University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Falls to Illinois 15-10
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The 23rd-ranked Minnesota baseball team (22-11, 6-3) dropped a 15-10 decision to Illinois (22-10, 7-3) in the series opener on Friday, Apr. 17.
Due to impending bad weather on Sunday, the teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 18 at 1 p.m. Both games can be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and on gophersports.com.
Minnesota was led by Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) who went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBI. McCallum became the first Golden Gopher since Jake Elder (on Apr. 16-17, 2004) to hit a home run in three straight games. In past three games, McCallum has gone 9-for-13 with three home runs, 15 RBI and seven runs. McCallum also extended his hitting streak to 18 games with the three-hit night.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs and a career-high three RBI. Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI, while freshman Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) reached base four times, had two stole bases and went 3-for-4 with two runs. Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) finished the night 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
Overall, the Golden Gophers had eight different players collect a hit and score a run in the game.
The teams had 17 players collect hits on the night, combined for 34 hits and 25 runs.
Minnesota led 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but surrendered 10 straight runs to fall behind 11-6. The Golden Gophers battled back with four runs in the top of the seventh to make it 11-10, before Illinois answered with four runs in the bototm of seventh to take a 15-10 lead.
Senior Chauncy Handran (Scobey, Mont.) had his six-game winning streak come to an end, as he took the loss to fall to 6-2. It was his first loss since Golden Gophers' season opener on Feb. 20. Handran gave up 10 hits, five earned runs, two walks and struck out two in 4.2 innings. Despite getting hit hard, Phil Haig hung in to pick up the win for Illinois to move to 4-2. Haig gave up 15 hits, 10 runs, three walks and struck out seven in 6.1 innings of work. Lee Zerrusen picked up the save for the Illini, as he came in with the score at 11-10 and gave up two hits in 2.2 scoreless innings.
Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Kvasnicka hit the second pitch he saw over the left field fence to give the Golden Gophers a 1-0 lead. Knudson followed with a single to left field, and Gominsky and Geason drew walks to load the bases with two out. Haig retired Nohelty with ground out to get out of the jam.
Illinois tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Dominic Altobelli led off with a double to start the inning, and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Handran retired the next two batters and kept Altobelli at third, but Pete Cappetta delivered an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
The Golden Gophers plated a single run in the top of the third inning when McCallum delivered a solo home run to put Minnesota ahead 2-1.
Minnesota erupted for a four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 6-1 lead. Gominsky led off the inning with a single, and moved to third on a one-out single by Geason. Nohelty followed with an RBI single to plate Gominsky to move the score to 3-1. Pettersen followed with a single to load the bases, and McCallum plated Geason and Nohelty with a two-run double to put the Golden Gophers ahead 5-1. Kvasnicka followed with an RBI single to plate Pettersen to put Minnesota ahead 6-1. Haig prevented further damage when he got Knudson to ground into a double play to get out of the inning.
Illinois scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pair of solo home runs by Brand Wikoff and Aaron Johnson to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 5-3.
The Illini exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take their first lead of the night at 8-6. Casey McMurray started the scoring with an RBI single, and Brandon Wikoff drew a walk with the bases loaded to force home a run to make it 6-5. On the next play, Dominic Altobelli reached on an error in center field and Joe Bonadonna narrowly beat out the force play at the plate to tie the game at 6-6. McMurray put Illinois ahead 7-6 when he scored on a double play by Aaron Johnson. Matt Dittman plated the fifth run of the inning to make it 8-6 on an RBI single.
Illinois added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run single by Altobelli and an RBI single by Johnson to take an 11-6 lead.
The Golden Gophers battled back with four runs in the top of the seventh to cut the lead down to one run at 11-10. Knudson led off with a walk, and Gominsky and Decker followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Geason followed by crushing a 2-0 pitch to center field for a three-run triple, and came home to score on a Nohelty sacrifice fly to cut back down to a one-run game at 11-10.
Illinois answered with a four-run bottom of the seventh to take a 15-10 lead. The Illini loaded the bases with no one out, but Luke Rasmussen (Northfield, Minn.) got McMurray to ground into a double play. The double play did plate Willie Argo to push the score to 12-10. Wikoff prolonged the inning with a walk, and Altobelli followed with a three-run homer to put Illinois ahead 15-10.
All nine players in the Illini lineup collected a hit. Altobelli led the way, as he went 3-for-5 with a home run, three runs and five RBI. Bonadonna reached base five times, and was 4-for-5 with two runs. Wikoff also reached base three times, and was 1-for-3 with a home run, three runs and two RBI.
Due to impending bad weather on Sunday, the teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 18 at 1 p.m. Both games can be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and on gophersports.com.
Minnesota was led by Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) who went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBI. McCallum became the first Golden Gopher since Jake Elder (on Apr. 16-17, 2004) to hit a home run in three straight games. In past three games, McCallum has gone 9-for-13 with three home runs, 15 RBI and seven runs. McCallum also extended his hitting streak to 18 games with the three-hit night.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs and a career-high three RBI. Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI, while freshman Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) reached base four times, had two stole bases and went 3-for-4 with two runs. Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) finished the night 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
Overall, the Golden Gophers had eight different players collect a hit and score a run in the game.
The teams had 17 players collect hits on the night, combined for 34 hits and 25 runs.
Minnesota led 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but surrendered 10 straight runs to fall behind 11-6. The Golden Gophers battled back with four runs in the top of the seventh to make it 11-10, before Illinois answered with four runs in the bototm of seventh to take a 15-10 lead.
Senior Chauncy Handran (Scobey, Mont.) had his six-game winning streak come to an end, as he took the loss to fall to 6-2. It was his first loss since Golden Gophers' season opener on Feb. 20. Handran gave up 10 hits, five earned runs, two walks and struck out two in 4.2 innings. Despite getting hit hard, Phil Haig hung in to pick up the win for Illinois to move to 4-2. Haig gave up 15 hits, 10 runs, three walks and struck out seven in 6.1 innings of work. Lee Zerrusen picked up the save for the Illini, as he came in with the score at 11-10 and gave up two hits in 2.2 scoreless innings.
Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Kvasnicka hit the second pitch he saw over the left field fence to give the Golden Gophers a 1-0 lead. Knudson followed with a single to left field, and Gominsky and Geason drew walks to load the bases with two out. Haig retired Nohelty with ground out to get out of the jam.
Illinois tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Dominic Altobelli led off with a double to start the inning, and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Handran retired the next two batters and kept Altobelli at third, but Pete Cappetta delivered an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
The Golden Gophers plated a single run in the top of the third inning when McCallum delivered a solo home run to put Minnesota ahead 2-1.
Minnesota erupted for a four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 6-1 lead. Gominsky led off the inning with a single, and moved to third on a one-out single by Geason. Nohelty followed with an RBI single to plate Gominsky to move the score to 3-1. Pettersen followed with a single to load the bases, and McCallum plated Geason and Nohelty with a two-run double to put the Golden Gophers ahead 5-1. Kvasnicka followed with an RBI single to plate Pettersen to put Minnesota ahead 6-1. Haig prevented further damage when he got Knudson to ground into a double play to get out of the inning.
Illinois scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pair of solo home runs by Brand Wikoff and Aaron Johnson to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 5-3.
The Illini exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take their first lead of the night at 8-6. Casey McMurray started the scoring with an RBI single, and Brandon Wikoff drew a walk with the bases loaded to force home a run to make it 6-5. On the next play, Dominic Altobelli reached on an error in center field and Joe Bonadonna narrowly beat out the force play at the plate to tie the game at 6-6. McMurray put Illinois ahead 7-6 when he scored on a double play by Aaron Johnson. Matt Dittman plated the fifth run of the inning to make it 8-6 on an RBI single.
Illinois added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run single by Altobelli and an RBI single by Johnson to take an 11-6 lead.
The Golden Gophers battled back with four runs in the top of the seventh to cut the lead down to one run at 11-10. Knudson led off with a walk, and Gominsky and Decker followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Geason followed by crushing a 2-0 pitch to center field for a three-run triple, and came home to score on a Nohelty sacrifice fly to cut back down to a one-run game at 11-10.
Illinois answered with a four-run bottom of the seventh to take a 15-10 lead. The Illini loaded the bases with no one out, but Luke Rasmussen (Northfield, Minn.) got McMurray to ground into a double play. The double play did plate Willie Argo to push the score to 12-10. Wikoff prolonged the inning with a walk, and Altobelli followed with a three-run homer to put Illinois ahead 15-10.
All nine players in the Illini lineup collected a hit. Altobelli led the way, as he went 3-for-5 with a home run, three runs and five RBI. Bonadonna reached base five times, and was 4-for-5 with two runs. Wikoff also reached base three times, and was 1-for-3 with a home run, three runs and two RBI.
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