University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Edges Louisiana-Lafayette 3-2
3/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota entered the top of the ninth inning tied at 2-2 with Louisiana-Lafayette. Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) led off the inning with a single to get things started in the top of the ninth. Joe Maciej (Elk River, Minn.) moved Hunter over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Ragin Cajun starter Jason Fernandez retired the next batter for the second out. With two outs, junior Taylor VanderAarde (Hastings, Minn.) delivered a 1-2 pitch into center field for an RBI single to bring home Hunter to give the Golden Gophers a 3-2 lead.
After the Golden Gophers allowed the leadoff runner to reach on a walk in the bottom of the ninth, Senior Andy Peters (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) came in to retire the final three batters to record his second save of the season. Junior Bill Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.) came in the game in the seventh inning and pitched one and two thirds shutout innings to pick up the win to move to 1-0 on the season.
Minnesota starter Cole DeVries (Eden Prairie, Minn.) got a no- decision, as he pitched six and a third innings, gave up seven hits, two runs and struck out two batters. It was the sixth time in the last seven starts that a Minnesota weekend starter pitched at least six innings and gave up two or less earned runs in a game.
Fernandez gave up six hits, three runs, two earned runs and struck out eight batters in eight and two thirds innings of relief. However, Fernandez took his first loss of the season to fall to 2-1 on the season.
Hunter led the way for Minnesota as he reached base three times, and was two-for-three with a home run, two runs and an RBI. VanderAarde and Dan Lyons (Rochester, Minn.) each went one-for-four with an RBI. Lyons also had his third stolen base of the year.
Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) was one-for-three with a run, while John Arlt (Lakeville, Minn.) was also one-for-three on the game.
Minnesota got on the board in the top of the first inning with a single run. Nohelty led off the game by beating out a grounder to the shortstop for an infield single. Nohelty moved to second on an errant pick off by Fernandez. Nohelty advanced to third on a groundout by Mike Mee (Richfield, Minn.). Lyons delivered an RBI single to bring home Nohelty to give the Golden Gophers a 1-0 lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning. Devon Bourque and Cody Martin led off the inning with back-to- back singles to make it first and second. John McCarthy moved both runners up on a groundout. Jameson Parker brought home Bourque on an RBI groundout to tie the game.
Minnesota got the run right back when Hunter delivered his first home run of the season to right centerfield with one out in the top of the fourth. The homer gave the Golden Gophers a 2-1 lead over the Ragin Cajuns.
Louisiana-Lafayette came back with a single run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Jonathan Lucroy led off with a single, but was wiped out on fielder’s choice groundout by Santiago. On the play Minnesota had a chance for the double play, but the throw to first got away to allow Santiago to get to first. Santiago moved up to second on a groundout by Jefferies Tatford. Santiago came around to scored on an RBI double by Blaine Lafleur to tie the game.
The Ragin Cajuns threatened in the bottom of the sixth when Lucroy singled, and Santiago reached on an error by DeVries on the attempted sacrifice bunt to make it first and second. DeVries struck out Tatford and got Lafleur to fly out for the first two outs of the inning. On the next at-bat, Nohelty made a diving catch in left field on a sinking liner by Bourque.
Louisiana-Lafayette mounted another threat in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, John McCarthy singled against Johnson. Parker moved McCarthy to second on the sacrifice bunt and advanced to first on an error by the third baseman Maciej. Josh Landry loaded the bases on an infield hit with one out. However, Johnson got Lucroy to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the jam unscathed.
Nohelty reached on a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth inning, but Fernandez retired the next two batters and kept him at first base. With two outs, Nohelty was caught stealing to end the inning.
Lousiana-Lafayette was led by Lucroy who was two-for-four on the day. Lafleur was one-for-three with a double and an RBI, while Parker was one-for-four with an RBI.
Minnesota will finish the series against Louisiana-Lafayette on Mar. 19 at 10:30 a.m.
