University of Minnesota Athletics
2005 Season in Review
11/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Individually five Golden Gophers claimed Big Ten conference honors led by senior David Hrncirik, who became the first Minnesota third baseman since Jack Hannahan in 2001 to capture First-Team All-Big Ten honors. Senior starting pitcher Matt Loberg and junior shortstop Matt Fornasiere claimed second-team honors, while junior first baseman Andy Hunter and sophomore closer John Gaub were third-team honorees.
Minnesota opened the season with a tough one-run loss to No. 21 Arkansas. The Golden Gophers led the opener 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Razorbacks took a 4-3 lead. Minnesota tied it at 4-4, before Arkansas scored in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 5-4 victory. The Golden Gophers dropped the middle game of the series 12-3. In the series finale, Minnesota rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to tie the game, but lost a second one-run game 4-3 to get swept by the Razorbacks.
The Golden Gophers won their first game of the year by posting a shutout against New Orleans 7-0 in the first game of the Dairy Queen Classic. Loberg pitched seven shutout innings in his first start of the season to help give Minnesota the victory. Minnesota carried that momentum into the next game of the Dairy Queen Classic when it took a 3-0 lead over No. 5 South Carolina in its second game of the tournament. However, the Gamecocks turned the tables on the Golden Gophers snapping Minnesota’s four-game winning streak (dating back to 2004) in the tournament with a 13-6 win over the Golden Gophers. Minnesota dropped the final game of the tournament to Pepperdine 15-2 to fall to 1-5 on the season.
Minnesota bounced back to defeat St. John’s 4-2 behind a strong start from Loberg and sophomore Mike Mee</ a>’s first home run of the season. The Golden Gophers trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the eighth in their next game against No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette, but came up with two runs to tie the game at 2-2. However, Minnesota missed a couple of scoring opportunities to take the lead on the way to a 3-2 10-inning loss to the Ragin Cajuns. The Golden Gophers finished the weekend off with a 9-1 loss at the hands of Harvard.
The Golden Gophers regained some momentum with a pair of midweek victories over Minnesota-Duluth (10-6) and St. Cloud State (6-0) before getting swept at home by Rutgers. The final game of the series saw Minnesota drop its fourth straight one-run game 7-6 to the Scarlet Knights.
Minnesota rebounded to win two of three the next weekend against Butler. In the series opener, Loberg took a shutout into the ninth inning and combined with Gary Perinar to record the third shutout of the season for the Golden Gophers at 7-0 over the Bulldogs. After dropping a 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs in the middle game, the Golden Gophers found themselves trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the third inning. However, Mee delivered a three-run homer to tie it at 3-3 and Minnesota moved on to win 9-4 to claim the series.
The Golden Gophers claimed a midweek game to move their record to 8-11. Minnesota raised the level of their play to start Big Ten play, as the three-time defending Big Ten regular-season champions swept No. 19 Michigan in a four-game series at the Metrodome. In the first game of the series, Loberg outdueled eventual 2005 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Jim Brauer to help lead Minnesota to a 1-0 victory. The Golden Gophers followed their first one-run victory of the year with another one when they defeated the Wolverines 3-2 in extra innings in the second game of the series. Minnesota won the final two games of the series 6-3 and 13-3 to claim a four-game sweep over the Wolverines for the first time since 2000.
Minnesota moved out to 5-0 in Big Ten play when Loberg pitched his second career complete game shutout in a 5-0 win over Indiana in the first game of the series. With the shutout he extended his scoreless innings streak to 25. The Golden Gophers swept the Hoosiers in a doubleheader the next day, winning 5-4 and 8-6, to move out to a 7-0 start in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers finally dropped their first Big Ten contest in the series finale 8-6.
After picking up an 8-5 midweek victory against South Dakota State, Minnesota made its first Big Ten roadtrip of the season to Penn State. The Nittany Lions snapped Loberg’s scoreless innings streak at 25 en route to defeating the Golden Gophers 13-5. Minnesota bounced back to defeat Penn State 5-3 in the first game of the doubleheader, but dropped the second game 7-5. The Golden Gophers pounded out 11 runs to win the series finale 11-8. The victory gave Minnesota a split in the series, which extended its streak to 23 Big Ten series with either a win or a split.
Minnesota pounded out a 19-13 10-inning victory in a midweek game at South Dakota State. With the score tied at 13 in the 10th inning, freshman Joe Maciej delivered a three- run homer to give Minnesota the lead for good. The Golden Gophers claimed their fourth straight one-run victory when they defeated Northwestern 9-8 in the series opener. Junior first baseman Andy Hunter delivered a solo home run to give Minnesota a lead it would never relinquish.
The Golden Gophers dropped a 7-6 decision in the second game of the series, but came back to win the third game 3-2. Senior catcher Jake Elder delivered a solo home run with the game tied at 2-2 in the fourth inning to give Minnesota a lead that it held on to for the rest of the contest. The Golden Gophers had their highest run output of the Big Ten season in the series finale as they defeated the Wildcats 15-7 to move to a season-best conference record of 12-4. The win also put Minnesota a season-best six games over .500.
After 24 consecutive Big Ten series without a loss, Minnesota saw its streak come to a screeching halt as the Golden Gophers were swept in a four-game series at Purdue. It was the first time Minnesota had been swept in conference play since Apr. 27-29, 2001, and only fifth time since 1981 that the Golden Gophers had been swept in a four-game conference series.
Minnesota bounced back with a 5-1 midweek win against North Dakota State, and claimed the first game of the Iowa series 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance by Loberg. However, the Golden Gophers dropped the next three games 3-1, 10-9 and 7-3 to fall to 13-11 in Big Ten play.
The Golden Gophers fell to .500 for the first time since they were 12-12 when they dropped the series opener to conference leader Illinois 8-7. Minnesota responded by winning the next three games from Illinois by scores of 5-4, 6-2 and 11-5. Mee led the way in the second game of the series with four RBI to give Minnesota a 5-4 victory. Junior lefthander Brian Bull</ a> helped the Golden Gophers claim their second victory of the series 6 -2 with his first career complete-game victory, and Minnesota closed the series by pounding out 14 hits and 11 runs to become the first team in the conference to take a series from Illinois.
Minnesota continued the momentum with a 9-1 midweek win over Northern Iowa. The Golden Gophers also won the series opener at Ohio State 9-3 behind a complete-game effort from Loberg. Minnesota had its five-game winning streak halted when the Buckeyes claimed three straight one-run victories against Minnesota by scores of 2-1, 3-2 and 6-5. The Golden Gophers entered the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 6 seed and were set to face the No. 3 seed Iowa. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 5-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning. Minnesota responded in a big way with a tournament record 11 runs to move ahead 12-5. Nine of the 11 runs came with two outs, as the Golden Gophers claimed a 14-7 victory over Iowa. Elder led the way going four-for-five with a home run, four runs and five RBI.
Minnesota faced regular-season champion Illinois in the next game of the tournament. The Golden Gophers found themselves trailing 8-4 heading into the top of the sixth, before they came up with four runs to tie the game at 8-8. With the scored tied 8-8, senior third baseman David Hrncirik delivered a two-out two-run double to take a 10-8 lead that propelled the Golden Gophers to an 11-8 victory over host Illinois. The Golden Gophers dropped their first contest of the Big Ten Tournament 15-6 to Ohio State. That set up a matchup with Purdue, who had eliminated Michigan and Illinois the previous day. For the third time in the tournament Minnesota fell behind, as Purdue took a 6-1 lead. The Golden Gophers tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Minnesota took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning on a clutch two-run single by Hrncirik, which put the Golden Gophers up for good at 8-6. Minnesota claimed a 9-7 victory to become the first No. 6 seed to play in the championship game in Big Ten Tournament history.
Minnesota fell behind in the first championship game to Ohio State 3-0. The Golden Gophers cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on solo home runs by Matt Fornasiere and Hunter. The Buckeyes held the 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Ohio State closer Rory Meister recorded the first two outs of the inning, but junior outfielder Tony Leseman coaxed a two-out walk to keep the season alive. Maciej came up and fell behind 1-2 to Meister. After moving the count to 3-2, Maciej delivered one of the most dramatic Golden Gophers hits in Big Ten Tournament history as he crushed a two- run walk-off home run to right centerfield to set up an elimination championship game against Ohio State. After giving up three runs in the first two innings, Loberg pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up a complete-game victory on just two days rest.
The Golden Gophers saw their NCAA Tournament hopes dashed in the championship game as they dropped a 14-6 decision to Ohio State. It was the fourth straight year the two programs had met in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Minnesota had five players named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team in Loberg, Maciej, Elder, Hunter and Mee.
Minnesota had a roller coaster 2005 season. After struggling through portions of the regular-season, the Golden Gophers emerged in the Big Ten Tournament in an inspired effort that saw them fall just short of their annual goal of making the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the course of the season, Minnesota battled injuries and inconsistency. However, the experience gained by some of the younger players and the Golden Gophers run in the Big Ten Tournament gave them a positive to finish this season on and something to build on heading into 2006. The 2005 Minnesota baseball team saved its best for the end of the season as it played for the Big Ten Tournament championship for a fifth consecutive year. Minnesota battled injuries and inconsistency throughout the regular season, but rose to the occasion in the conference’s postseason tournament by becoming the first No. 6 seed to advance to the tournament championship in Big Ten history. Minnesota also broke the Big Ten record with a fifth straight championship game appearance in the Big Ten Tournament.
Individually five Golden Gophers claimed Big Ten conference honors led by senior David Hrncirik, who became the first Minnesota third baseman since Jack Hannahan in 2001 to capture First-Team All-Big Ten honors. Senior starting pitcher Matt Loberg and junior shortstop Matt Fornasiere claimed second-team honors, while junior first baseman Andy Hunter and sophomore closer John Gaub were third-team honorees.
Minnesota opened the season with a tough one-run loss to No. 21 Arkansas. The Golden Gophers led the opener 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Razorbacks took a 4-3 lead. Minnesota tied it at 4-4, before Arkansas scored in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 5-4 victory. The Golden Gophers dropped the middle game of the series 12-3. In the series finale, Minnesota rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to tie the game, but lost a second one-run game 4-3 to get swept by the Razorbacks.
The Golden Gophers won their first game of the year by posting a shutout against New Orleans 7-0 in the first game of the Dairy Queen Classic. Loberg pitched seven shutout innings in his first start of the season to help give Minnesota the victory. Minnesota carried that momentum into the next game of the Dairy Queen Classic when it took a 3-0 lead over No. 5 South Carolina in its second game of the tournament. However, the Gamecocks turned the tables on the Golden Gophers snapping Minnesota’s four-game winning streak (dating back to 2004) in the tournament with a 13-6 win over the Golden Gophers. Minnesota dropped the final game of the tournament to Pepperdine 15-2 to fall to 1-5 on the season.
Minnesota bounced back to defeat St. John’s 4-2 behind a strong start from Loberg and sophomore Mike Mee</ a>’s first home run of the season. The Golden Gophers trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the eighth in their next game against No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette, but came up with two runs to tie the game at 2-2. However, Minnesota missed a couple of scoring opportunities to take the lead on the way to a 3-2 10-inning loss to the Ragin Cajuns. The Golden Gophers finished the weekend off with a 9-1 loss at the hands of Harvard.
The Golden Gophers regained some momentum with a pair of midweek victories over Minnesota-Duluth (10-6) and St. Cloud State (6-0) before getting swept at home by Rutgers. The final game of the series saw Minnesota drop its fourth straight one-run game 7-6 to the Scarlet Knights.
Minnesota rebounded to win two of three the next weekend against Butler. In the series opener, Loberg took a shutout into the ninth inning and combined with Gary Perinar to record the third shutout of the season for the Golden Gophers at 7-0 over the Bulldogs. After dropping a 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs in the middle game, the Golden Gophers found themselves trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the third inning. However, Mee delivered a three-run homer to tie it at 3-3 and Minnesota moved on to win 9-4 to claim the series.
The Golden Gophers claimed a midweek game to move their record to 8-11. Minnesota raised the level of their play to start Big Ten play, as the three-time defending Big Ten regular-season champions swept No. 19 Michigan in a four-game series at the Metrodome. In the first game of the series, Loberg outdueled eventual 2005 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Jim Brauer to help lead Minnesota to a 1-0 victory. The Golden Gophers followed their first one-run victory of the year with another one when they defeated the Wolverines 3-2 in extra innings in the second game of the series. Minnesota won the final two games of the series 6-3 and 13-3 to claim a four-game sweep over the Wolverines for the first time since 2000.
Minnesota moved out to 5-0 in Big Ten play when Loberg pitched his second career complete game shutout in a 5-0 win over Indiana in the first game of the series. With the shutout he extended his scoreless innings streak to 25. The Golden Gophers swept the Hoosiers in a doubleheader the next day, winning 5-4 and 8-6, to move out to a 7-0 start in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers finally dropped their first Big Ten contest in the series finale 8-6.
After picking up an 8-5 midweek victory against South Dakota State, Minnesota made its first Big Ten roadtrip of the season to Penn State. The Nittany Lions snapped Loberg’s scoreless innings streak at 25 en route to defeating the Golden Gophers 13-5. Minnesota bounced back to defeat Penn State 5-3 in the first game of the doubleheader, but dropped the second game 7-5. The Golden Gophers pounded out 11 runs to win the series finale 11-8. The victory gave Minnesota a split in the series, which extended its streak to 23 Big Ten series with either a win or a split.
Minnesota pounded out a 19-13 10-inning victory in a midweek game at South Dakota State. With the score tied at 13 in the 10th inning, freshman Joe Maciej delivered a three- run homer to give Minnesota the lead for good. The Golden Gophers claimed their fourth straight one-run victory when they defeated Northwestern 9-8 in the series opener. Junior first baseman Andy Hunter delivered a solo home run to give Minnesota a lead it would never relinquish.
The Golden Gophers dropped a 7-6 decision in the second game of the series, but came back to win the third game 3-2. Senior catcher Jake Elder delivered a solo home run with the game tied at 2-2 in the fourth inning to give Minnesota a lead that it held on to for the rest of the contest. The Golden Gophers had their highest run output of the Big Ten season in the series finale as they defeated the Wildcats 15-7 to move to a season-best conference record of 12-4. The win also put Minnesota a season-best six games over .500.
After 24 consecutive Big Ten series without a loss, Minnesota saw its streak come to a screeching halt as the Golden Gophers were swept in a four-game series at Purdue. It was the first time Minnesota had been swept in conference play since Apr. 27-29, 2001, and only fifth time since 1981 that the Golden Gophers had been swept in a four-game conference series.
Minnesota bounced back with a 5-1 midweek win against North Dakota State, and claimed the first game of the Iowa series 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance by Loberg. However, the Golden Gophers dropped the next three games 3-1, 10-9 and 7-3 to fall to 13-11 in Big Ten play.
The Golden Gophers fell to .500 for the first time since they were 12-12 when they dropped the series opener to conference leader Illinois 8-7. Minnesota responded by winning the next three games from Illinois by scores of 5-4, 6-2 and 11-5. Mee led the way in the second game of the series with four RBI to give Minnesota a 5-4 victory. Junior lefthander Brian Bull</ a> helped the Golden Gophers claim their second victory of the series 6 -2 with his first career complete-game victory, and Minnesota closed the series by pounding out 14 hits and 11 runs to become the first team in the conference to take a series from Illinois.
Minnesota continued the momentum with a 9-1 midweek win over Northern Iowa. The Golden Gophers also won the series opener at Ohio State 9-3 behind a complete-game effort from Loberg. Minnesota had its five-game winning streak halted when the Buckeyes claimed three straight one-run victories against Minnesota by scores of 2-1, 3-2 and 6-5. The Golden Gophers entered the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 6 seed and were set to face the No. 3 seed Iowa. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 5-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning. Minnesota responded in a big way with a tournament record 11 runs to move ahead 12-5. Nine of the 11 runs came with two outs, as the Golden Gophers claimed a 14-7 victory over Iowa. Elder led the way going four-for-five with a home run, four runs and five RBI.
Minnesota faced regular-season champion Illinois in the next game of the tournament. The Golden Gophers found themselves trailing 8-4 heading into the top of the sixth, before they came up with four runs to tie the game at 8-8. With the scored tied 8-8, senior third baseman David Hrncirik delivered a two-out two-run double to take a 10-8 lead that propelled the Golden Gophers to an 11-8 victory over host Illinois. The Golden Gophers dropped their first contest of the Big Ten Tournament 15-6 to Ohio State. That set up a matchup with Purdue, who had eliminated Michigan and Illinois the previous day. For the third time in the tournament Minnesota fell behind, as Purdue took a 6-1 lead. The Golden Gophers tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Minnesota took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning on a clutch two-run single by Hrncirik, which put the Golden Gophers up for good at 8-6. Minnesota claimed a 9-7 victory to become the first No. 6 seed to play in the championship game in Big Ten Tournament history.
Minnesota fell behind in the first championship game to Ohio State 3-0. The Golden Gophers cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on solo home runs by Matt Fornasiere and Hunter. The Buckeyes held the 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Ohio State closer Rory Meister recorded the first two outs of the inning, but junior outfielder Tony Leseman coaxed a two-out walk to keep the season alive. Maciej came up and fell behind 1-2 to Meister. After moving the count to 3-2, Maciej delivered one of the most dramatic Golden Gophers hits in Big Ten Tournament history as he crushed a two- run walk-off home run to right centerfield to set up an elimination championship game against Ohio State. After giving up three runs in the first two innings, Loberg pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up a complete-game victory on just two days rest.
The Golden Gophers saw their NCAA Tournament hopes dashed in the championship game as they dropped a 14-6 decision to Ohio State. It was the fourth straight year the two programs had met in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Minnesota had five players named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team in Loberg, Maciej, Elder, Hunter and Mee.
Minnesota had a roller coaster 2005 season. After struggling through portions of the regular-season, the Golden Gophers emerged in the Big Ten Tournament in an inspired effort that saw them fall just short of their annual goal of making the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the course of the season, Minnesota battled injuries and inconsistency. However, the experience gained by some of the younger players and the Golden Gophers run in the Big Ten Tournament gave them a positive to finish this season on and something to build on heading into 2006.
