University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Falls to No. 2 LSU 10-3
6/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The 21st-ranked Minnesota baseball team (40-19) saw its season end at the hands of No. 2 LSU (49-16), as it fell 10-3 in the championship game of the NCAA Regionals on Sunday, May 31 at Alex Box Stadium.
Earlier in the day, Minnesota defeated Baylor to move to 5-1 in elimination games at the time, but the Golden Gophers could not keep the magic going, as it fell to the Tigers in the championship game.
"I am very proud of our players who competed and played hard all year and continued that in this weekend's NCAA Regional play," said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. "I thought they embraced the opportunity they had here tonight, even though they knew the odds were stacked against them. They played for nine innings and as a coach that is all you can ask for from your team."
The Golden Gophers had four players named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team, as Derek McCallum (second base), Kyle Geason (third base), Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Matt Nohelty (designated hitter) each collected the honors for Minnesota.
Minnesota was led by Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) who went 2-for-4 to cap off one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of Golden Gopher baseball. Against Baylor, McCallum broke the single-season RBI total with 86, as he knocked in a career-high seven runs in the game. He also finished the season with the sixth-best batting average in school history (.409), the fourth-highest hit total (95), tied for the third-highest home run total (18), the third-highest total base amount (172) and the sixth-highest slugging percentage (.741).
"It was a blast to play down here," said McCallum. "When we came down here one of the coaches said it would be quite the environment to play in and we were not sure what to expect. It was an awesome place to play. As far as my weekend goes, I guess I saw the ball alright this weekend. However, it was a bummer to end the season like this."
Redshirt freshman Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) went 1-for-4, and collected his 11th homer of the season on a mammoth blast to left field off LSU reliever Daniel Bradshaw. Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) also collected a solo home run off Tiger starter Louis Coleman in the bottom of the seventh, and went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) was also 1-for-4, while Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) finished 1-for-2 with a double. Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) was also 1-for-3.
Senior Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) finished his four-year career eighth on the Minnesota career batting average list (.366), fourth in at-bats (837), third in hits (306), fourth in runs (204) and second in career stolen bases with 92 (one behind the record-holder Charlie Nelson at 93).
"My first losing season as a coach was last year and where we are today is very satisfying and gratifying," said Anderson. "I take my hat off to these players. They have busted their tales since we have been together in the fall. I could not be prouder of them. This is a very special group. I will always remember them for their effort this year."
Junior Allen Bechstein (Apple valley, Minn.) made his third start of the year, and took the loss to fall to 0-1 as he gave up nine hits, five earned runs, walked one and struck out a batter. Tim Ryan (Eagan, Minn.) entered in relief and pitched a career-high 3.2 innings, giving up seven hits, three runs and striking out a batter. Sophomore cullen Sexton retired four of the five batters he faced, gave up one hit and struck out two in 1.1 innings of work.
Coleman picked up the win to move to 12-2 on the season, as he gave up five hits, one run, did not walk a batter and struck out eight Golden Gopher hitters. Minnesota had a chance to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Nohelty led off with a single, and moved to third with one out on a hit-and-run single by McCallum to make it first and third. Coleman came back to strike out the next two batters to keep the game tied.
With one out and a runner on first base in the top of the second, Sean Ochinko reached on an error by the Minnesota third baseman. DJ LeMahieau got LSU On the board with an RBI double to plate Micah Gibbs to make it 1-0. Derek Helenihi followed with a two-run single up the middle to put the Tigers ahead 3-0. Ryan Schmimpf plated the fourth run on an RBI double to make it 4-0.
LSU added three runs in the top of third to move out to a 7-0 lead. Blake Dean got things started with an opposite-field home run to left field to move the Tigers ahead 5-0. Ochinko added an RBI single and LaMahieau had a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 7-0.
The Tigers moved the lead to 9-0 in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Dean and an an RBI double by Gibbs.
Minnesota got on the board on a solo home run by Knudson off Coleman in the bottom of the seventh to left center field.
Schimpf added a home run in the top of the eighth to make it 10-1.
O'Shea finished the scoring when he crushed a two-run homer to left field off Bradshaw to make it 10-3.
LSU was led offensively by Gibbs who was 4-for-5 with two runs, an RBI and a double. Schimpf wehnt 3-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and two RBI, while Dean was 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs and two RBI.
Earlier in the day, Minnesota defeated Baylor to move to 5-1 in elimination games at the time, but the Golden Gophers could not keep the magic going, as it fell to the Tigers in the championship game.
"I am very proud of our players who competed and played hard all year and continued that in this weekend's NCAA Regional play," said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. "I thought they embraced the opportunity they had here tonight, even though they knew the odds were stacked against them. They played for nine innings and as a coach that is all you can ask for from your team."
The Golden Gophers had four players named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team, as Derek McCallum (second base), Kyle Geason (third base), Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Matt Nohelty (designated hitter) each collected the honors for Minnesota.
Minnesota was led by Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) who went 2-for-4 to cap off one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of Golden Gopher baseball. Against Baylor, McCallum broke the single-season RBI total with 86, as he knocked in a career-high seven runs in the game. He also finished the season with the sixth-best batting average in school history (.409), the fourth-highest hit total (95), tied for the third-highest home run total (18), the third-highest total base amount (172) and the sixth-highest slugging percentage (.741).
"It was a blast to play down here," said McCallum. "When we came down here one of the coaches said it would be quite the environment to play in and we were not sure what to expect. It was an awesome place to play. As far as my weekend goes, I guess I saw the ball alright this weekend. However, it was a bummer to end the season like this."
Redshirt freshman Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) went 1-for-4, and collected his 11th homer of the season on a mammoth blast to left field off LSU reliever Daniel Bradshaw. Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) also collected a solo home run off Tiger starter Louis Coleman in the bottom of the seventh, and went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) was also 1-for-4, while Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) finished 1-for-2 with a double. Justin Gominsky (Mahtomedi, Minn.) was also 1-for-3.
Senior Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) finished his four-year career eighth on the Minnesota career batting average list (.366), fourth in at-bats (837), third in hits (306), fourth in runs (204) and second in career stolen bases with 92 (one behind the record-holder Charlie Nelson at 93).
"My first losing season as a coach was last year and where we are today is very satisfying and gratifying," said Anderson. "I take my hat off to these players. They have busted their tales since we have been together in the fall. I could not be prouder of them. This is a very special group. I will always remember them for their effort this year."
Junior Allen Bechstein (Apple valley, Minn.) made his third start of the year, and took the loss to fall to 0-1 as he gave up nine hits, five earned runs, walked one and struck out a batter. Tim Ryan (Eagan, Minn.) entered in relief and pitched a career-high 3.2 innings, giving up seven hits, three runs and striking out a batter. Sophomore cullen Sexton retired four of the five batters he faced, gave up one hit and struck out two in 1.1 innings of work.
Coleman picked up the win to move to 12-2 on the season, as he gave up five hits, one run, did not walk a batter and struck out eight Golden Gopher hitters. Minnesota had a chance to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Nohelty led off with a single, and moved to third with one out on a hit-and-run single by McCallum to make it first and third. Coleman came back to strike out the next two batters to keep the game tied.
With one out and a runner on first base in the top of the second, Sean Ochinko reached on an error by the Minnesota third baseman. DJ LeMahieau got LSU On the board with an RBI double to plate Micah Gibbs to make it 1-0. Derek Helenihi followed with a two-run single up the middle to put the Tigers ahead 3-0. Ryan Schmimpf plated the fourth run on an RBI double to make it 4-0.
LSU added three runs in the top of third to move out to a 7-0 lead. Blake Dean got things started with an opposite-field home run to left field to move the Tigers ahead 5-0. Ochinko added an RBI single and LaMahieau had a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 7-0.
The Tigers moved the lead to 9-0 in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Dean and an an RBI double by Gibbs.
Minnesota got on the board on a solo home run by Knudson off Coleman in the bottom of the seventh to left center field.
Schimpf added a home run in the top of the eighth to make it 10-1.
O'Shea finished the scoring when he crushed a two-run homer to left field off Bradshaw to make it 10-3.
LSU was led offensively by Gibbs who was 4-for-5 with two runs, an RBI and a double. Schimpf wehnt 3-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and two RBI, while Dean was 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs and two RBI.
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