University of Minnesota Athletics
Baseball Defeats Northern Iowa 10-5
4/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when the Golden Gophers loaded the bases, and Jake Elder (Delta, British Columbia) reached on an error by the shortstop to bring home Sam Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.). It marked the 20th time in 37 games this season that the Golden Gophers scored in the first inning.
Northern Iowa came right back in the bottom of the first inning to take 2-1 lead when Adam Boeve brought home two runs on a single to rightfield. Minnesota struck back in the top of the third with three runs to go up 4-2. Luke Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn.) walked to lead off the inning, followed by a single by Scott Welch (Missoula, Mon.). Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) then delivered a three-run homer, his third in the last five games to give Minnesota the 4-2 lead.
The Panthers cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning on a two-out RBI single by Armando Lara. Hunter came through again for Minnesota in the top of fourth with an RBI single, which brought home Ben Pattee (Ukiah, Calif.) to make it 5-3.
Northern Iowa cut the lead down to one run again at 5-4 when Sean LaCoste singled home Adam Boeve in the bottom of the fifth inning. Minnesota went up 6-4 in the top of the seventh when David Roach (Clearwater, Fla.) doubled home Matt Fornasiere (Maple Grove, Minn.). The Panthers cut the score to 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Boeve scored on a fielder's choice groundout by LaCoste.
Minnesota added four insurance runs in the top of the ninth to go up 10-5. Welch doubled to lead off the top of the ninth inning and came around to make it 7-5 when Hunter reached on an error. The Golden Gophers scored three more runs on an RBI single by David Hrncirik (Madison, Wis.) that made it 8-5 and a double by Steidl that brought home two runs to make it 10-5.
Andy Peters (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) pitched three innings of relief and gave up one earned run to pick up the win and move to 2-0 on the season. Tyler Rutherford took the loss in relief for Northern Iowa to fall to 1-1.
Minnesota was led offensively by Welch who was five for five with two runs. Steidl was four for five with two RBI and one run, while Hunter was two for four with four RBI and one run.
The Golden Gophers will travel to Bloomington, Ind. to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in a four-game Big Ten series. That series will start on Friday, Apr. 25 at 2 p.m., the doubleheader will take place on Saturday, Apr. 26 at 12 noon and the teams will wrap up the series on Sunday, Apr. 27 at 12 p.m.
