University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Sweeps Four-Game Series from Purdue; Loberg Pitches Shutout
5/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Golden Gophers also moved to 19-3 in Big Ten play gaining a game on Ohio State, who lost to Michigan to fall to 15-9 in conference play. Minnesota now leads the Big Ten by five games heading into the final two weeks of conference play.
Loberg gave up only seven hits, walked one and struck out four to pick up the complete game victory. Over his past 15 innings (two games) Loberg has not given up an earned run. With the win he moved to 5-1 on the season.
Minnesota scored in the first inning for the 25th time in 46 games. Scott Welch (Missoula) delivered an RBI double, and Gary Dick (Grand Rapids, Minn.) brought him home with an RBI single to make the score 2-0.
The game remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when Dick and David Roach (Clearwater, Fla.) sandwiched RBI singles around David Hrncirik's RBI triple to give the Golden Gophers a 5-0 lead. Dick hit a two-run homer, his second of the season, in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 7-0.
In the bottom of the eighth Minnesota finished its scoring for the game with RBI singles by Welch and Jon Becker (Plato, Minn.), along with an RBI double by freshman Luke MacLean (Bloomington, Minn.) to push the score to 10-0.
Minnesota starters pitched complete games in three of the four Golden Gophers' wins this week, and pitched 31 of a possible 32 innings this weekend. Purdue starter Daniel Underwood pitched four and two thirds innings and gave up five runs to take the loss and drop to 0-2 on the season.
Dick led the way for Minnesota offensively going three for four with a home run, two runs and a career-high tying four RBI. Welch was three for four with three runs and two RBI. Sam Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.) also had three hits on the day for the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota will play Lakeland College on Monday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. and St. Thomas on Tuesday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. in a pair of midweek games at Siebert Field. The Golden Gophers will then head to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes in a four-game Big Ten series. That series will begin Friday, May 9 at 6 p.m. The doubleheader will be played on Saturday, May 10 at 4 p.m. and the final game will be on Sunday, May 11 at 1 p.m.
