University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Hosts No. 19 Michigan at Siebert Field
5/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 Minnesota will host No. 19 Michigan on May 9-11. The Golden Gophers will face the Wolverines on Friday, May 9 at 6:35 p.m., in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 10 at 2:35 p.m. and in the series finale on Sunday, May 11 at 1:05 p.m. The final three games can be seen live on the Big Ten Network. All four games can also be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and gophersports.com. There will also be live video on the Gold Zone of the game on May 9. Minnesota enters the series with an 18-30 overall record, and is tied for ninth in the Big Ten at 8-16. Michigan enters the series with a 35-11 overall record, and leads the Big Ten by three games with a 20-4 conference record.
The Golden Gophers and Wolverines will meet for the first time since May 26, 2006 when Minnesota lost in the Big Ten Tournament Championship 9-4 to Michigan in Ann Arbor. Last year, the two teams were supposed to meet in Ann Arbor in a four-game series, but the series was cancelled due to weather. The two teams paths did not cross in the 2007 Big Ten Tournament. It was the first time since 1972 that Michigan and Minnesota did not face each other in a season. The Golden Gophers will host the Wolverines for the first time since 2006. Michigan won three out of four games at the Metrodome in that series. The previous year, Minnesota swept a four-game series against a then 19th-ranked Wolverine squad in the Metrodome. This year marks the first time since 2001 that the Golden Gophers and Michigan will play each other at Siebert Field. The two teams also met in the Metrodome in 2002. Minnesota last faced the Wolverines at Siebert Field on Apr. 13-15, 2001 when the Golden Gophers won three of four games at home.
Minnesota enters the week tied for ninth place in the Big Ten at 8-16. The Golden Gophers current record puts them three games back of sixth place in the Big Ten, which would be the final spot in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. Only three and a half games separate fourth place from ninth place in the league. The following is a look at the remaining schedules of those teams in Big Ten play:
OSU NU PSU MSU IND MINN
ILL IND IOWA at PUR at NU MICH
at IOWA at MICH at MINN IND at MSU PSU
Scott Matyas was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for May 6. Matyas was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, and struck out nine batters in 6.1 innings against Iowa. He pitched 2.2 shutout innings and struck out five in a 7-6 win over Iowa on May 2. Two days later, Matyas pitched 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in a 17-14 11-inning win over Iowa. Matyas also collected the honors on Mar. 24. He joins Indiana’s Matt Bashore as the only pitcher in the conference to collect the honors twice this season. Matyas also becomes the first Golden Gopher to win the honors twice in a season since Matt Loberg did so in 2005.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Minnesota Michigan
RHP Tom Buske RHP Zach Putnam
(4-5, 5.20 ERA) (6-0, 2.72 ERA)
LHP Kyle Carr RHP Travis Smith
(2-6, 6.00 ERA) (4-1, 4.54 ERA)
RHP Chris Fetter RHP Dustin Klabunde
(8-1, 2.44 ERA) (0-2, 10.43 ERA)
LHP Erik Katzman RHP Dustin Brabender
(2-0, 2.62 ERA) (3-4, 5.62 ERA)
The Golden Gophers and Wolverines will meet for the first time since May 26, 2006 when Minnesota lost in the Big Ten Tournament Championship 9-4 to Michigan in Ann Arbor. Last year, the two teams were supposed to meet in Ann Arbor in a four-game series, but the series was cancelled due to weather. The two teams paths did not cross in the 2007 Big Ten Tournament. It was the first time since 1972 that Michigan and Minnesota did not face each other in a season. The Golden Gophers will host the Wolverines for the first time since 2006. Michigan won three out of four games at the Metrodome in that series. The previous year, Minnesota swept a four-game series against a then 19th-ranked Wolverine squad in the Metrodome. This year marks the first time since 2001 that the Golden Gophers and Michigan will play each other at Siebert Field. The two teams also met in the Metrodome in 2002. Minnesota last faced the Wolverines at Siebert Field on Apr. 13-15, 2001 when the Golden Gophers won three of four games at home.
Minnesota enters the week tied for ninth place in the Big Ten at 8-16. The Golden Gophers current record puts them three games back of sixth place in the Big Ten, which would be the final spot in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. Only three and a half games separate fourth place from ninth place in the league. The following is a look at the remaining schedules of those teams in Big Ten play:
OSU NU PSU MSU IND MINN
ILL IND IOWA at PUR at NU MICH
at IOWA at MICH at MINN IND at MSU PSU
Scott Matyas was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for May 6. Matyas was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, and struck out nine batters in 6.1 innings against Iowa. He pitched 2.2 shutout innings and struck out five in a 7-6 win over Iowa on May 2. Two days later, Matyas pitched 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in a 17-14 11-inning win over Iowa. Matyas also collected the honors on Mar. 24. He joins Indiana’s Matt Bashore as the only pitcher in the conference to collect the honors twice this season. Matyas also becomes the first Golden Gopher to win the honors twice in a season since Matt Loberg did so in 2005.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Minnesota Michigan
RHP Tom Buske RHP Zach Putnam
(4-5, 5.20 ERA) (6-0, 2.72 ERA)
LHP Kyle Carr RHP Travis Smith
(2-6, 6.00 ERA) (4-1, 4.54 ERA)
RHP Chris Fetter RHP Dustin Klabunde
(8-1, 2.44 ERA) (0-2, 10.43 ERA)
LHP Erik Katzman RHP Dustin Brabender
(2-0, 2.62 ERA) (3-4, 5.62 ERA)
Players Mentioned
RHP
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