University of Minnesota Athletics
2007 Minnesota Baseball Outlook
2/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team continued its trend of playing its best baseball when it counted in 2006, as the Golden Gophers closed out the season with the momentum of winning 10 of their final 12 games en route to narrowly missing a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Minnesota caught fire at the end of the Big Ten season and was playing as good as any team in the conference in the final month. The Golden Gophers hope to stretch that play out through the course of the whole conference season, as they try to get back to the annual goal of claiming a Big Ten title and getting an NCAA Tournament bid. One of the key factors heading into the season will be the experience that Minnesota has with 12 seniors, which is tied for the program’s third-largest senior class since 1960.
“This is one of the biggest senior classes we have had in this program,” said Minnesota head coach John Anderson. “It is a group that has gained a lot of quality experience the last year, especially the junior college players (Dan Lyons and Kyle Baran) towards the end of the season. After the way last year ended, they are very determined to set the tone as leaders, help our team be more consistent with our approach and do whatever they can to try to get back to the NCAA Tournament.”
Minnesota returns only one All-Big Ten honoree from last year’s team in sophomore Matt Nohelty (Third-Team outfielder), but brings back several players who have performed well when it counts for the Golden Gophers both last year and in years past. Senior shortstop Dan Lyons and senior outfielder Kyle Baran were each named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team and put in performances that nearly led Minnesota to the Big Ten Tournament title. Lyons was also named to the Dairy Queen Classic All-Tournament team earlier last season. Senior outfielder Mike Mee has been named to the Dairy Queen Classic All-Tournament team twice (2004 & 2005) in his career, and was a Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree in 2004. Minnesota will also have junior Dustin Brabender anchoring the staff, after he went 3-1 with 1.82 ERA in the month of May.
“We bring back a great deal of experience from last year in terms of position players,” said Anderson. “Our left side of the infield remains intact, and we can plug in some pretty good players who have a good deal of experience on the right side of our infield. We also have a very experienced group of outfielders and a lot of depth in that area, which will give us a lot of options during the year. Heading into the season, we feel like there is a lot of competition for positions, and that we have a lot of players who are experienced at this level. We also have a good dose of young talent to add to the mix as well.”
The Golden Gophers return a core of good young players who stepped up and helped Minnesota down the stretch last year. That group of position players includes sophomore Nate Hanson, Nohelty and sophomore Bryan Jost. Hanson was Minnesota’s starting third baseman as a true freshman until getting hit by a pitch against Louisiana-Lafayette in mid March. Hanson returned in May and did not miss a beat, as he batted .455 in the last Big Ten series of the year (in his only conference action) for Minnesota. Nohelty became the first freshman since Scott Howard (in 1999) to lead the team in batting average and stolen bases in his first season with the program, while Jost saw consistent time at designated hitter and outfield down the stretch.
“That group of young players really helped energize us down the stretch,” said Anderson. “They meshed well with the veteran players who hit their stride late in the season. If those players can continue where they left off last season we should be a very good hitting team this season.”
Pitchers
With all the experience Minnesota returns in its position players, one of the questions heading into the season is the pitching staff. The Golden Gophers lost their top two starters in Brian Bull and Cole DeVries, and their top reliever in Andy Peters. Minnesota does return Brabender, who was one of the Golden Gophers best hurlers down the stretch.
“Heading into the season, Dustin is definitely our No. 1 starter,” said Anderson. “Past him, we have a lot of very good arms and pitchers who are capable of stepping up. It is just a matter of sorting them all out during non-conference play and figuring out who fits where. I have confidence that we will have a good pitching staff, but it might be a little bit of a feeling out process at the beginning since we lost a lot of proven pitchers off our staff from last year.”
Brabender is the team’s returning leader from last year in wins (6), starts (13), innings pitched (77.1) and strikeouts (59). He finished last season third in the Big Ten in opposing batting average (.229), tied for ninth in wins (6) and tied for eighth in starts (13). Brabender was also second in opposing batting average (.211) in Big Ten play and tied for second in games started. He finished 2006, 6-5, with a 3.96 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched.
Minnesota also returns senior Josh Oslin. Oslin leads all returning Golden Gopher pitchers from last year in ERA at 3.25. He made 15 appearances and three starts, and had 27 strikeouts in 27.2 innings of work. His biggest appearance came in the Big Ten Tournament when he pitched 1.1 innings to register his first career save in a 6-2 victory against Michigan.
The Golden Gophers also return one of their top relievers from last year in senior Bill Johnson. Johnson entered the 2006 season having made just four appearances for Minnesota in his career. However, he played a big role last year going 2-0 with a save, a 3.38 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 27.2 innings of work. Johnson made 17 appearances and limited opponents to a .243 batting average.
Three other Golden Gophers who will challenge for starting spots in the rotation include junior Gary Perinar, sophomore Tyler Oakes and sophomore Kyle Carr.
Perinar leads all returning pitchers with 20 appearances last year, and was 5-2 with a 3.86 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 21 innings. Perinar posted a superb strikeout-per-nine inning ratio of 15.86 and limited opponents to a .210 batting average.
Oakes started off strong as a freshman and ended up making 16 appearances and three starts in his first year as a Golden Gopher. Oakes struck out 31 batters in 34.2 innings of work, and had his best outing of the year when he pitched five shutout innings of relief to combine on a one-hitter against Penn State.
Carr finished 1-0 in his freshman season, and made 13 appearances and three starts. He also struck out 28 batters in 26.0 innings of work. Carr was drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the 31st round.
The Golden Gophers also return Marcus McKenzie and Tom Buske who pitched for them last year. McKenzie had six appearances and made three starts. He struck out 10 batters in 12.0 innings, and started for the Golden Gophers in the second championship game against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. Buske also made five appearances for the Golden Gophers as a redshirt freshman last year.
Senior Phil Zander returns from Tommy John surgery to pitch for the Golden Gophers this year. Before missing last season with the surgery, Zander was 1-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 43.2 innings for the Cheyenne Grizzlies in Mountain Collegiate Baseball League in the summer of 2005. He also had a 2.90 ERA and 69 strikeouts for Iowa Western College in 2005.
One of the candidates for Minnesota’s long relief role will be redshirt freshman Chuck Lukanen, who redshirted last year after after being an All-State player in his senior season at Eastview High School.
The Golden Gophers add five new pitchers to the program in Allen Bechstein, Scott Fern, Scott Matyas, Tim Ryan and Ethan Vogt.
Vogt, who is a junior from Ridgwater Community College, has the most experience of any of the newcomers and could challenge for a spot in the starting rotation. In the summer of 2005, he finished 7-0 with a 1.96 ERA and had 42 strikeouts in 64.2 innings for the Thunder Bay Bordercats in the Northwoods League. Vogt also helped guide Ridgewater to the NJCAA College World Series, as he went 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and had 78 strikeouts in 71 innings of work.
Matyas is an All-State pitcher out of Kettle Morraine High School in North Prairie, Wis. who was highly recruited before having Tommy John surgery in his senior season. Bechstein was Honorable-Mention All-State at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minn. Fern was also an All-District pitcher at Eau Claire Memorial High School. Ryan, who is the son of Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan, was an All-Section pitcher at Eagan High School.
The Golden Gophers will also move Aaron Larson to pitcher. Larson, who is in his fourth year of the program, had played in the outfield throughout his career with the Golden Gophers.
“We did things a little different during the offseason this year,” said Anderson. “We gave most of our returning pitchers time off during the fall to rest up their arms so they can be fresh at the right time of the season. We feel good about the fact that we have six pitchers who have contributed at some point in their career to this staff. We feel like the seniors and juniors on this staff can stabilize it while we are in the process of continuing to develop roles for everyone. We have a good group of talented arms and I believe they will continue to get better as the season progresses.”
INFIELD
The Golden Gophers bring back a good deal of experience in the infield. Minnesota’s left side of the infield remains intact with Hanson and Lyons, while junior Jeremy Chlan and Jost looked poised and ready to take over on the right side and produce for the Golden Gophers.
“I feel very good about the infield as a whole heading into the season,” said Anderson. “It is always good when you can return the left side of the infield, because they are such tough positions to fill at this level. Despite the fact that we lost our first baseman and second baseman from last year, we feel lucky to have players who have experience in the program and can step in and play very well defensively at those positions. We also have a few different options that we can go with depending on matchups.”
Minnesota will bring back Lyons at the shortstop position. In his first season for the Golden Gophers as a junior college transfer, Lyons batted .274 with 39 runs, 11 doubles and was second on the team with 14 stolen bases. However, his most impressive play came in the field where his .952 fielding percentage was the best by a Golden Gopher shortstop since 1990 when First-Round Draft Pick Brent Gates posted a .953 mark.
The Golden Gophers will pencil in Hanson as the starting third baseman. Last year, he took over the starting job at third base in early March before suffering a hand injury when he was hit by a pitch against Louisiana Lafayette on Mar. 18. Hanson returned on May 16 and played the rest of the season. He ended up with multi-hit games in six of his 20 starts, and batted .294 with 13 runs, 13 RBI and five doubles in 68 at-bats.
Minnesota will look to Chlan to fill the void left by Luke MacLean at second base. In 2005, Chlan made 42 starts at second base as a true freshman. He also batted .314 in 35 at-bats and played in 25 games for Minnesota in 2006. Chlan posted seven runs and five RBI for the Golden Gophers in limited duty last year.
At first base, Minnesota will look to Jost to fill the void left by Andy Hunter. In his freshman season, Jost batted .259 with 11 runs, seven doubles, three triples and 16 RBI. He ended the season averaging 0.76 RBI per hit, and nearly half his hits (21) went for extra bases (10).
The Golden Gophers will also have the option of occasionally playing Mee at first base. Mee played 23 games at first base as a freshman, and went back there for 10 games last year when Hunter was hurt last season.
Minnesota also returns a couple of experienced and versatile infielders in junior Joe Maciej and sophomore Jon Hummel. Maciej, who is capable of playing at any infield spot, batted .220 with 12 runs and 11 RBI and tied for the team lead in sacrifices with seven. Hummel, who can play first and third base, batted .364 in limited duty (11 at-bats).
The Golden Gophers also welcome in a pair of freshman infielders in Derek McCallum and Drew Hanish. McCallum is a high school shortstop who the coaching staff feels might be able to push for playing time right away. McCallum was an All-State shortstop for Hill-Murray High School in Shoreview, Minn. He is a slick fielder and a talented hitter, who the coaching staff feels is ready to play at the college level right away. Hanish is an All-District shortstop from North High School in McKinney, Texas.
Junior Nick Biagini will also have a chance to be a designated hitter or play first base at times this season. Last year, Biagini was 3-for-6 with two RBI in four games.
“We have a good group of infielders heading into the season,” said Anderson. “Dan (Lyons) got better as the year progressed, and really put together one of the better years in the field I have seen from a shortstop in this program. Nate (Hanson) was great for us when he was in the lineup. He gained valuable experience, and we look forward to seeing what he can do for us in a full season. Jeremy (Chlan) is a very good defensive second baseman, who continues to improve his hitting as his career progresses. At first base, Bryan (Jost) is a very talented hitter who should have a big season for us. He has taken a lot of repetitions at first for us at the end of last year and this fall, and appears to be comfortable with the position. We also feel comfortable with the options we have if we want to switch up the lineup for matchups or any other reason.”
CATCHER
Minnesota returns a trio of upperclassmen catchers with different levels of experience in John Arlt, Jeff DeSmidt and Kevin Carlson. Those three catchers, along with talented freshman Kyle Knudson will battle it out for playing time, after the departure of Chris Herbert from the program.
“I feel comfortable with the fact that we have three catchers who have been in the program for a while and know what we expect out of position,” said Anderson. “I think that will be a position in the early going where we will give each player a chance to establish themselves and see if anyone grabs hold of the starting spot.”
DeSmidt and Carlson started 12 and 10 games respectively at the catcher’s spot last year, while Arlt started eight games. Arlt missed a portion of the season with a shoulder injury.
Carlson played in 35 games for Minnesota, and had four runs and six RBI. He is a veteran presence behind the plate who is in his fifth year with the program. Carlson has made 18 starts behind the dish in his career at Minnesota.
Arlt played in 16 games, had four runs, a home run and three RBI last year. He moved behind the plate last year, and will get a chance to establish himself as a starting catch in his fifth year with the program.
DeSmidt played in 25 games and made 17 starts last year. He had the most starts at catcher last year of any returning player. DeSmidt knocked in 12 runs in 52 at-bats in his sophomore season last year.
Knudson joins the catcher fray as a true freshman. He was an All-State catcher at Maple Grove High School. The coaching staff feels that as a true freshman he can already step in and be an effective hitter at this level.
“The catcher position is one that I think we will figure out throughout the non-conference slate of our schedule,” said Anderson. “We will give all four guys a chance to emerge as a starter and we hope to have it sorted out where we have a regular catcher to put in the lineup by the time conference play comes around. There is a lot of experience between that group, and I have confidence that we will get more consistency from that position as the season progresses.”
OUTFIELD
The Golden Gophers probably have their deepest and most experienced group of players in the outfield. In fact, five of the Golden Gophers’ 12 seniors are outfielders. That group includes Baran, Sean Kommerstad, Taylor VanderAarde, Tijl Vanderwege and Mee.
“We have a lot of depth in the outfield,” said Anderson. “There is a group of talented and experienced players that will be battling it out for starting spots. We feel like that gives us a lot of options going into a game in a variety of situations.”
Nohelty returns in centerfield for Minnesota coming off a season that saw him claim Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors. In his redshirt freshman season, he batted .361 with 34 runs, 26 RBI and stole a team-high 18 bases. In Big Ten play, Nohelty had a team-high .389 batting average, scored 17 runs, had 17 RBI, a .440 on-base percentage and had 11 stolen bases.
Baran, who can play either left or right field, was Minnesota’s hottest hitter down the stretch. He batted .405 in the final two months of the season with 24 runs and 25 RBI for the Golden Gophers. Baran also finished with the highest on-base percentage on the team at .441. He batted .444 with five runs and four RBI in five Big Ten Tournament games.
Mee enters the season as the Golden Gophers most experienced player in the program. Last year, he batted .291 with a team-high 51 runs, 37 RBI and a team-high 15 doubles. Mee also has a career .298 batting average, 140 runs, 37 doubles and 130 RBI.
Kommerstad played in 42 games, and made 19 starts primarily against lefthanded pitching. Last year, he batted .300 with 11 runs, seven doubles, a home run and 15 RBI. This fall, Kommerstad also hit three home runs in the fall intersquad game.
Vanderwege also returns for his senior season after playing in 12 games in his first season with the program in 2006. Last year, he stole two bases and had three runs in limited play. VanderAarde batted .273 with 19 runs, 18 RBI, two home runs and six stolen bases in 88 at-bats. He also played in 49 games and made 21 starts in his junior season. Unfortunately, VanderAarde suffered an ACL injury during the summer and will not play again until April at the earliest.
Tom Steidl also returns for his junior season, after appearing in six games with the Golden Gophers. Steidl is a versatile player who can play any position on the field that the Gophers need him.
“Our outfield play is one of the strong points of our team,” said Anderson. “Not only do we have a lot of experience, but I feel like we have a lot of players who can do a lot of different things. There are guys we can plug in to get a big hit, players we can plug in to play defense and guys who we can use to make stuff happen on the basepaths. This is a group that definitely has a lot of versatility.”
SCHEDULE
Minnesota will play a very diverse schedule as they will face quality teams from various regions of the country. The Golden Gophers will open up the season in a neutral site matchup against 2006 NCAA Tournament participant UNC-Asheville out of the Big South on Feb. 23 in Charleston, S.C. Minnesota will face The Citadel in their home ballpark on Feb. 24, followed by a neutral-site game against Virginia Tech out of the ACC on Feb. 25.
The Golden Gophers will return home after that to host the Dairy Queen Classic on Mar. 2-4. Minnesota will face The Citadel on Mar. 2, 2006 NCAA Super Regional participant Ole Miss on Mar. 3 and 2006 NCAA Regional participant Arkansas on Mar. 4.
Minnesota will follow that up with a three-game series against Missouri State at the Metrodome on Mar. 9-11. The Golden Gophers will then take a six-day, five-game spring trip to California where they will face UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 13-14 and 2006 NCAA Regional participant Pepperdine on Mar. 16-18.
The Golden Gophers will wrap up non-conference play with a three-game series against Hartford at the Metrodome on Mar. 23-25.
“It is always part of our philosophy to challenge our team in the non-conference season so we can find out our strengths and weaknesses as early as possible and build off that,” said Anderson. “I think this year’s schedule is interesting, because it is against diverse group of quality teams from around the country. We will play some SEC and other teams from the south the first couple weeks, and then follow that up with a couple of very good California schools. We also face a very good Missouri State program, and a Hartford team from the northeast. It should be good preparation for Big Ten play to face quality teams that have different strengths.”
Minnesota will open up Big Ten play with a pair of road series for the first time since 2004. The Golden Gophers will play in the first Big Ten series at Penn State’s new ballpark on Mar. 30-Apr. 1. Following the opening series, the Golden Gophers will head to Ann Arbor, Mich. to face the defending Big Ten Champion Michigan Wolverines on Apr. 6-8.
The Golden Gophers will have their first Big Ten home series against Iowa at Siebert Field on Apr. 13-15. Minnesota will also play home series against Michigan State (Apr. 20-22), Northwestern (May 4-6) and Ohio State (May 11-13). All of those Big Ten games will take place at Siebert Field.
Minnesota’s other two Big Ten road series will be at Illinois (Apr. 27-29) and Indiana (May 18-20).
“The Big Ten is a very balanced league once again,” said Anderson. “I think it is testament to the fact that more schools are putting more resources into their programs. This year looks very similar to past seasons, where it has come down to the last weekend. I expect much of the same this year.”
Over the course of the past two seasons, Minnesota has saved its best play for the end of the year. It is testament to the toughness and resilience of the program that the Golden Gophers have managed to turn up the level play at the right time. This year, Minnesota would like to be more consistent in conference play at a high level throughout the course of conference. With the experience and talent this team possesses, the coaching staff feels they can get off to a good start and make a good run at the program’s preseason goals of winning a Big Ten title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
