take on Penn State in continuing Big Ten action. For complete game information and up-to-the-minute stats, log onto www.GopherSports.com.
