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University of Minnesota Athletics
BB: Minnesota Falls to Indiana 8-6 in Series Finale
4/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Indiana got on the board quickly with four runs in the top of the first inning to move ahead 4-0. It was the second time in as many games, that the Golden Gophers starter was knocked out after two thirds innings.
Jay Brant started the Hoosiers scoring with an RBI triple to centerfield to bring home Reggie Watson to make it 1-0. Joe Kemp brought Brant home on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Zach Boswell doubled and moved to third when Ryan Parker reached on an error to make it first and second. Both runners advanced a base on Corby Heckman groundout, and came home to score on a Josh Richardson single to make the score 4-0.
Minnesota got one run back in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to 4-1. Luke MacLean (Bloomington, Minn.) drew a one-out walk to get things started. Mike Mee (Richfield, Minn.) followed by getting hit by a pitch to make it first and second. Mee was picked off at first base, right before Jake Elder (Delta, British Columbia) walked with two outs to make it first and second. Kevin Carlson followed with a single to left field to bring home MacLean to make the score 4-1. Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) followed with a towering shot to right field, which would have tied the game, that just missed staying fair. Indiana starter Brad Davidson got Hunter to ground out to end the inning later in the at bat.
Indiana added a run in the top of the second on a fielder’s choice RBI groundout by Kemp to make it 5-1.
The Golden Gophers responded again with two runs in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 5-3. Tony Leseman (St. Paul, Minn.) got things started with a one-out single. Leseman advanced to second on a balk, and moved to third on a Sean Kommerstad (Minnetonka, Minn.) infield single. Matt Fornasiere (Maple Grove, Minn.) followed by getting hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. MacLean delivered a single to bring home Leseman to make the score 5-2. Two batters later, Kommerstad scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Hoosiers move the score to 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single by Boswell. Minnesota got the run back in the bottom of the inning, when Kommerstad scored on an error to cut the lead to 6-4.
Indiana moved the lead back out to three runs in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Richardson to make the lead 7-4.
Minnesota brought the lead down to one run in the bottom of the sixth with two runs to make it 7-6. Fornasiere delivered a one-out single to get things started for Minnesota. Fornasiere stole second, and MacLean walked to make it first and second with one out. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and came around to score on a double by Mee to make it 7-6. However the Golden Gophers were unable to bring home Mee, as Indiana made plays on a couple of hard hit balls to the outfield by Elder and Hunter.
Indiana added a single run in the top of the eighth on a Boswell sacrifice fly, and held on to win by the final score of 8-6.
Hoosier reliever Chris McCombs gave up four hits and two earned runs in four and a third innings to pick up the win and move to 2-1 on the season. Steve Nielsen pitched three and a third scoreless innings to close out the game for Indiana, as he picked up his third save of the season.
Minnesota starter Josh Krogman (St. Cloud) gave up four hits and two earned runs in two thirds innings to take the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season. Freshman reliever Dustin Brabender (Oregon, Wis.) gave up just one run on three hits in two and two thirds innings, while Jon Mueller (LaCrosse, Wis.) gave up just one hit and an unearned run in the final two and a third innings of work for Minnesota.
Golden Gopher relievers gave up just three earned runs in 14 and two thirds innings of work on the series for an ERA of 1.84. Last week, the bullpen gave up just one run in 13 and a third innings of work against Michigan. Overall, Minnesota’s bullpen has given up just four earned runs in 28 innings of work in Big Ten play.
Offensively, Minnesota led by MacLean who reached base four times on the day, and was two-for-three with two runs and an RBI. Mee also had two RBI, and was one-for-four on the game. Kommerstad was two-for-four in the game, and tied his career-high with two runs. David Hrncirik (Madison, Wis.) also had two hits, as he was two-for-five for the game.
Fornasiere finished one-for-three, with a run and reached base three times on the afternoon. With the hit, Fornasiere extended his hitting streak to 14 games on the season.
Kevin Carlson (Edina, Minn.) also finished one-for-three with an RBI.
Minnesota left 11 runners on base for the game, while Indiana stranded 10 on the afternoon.
The Hoosiers were led by Boswell who was three-for-four with two RBI and one run. Richardson was also two-for-five with three RBI, while Brant was three-for-five with three runs and one RBI. Brant also was a home run short of the cycle for the game.
Minnesota will host South Dakota State in a midweek game at Siebert Field on Wednesday, Apr. 13 at 3 p.m. The Golden Gophers will then play their first road series in Big Ten play, when they travel to Penn State on Apr. 15-17. Minnesota will play the Nittany Lions in a single game on Friday, Apr. 15 at 3 p.m., a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 16 at 1 p.m. and in the series finale on Sunday, Apr. 17 at 11 a.m. All four games will be webcast on gophersports.com. Saturday’s game will be joined in progress on WMGT (1220 AM) at 2 p.m.
