University of Minnesota Athletics
BB: Minnesota Drops 6-2 Decision to Rutgers
3/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
For a second straight night, Rutgers got on the board in the first inning. The Scarlet Knight’s shortstop Todd Frazier led off the game with a solo home run to give Rutgers the 1-0 lead.
Minnesota tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Jeff DeSmidt (Mahtomedi, Minn.) led off the inning with a single. DeSmidt was wiped out on the base path when Luke MacLean (Bloomington, Minn.) reached first on a fielder’s choice. MacLean stole second base to give Minnesota a runner in scoring position with one out. Tony Leseman (St. Paul, Minn.) followed with an RBI single to bring MacLean home to tie the game at 1-1.
Rutgers came back with two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. David Williams started the scoring with an RBI double to give the Scarlet Knights a 2-1 lead. Williams came home on a Tim Querns RBI single to push the Rutgers’ lead to 3-1.
Minnesota regained some momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning. MacLean started the inning with an infield single, and moved to second on a stolen base. Leseman singled to make it first and third with no one out. MacLean scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2, and Leseman moved up to second base. After Rutgers got the first out of the inning, David Hrncirik (Madison, Wis.) drew a walk to make it first and second. Matt Fornasiere (Maple Grove, Minn.) hit a line shot that was caught by the relief pitcher Matt Pustay, and flipped to first to complete a double play to get out of the inning.
The Scarlet Knights added a single run in the top of the sixth inning to make it 4-2. Jeff Grose had an RBI single to push the Scarlet Knights lead to two runs. Rutgers added two runs in the top of the ninth for insurance to push the lead to 6-2, which was the final deficit.
Minnesota starter Cole Devries (Eden Prairie, Minn.) took his first loss of the year to drop to 0-1, as he gave up three runs in four and two thirds innings, and struck out two batters. Pustay pitched five and two thirds shutout innings to pick up the win in relief to move to 2-2. Pustay gave up just one hit and struck out four batters.
Golden Gopher reliever John Gaub (South St. Paul, Minn.) pitched a perfect first one and two thirds innings in relief. That gave him a stretch of six and a third perfect innings of relief (spanning Pepperdine, St. John’s, Harvard and Rutgers) over his last four appearances. Gaub gave up his first two earned runs of the season in the top of the ninth, as he finished with two runs allowed in two and two thirds innings, and struck out three batters.
Minnesota was led by Tony Leseman (West St. Paul, Minn.) had a season-high three hits, and was three-for-four with one RBI. MacLean was also one-for-four with two runs and two stolen bases.
Rutgers was led by Frazier who was three-for-five with a home run and an RBI, and was a double away from a cycle.
Minnesota will finish up its series against Rutgers on Sunday, Mar. 20 at 12 p.m. at the Metrodome. That game will be webcast on gophersports.com.
