University of Minnesota Athletics
Anderson Collects 1,000th Victory
5/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson became the 39th Head Coach in Division I history to claim 1,000 career victories, as he collected his 1,000th win as part of Minnesota's (34-14, 16-5) 7-6 victory over Penn State (24-25, 7-15) on Thursday, May 14 at Medlar Field.
"This has been a really special season," said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. "These kids have done a great job of bouncing back from last year, and really authored a new start. I am extremely proud of what they have done this year, and it is enjoyable to share this moment with this group of players."
Anderson becomes the 20th head coach in Division I history to win 1,000 games with the same team, and the first in the history of the Big Ten to win 1,000 games at the same school. He is also the 10th youngest head coach in Division I history to reach 1,000 victories, and is the fifth active head coach to win 1,000 games with the same school.
"This 1,000th win is really testimony to all the great players, coaches and staff that have been a part of this program," said Anderson. "The 1,000th win is as much about those people as it is me. It is amazing to look back and think about the success that this program has enjoyed with three coaches since 1948. From what Dick Siebert did in his 31 successful years with the program, to George Thomas to this victory tonight it is amazing to think about. I am happy I could be part of that group, because those two people were amazing individuals who were extremely loyal to this program. It is amazing to think that between the three of us we have collected almost 2,000 victories."
Anderson, Thomas and Siebert have collected 1,849 wins since Siebert took over the program in 1948.
With the win, Minnesota also remained in first place at 16-5, a half game in front of Ohio State who is 16-6. Indiana won to stay a game back of the Golden Gophers at 15-6 and Illinois lost to fall to 15-7.
Minnesota carried a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the bottom of the fifth, before Penn State scored three runs to make it 6-3. The Nittany Lions scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh to tie the game at 6-6.
In the top of the ninth, Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a ground out by Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.). Nick O'Shea hit a ground ball to Penn State third baseman Jordan Steranka that he threw past the first baseman. Kvasnicka came around to score the winning run to give the Golden Gophers a 7-6 lead.
Scott Matyas (North Prairie, Wis.) retired the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth, but Cory Wine reached second on an error. Matyas struck out Steranka to record his 12th save of the season and his eighth in Big Ten play, both of which are single-season school records.
Freshman Austin Lubinsky (LaCrosse, Wis.) entered the game with Minnesota leading 6-4, and runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the sixth. Lubinsky got Bobby Jacobs to fly out to plate Ryan Boonie to make it 6-5. He then followed by striking out Louie Picconi and getting Blake Lynd to line out to end the inning.
Lubinsky picked up the win to move to 3-0, as he gave up one hit, one unearned run, walked two and struck out five in three innings of work. Golden Gopher starter Chauncy Handran (Scobey, Mont.) took a no-decision as he gave up six hits, three earned runs, walked two and struck out two.
Minnesota was led by Knudson who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double and an RBI, while Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) reached base three times, and went 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and an RBI. Kvasnicka was also 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) reached base four times, and was 1-for-2 with a run, while Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) scored a run and knocked one in. Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) also was 1-for-5 with a run.
"It was an honor to be part of this moment with Coach Anderson," said Minnesota senior Matt Nohelty. "It just represents what a great coach he is, what a great coaching staff this is and the amazing success of this program. I am happy I was able to part of this moment."
Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Geason led off the inning with a single and moved up to second on a ground out by Nohelty. With one out, Pettersen was hit by a pitch and McCallum drew a walk to load the bases. Kvasnicka plated Geason on a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 1-0. Knudson followed with a two-run double to right field to put the Golden Gophers ahead 3-0.
In the top of the fourth, Minnesota plated two runs to take a 5-0 lead. Gominsky got things started with a bunt single, and scored on an RBI double by Geason to make it 4-0. Nohelty followed with a single, and Pettersen walked to load the bases. McCallum plated Geason on a sacrifice fly to move the Golden Gopher lead to 5-0.
Minnesota added a single run in the top of the fifth to move its lead to 6-0. Knudson had a one-out single, moved to third on a two-out double by Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) and scored on a balk by Penn State starter TJ Macy.
Penn State cut the Golden Gopher lead in half to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Bobby Jacobs delivered an RBI single to make it 6-1. The Nittany Lions loaded the bases with nobody out, but Handran retired the next two batters to keep the score at 6-1. With two outs, Mike Deese delivered a two-run single to move the score to 6-3.
The Nittany Lions cut the lead to 6-5 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Steranka led off the inning with a home run to cut the Minnesota lead to 6-4, and Jacobs cut the lead to 6-5 with a sacrifice fly that plated Boonie.
Penn State scored a single run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 6-6. With two outs, the Nittany Lions loaded the bases. Landon Nakata came home to score the tying run on a wild pitch to make it 6-6.
Nittany Lion reliever David Lutz gave up one run in one inning of relief to take the loss to fall to 4-2 on the season. Macy, who started for Penn State, gave up seven hits, five runs, walked two and struck out three to get a no-decision.
Penn State was led by Jacobs who was 1-for-3 with a double, a run and two RBI, while Deese went 1-for-5 with two RBI. Boonie scored a pair of runs and Steranka was 1-for-4 with game's only home run.
The two teams will resume the series on Friday, May 15 at 5:35 p.m. (CT) and Saturday, May 16 at 1:05 p.m. (CT). Both games will be on the Big Ten Network, KLBB (1220 AM) and gophersports.com.
