University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Rallies to Defeat Purdue
4/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Entering the ninth inning, the Golden Gophers trailed 3-1 and had not registered a hit against Purdue starter Matt Bischoff since the fifth inning. AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) started the inning by lining a 2-2 pitch to left center field for a single, and Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) drew a walk to make it first and second. Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) followed up by roping a two-run double to right center field to tie the game at 3-3.
Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) followed with a single through the right side against Boilermaker reliever Kevin Cahill. Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) drew a walk to load the bases, but Cahill got Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) to ground to the shortstop who threw Kvasnicka out at the plate for the first out of the inning. Freshman Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) followed by hitting a line shot to right field that Knudson tagged up on to score the winning run.
Minnesota senior starter Chauncy Handran (Scobey, Mont.) received a no-decision as he gave up six hits, three runs, walked four and struck out four in seven innings. Sophomore Luke Rasmussen (Northfield, Minn.) pitched two shutout innings out of the bullpen to pick up the win to move to 3-0 on the season.
Eight of the nine Golden Gopher players reached base on the night, and seven different players collected hits. Kvasnicka led the way going 1-for-4 with the clutch two-out RBI in the ninth. Gominsky was also 1-for-3 with an RBI, while O'Shea reached base twice going 1-for-3 with a double and a run. Knudson and Pettersen both also went 1-for-4 with a run on the night.
Purdue starter Matt Bischoff took a tough loss, as he gave up six hits, four runs, two walks and struck out sevent. Bischoff entered the ninth having given up four hits and one run, before the Golden Gophers pushed three across in the ninth. Cahill gave up a hit and walk in two thirds innings of work.
The Boilermakers had the first quality scoring opportunity of the night when they put runners on first and third with one out. Eric Charles tried to lay down on a bunt on a safety squeeze play, but Handran fielded it perfectly and threw out Alex Jaffee at the plate for the second out of the inning. Handran struck out Dan Black to get out of the inning.
Minnesota got on the board first with a single run in the bottom of the fifth. O'Shea led the inning off with a double to right center field, and moved to third on single by Decker with no one out. Decker got caught stealing heading to second, but stayed in the rundown long enough to allow O'Shea to score to make it 1-0.
Handran shut down Purdue until the top of the seventh when the Boilermakers pushed a single run across the plate to tie the game at 1-1. David Blount led off the inning with a single up the middle, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by John Cummins and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Blount came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Jaffee to tie the game.
Purdue took its first lead of the night with two runs in the top of the eighth to move ahead 3-1. The Boilermakers loaded the bases on a Brandon Haveman single, a Charles walk and Black getting hit by the pitch. Rasmussen came on in relief, and got pinch Ben Wolgamot to fly out to right field. Wolgamot's fly out allowed Haveman to come home to score to give Purdue a 2-1 lead. After the second out was recorded on a bunted pop out, Cummins drove a ball to double to right center field. Charles scored the Boilermakers' third run, but Black was thrown out at the plate on a strong relay throw by McCallum to end the inning and keep the score at 3-1.
The Boilermakers were led by Haveman who was 3-for-5 with a run, while Jaffee was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Cummins was also 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Minnesota will be back in action on Saturday, Apr. 25 at 2:05 p.m. at the Metrodome when it continues its series with Purdue. The series finale will take place on Sunday, Apr. 26 at 1:05 p.m. Both games can be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and on gophersports.com.
