University of Minnesota Athletics
BB: Minnesota Splits Doubleheader with Northwestern
4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota bounced back from a first game loss to win game two 3-2, behind a solid start from junior Brian Bull (Omaha, Neb.). Bull, who was making just his third career start, went five and a third innings, gave up six hits and just one earned run.
For the third straight game in the series, Northwestern got on the board first when Geoff Dietz laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt to bring home Anthony Wycklendt in the top of the second to make it 1-0.
Minnesota responded with two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Taylor VanderAarde (Hastings, Minn.) got things started with a leadoff single, and moved to third on a one-out single by Matt Fornasiere (Maple Grove, Minn.). David Hrncirik (Madison, Wis.) reached on a fielder’s choice RBI, which scored VanderAarde to make it 1-1 and moved him to second and Fornasiere to third. Mike Mee (Richfield, Minn.) delivered a sacrifice fly to move the Golden Gophers ahead 2-1.
Northwestern answered quickly by tying the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth on a Dietz sacrifice fly.
Minnesota scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead out to 3-2. Jake Elder (Delta, British Columbia) delivered a solo home run, his third of the season, to give Minnesota the one-run lead.
Bull left with one out in the sixth inning, and John Gaub proceeded to retired all five batters he faced to record his fifth save of the season. Gaub struck out four of the five batters he faced. In three and a third innings in the series, Gaub has struck out nine batters. Bull moved to 3-1 with the win, claiming his first career victory as a starting pitcher.
Northwestern starter Chris Kontos went the distance giving up two earned runs and four hits in six innings. However, Kontos took the loss to fall to 3-3 on the season.
Elder led the way going one-for-three with the game’s decisive home run. In the series, Elder has now gone seven-for-10 at the plate. VanderAarde was one-for-two with a run, while Fornasiere was one-for-three with a run. Hrncirik and Mee each had RBI in the game as well.
Wycklendt led the way for Northwestern going two-for-three with a run. Dietz also had two RBI on the in the game.
In the first game, Minnesota dug an early hole as it 5-0 going into the top of the third inning. The Wildcats scored two runs in the first, one in the second and two in the third to build the five-run lead.
Wycklendt got Northwestern started with a single that brought home two runs in the top of the first to put the Wildcats up 2-0. In the top of the second inning, Mark Ori added an RBI single to push the lead to 3-0. Wycklendt struck again in the top of the third with a two-run homer to stretch it out to 5-0.
Minnesota scored a single run in the bottom of the third to make it 5-1. Fornasiere got things started with a one-out double to centerfield. Two batters, later, Mee brought him home with an RBI single to make it 5-1.
The Golden Gophers cut the deficit in half with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-3. Elder led the inning off with a single, and came home to score on a two-run homer by Leseman to cut the lead to 5-3.
Northwestern’s Max Mann delivered a solo home run of his own in the top of the sixth to push the Wildcat’s lead to 6-3.
Minnesota entered the bottom of the seventh down 6-3 with Chris Hayes, the Big Ten’s leader in saves coming into the game. Fornasiere got things started with a one-out single, and moved to second base when the centerfielder misplayed the ball. Hrncirik delivered an infield single to make it first and third with one out. Fornasiere came home on a wild pitch to make it 6-4, and Hrncirik advanced to second.
After Hayes struck out Mee for the second out, Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-5. Elder followed with a single to make it first and second. Luke MacLean (Bloomington, Minn.) fought off several pitches on a 1-2 count, delivered the seventh pitch of the at-bat to right field for an RBI single to tie the game at 6-6.
Hayes finally retired Leseman with two outs and runners on first and third to push the game to extra innings.
In the eighth inning, Northwestern’s Geoff Dietz delivered a pinch-hit home run to give the Wildcats an 8-7 lead. Hayes retired the Golden Gophers in the bottom of the eight to give Northwestern the first game.
Hayes moved to 3-0 with the win, despite giving up three runs and five hits in two innings of relief. Minnesota reliever Andy Peters (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) gave up one run in one and two thirds innings to take the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season.
Golden Gopher starter Cole DeVries (Eden Prairie, Minn.) gave up six runs in six and one third innings for the no-decision. Northwestern starter Evan Blesoff gave up seven hits and three runs in six innings, but received the no-decision.
Elder was three-for-four with one run in the game, coming off a three-for-three performance in Friday night’s game. Leseman was also one-for-three with his second home run of the year and two RBI.
Fornasiere finished two-for-five with two runs, while Hrncirik was two-for-four with one run.
Wycklendt led Northwestern by going two-for-four with a home run and four RBI.
Minnesota wrap up series against Northwestern on Sunday, Apr. 24 at 1 p.m. That game will be on WMGT (1220 AM).
