University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Baseball Hosts Metrodome Tournament
3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 Minnesota will host the Metrodome Tournament on Mar. 7-9. The Golden Gophers will face New Mexico on Friday, Mar. 7 at 6:35 p.m, No. 18 California on Saturday, Mar. 8 at 6:35 p.m. and Northern Iowa on Sunday, Mar. 9 at 3:05 p.m. All three games can be seen live on Gold Zone, and can be heard on gophersports.com. Sunday’s game against Northern Iowa can also be heard on KLBB (1220 AM). This is the third time in four years that the Golden Gophers have hosted a tournament the week after the Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome. In 2005, Minnesota hosted Harvard, Louisiana-Lafayette and went 1-2 on the weekend. The Golden Gophers also went 3-0 in a tournament that featured Ball State, Illinois State and Vermont in 2006. Minnesota enters the tournament with a 2-4 overall record, after winning two of three in the Dairy Queen Classic. New Mexico is 7-3, California is 6-1-1 and Northern Iowa is 4-4.
 Minnesota’s matchup against No. 18 California on Mar. 8 will mark the Golden Gophers’ sixth game against a ranked opponent this season. In the first two weeks of the season, Minnesota has faced No. 4 Ole Miss in a three-game series, No. 18 Tulane and No. 29 Pepperdine. The Golden Gophers also have No. 6 Missouri and No. 15 Michigan remaining on their schedule this year.
Minnesota will meet New Mexico for the first time in school history on Mar. 7. It will be only the seventh meeting against the Mountain West for the Golden Gophers. The last meeting came in 2001 against San Diego State. Minnesota will face California for the first time since the two teams met in the NCAA Tournament in 2001. The Golden Bears also won the 1998 Dairy Queen Classic with a 3-0 record. The Golden Gophers will face Northern Iowa on Mar. 9, and again at the Metrodome on Apr. 9. Minnesota will return the trip when it heads to Waterloo on Apr. 16 to face Northern Iowa.
Matt Nohelty enters the week tied for seventh with Tim McIntosh (1984-86) on the all-time batting average list in Minnesota history at .366. After going 7-for-15 this past weekend in the Dairy Queen Classic, Nohelty raised his career average to .366, and his season average to .385.
Starting on Mar. 14, Minnesota will play a stretch of 14 games in 18 days. The Golden Gophers will start a three-game series at Pacific on Mar. 14-16. Minnesota returns home to host a two-game series against North Dakota State on Mar. 18-19 at the Metrodome, will then face South Dakota State in a three-game series on Mar. 21-23, will host No. 6 Missouri on Mar. 25-26 and will wrap up the stretch by starting Big Ten play against Indiana in a four-game series on Mar. 28-30.
Minnesota will host Alumni Weekend this week. The Golden Gophers will honor four Big Ten Championship teams from the past on the weekend. On Friday, Mar. 7, Minnesota will honor the 1958 team that went 26-7 and finished first in the Big Ten at 11-3 prior to the game against New Mexico. The Golden Gophers will honor the 1968 team that sent 35-9 and finished first in the Big Ten at 14-2 on Saturday, Mar. 8 prior to the California game. On Sunday, Mar. 9, Minnesota will honor the 1988 and 1998 Big Ten Tournament Championship teams prior to the game.
