University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Baseball Defeats Oklahoma State 7-6
2/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Freshman Brian Bull (Omaha, Neb.) picked up his first collegiate win by pitching five and a third innings of relief and only giving up two earned runs. Freshman Matt Fornasiere (Maple Grove, Minn.) also shined as he went three for four with three RBI, while redshirt freshman Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) also drove in two runs on the night.
Minnesota knocked out Oklahoma State ace Scott Baker early as he pitched three and a third innings and gave up seven runs to take the loss and drop to 1-2.
For the third time in four games Minnesota got going early by scoring in the first inning. Fornasiere singled home Scott Welch (Missoula, Mon.) to put the Golden Gophers up 1-0.
Minnesota struck again in the third inning with three runs to go up 4- 0. Welch started out the inning with a double and came around to score three batters later on a sacrifice fly by Fornasiere. With two outs and men on first and second, Hunter tripled to centerfield to score Luke Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn.) and David Roach (Clearwater, Fla.).
Oklahoma State answered with three runs in the bottom of the third inning to make it 4-3. The Cowboys put together five straight hits, including an RBI single by Ryan Olivo, an RBI triple by Jose Virgil and an RBI single by Josh Fields.
Minnesota came right back with three runs in the top of the fourth to extend the lead to 7-3. The inning begin when Jon Becker (Plato, Minn.) drew a walk and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sam Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.) that was thrown away for an error. Welch knocked in Becker with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to make the score 5-3. Steidl came around on an RBI single by Appert to make it 6- 3. After a Ben Pattee (Ukiah, Calif.) double, Fornasiere knocked in his third RBI with single that brought home Appert to make it 7-3.
Oklahoma State drew closer in the bottom of the fifth inning on a John Urick home run that cut the Minnesota lead to 7-5. The Cowboys trimmed the lead to 7-6 on a pinch-hit RBI single Mario Matulich.
The Golden Gophers were led by Fornasiere who was three for four with three RBI in his second collegiate start. Appert was three for four with an RBI and two runs, while Welch was two for three with a double, two runs and one RBI.
Oklahoma State was led by John Urick who was two for three with a home run and two RBI. Josh Fields was also one for three with one RBI.
Minnesota will host the Dairy Queen Classic Feb. 28 through Mar. 2. The Golden Gophers will play No. 7 Wake Forest in the first game of the Dairy Queen Classic on Friday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m. On March 1, Minnesota will play No. 11 Notre Dame at 2 p.m. in a game that will be telecast by Fox Sports Net North. The Golden Gophers will finish up the tournament against No. 19 Nebraska on Sunday, Mar. 2.
