University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota 2009 Season Wrap-up
6/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team entered the 2009 season as team on a mission looking to bounce back from their first losing since 1962 in 2008. Minnesota did that and more, as it returned to the excellence the program has become accustomed to historically and set the table for success in the future.
In the 2009 season, Minnesota had the program's ninth 40-win season, advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship for the eighth time in as many appearances (2001-07, 09), won two games in an NCAA Regional for the first time since 1999 and finished second by a half game in Big Ten regular-season play.The 17-6 (.739) was the highest winning percentage in Big Ten play since 2003, and sixth-best under John Anderson.
From 2008 to 2009, the Golden Gophers orchaestrated the largest turnaround in Division I moving from 20-35 to 40-19. Overall, it was an 18-game turnaround. Minnesota's Big Ten record also went from 10-21 (.323) in 2008 to 17-6 (.739) this season. It was the largest one-season jump by a Big Ten team in conference winning percentage since 1964-65, and third-best in the Big Ten since 1950.
Minnesota was also remarkably consistent in 2009, as the Golden Gophers had one losing weekend the entire season. In 15 weekends of play, Minnesota had 12 winning weekends, two weekends where it collected splits and one losing weekend.
Golden Gophers Start Off Strong in Non-Conference Play (Feb. 20-Mar. 21):
The Golden Gophers season started on Feb. 20 with a tough 11-2 loss to Seton Hall in the Big East-Big Ten Challenge. Minnesota bounced back with a 5-4 victory over West Virginia (who finished third in the Big East) and defeated Michigan State 7-2. Against West Virginia, The Golden Gophers got a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning by redshirt freshman AJ Pettersen with the game tied at 4-4 to give them what would prove to be the game-winning run.
Prior to the Dairy Queen Classic, Minnesota dropped a 6-2 decision to Hawai'i on Feb. 26. The Golden Gophers bounced back with a 13-3 victory over UC Santa Barbara in the first game of the Dairy Queen Classic in which they pounded out 17 hits. The next night, Minnesota defeated Washington in 10 innings 6-5 when junior Derek McCallum was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.
The Golden Gophers rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the final game of the tournament to defeat Hawai'i 5-4 on a two-run single by senior Jon Hummel in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the victory, Minnesota won its second straight Dairy Queen Classic and went undefeated in the tournament for the first time since 2004. Sophomore Michael Kvasnicka was named the MVP of the Dairy Queen Classic.
After dropping a 4-3 midweek contest to Northern Iowa, Minnesota swept through the Metrodome Tournament with wins over Illinois State (16-3), Western Michigan (7-1) and South Dakota State (7-2). The Golden Gophers won by combined margin of 30-6 to gain some valuable momentum heading into an eight-game Texas trip.
Minnesota opened up the Texas trip with a 6-4 win over No. 14 TCU on Mar. 14. The Golden Gophers trailed 4-3 heading into the top of the eighth inning, but got a two-run double from junior Kyle Knudson to take the lead at 5-4. Nick O'Shea added an RBI single to make it 6-4, and sophomores Cullen Sexton and Scott Matyas pitched three shutout innings to close the game.
The Golden Gophers scored six runs in the top of the first inning in the second game of the series, and defeated the Horned Frogs 7-2 in a second straight contest behind a strong performance by senior Tom Buske. Minnesota dropped the final game of the series to TCU 4-1 in a another tightly contested matchup.
Minnesota suffered its longest losing streak of the year, as it dropped back-to-back midweek games to Texas-Arlington 5-2 and 12-5. One bright spot that came out of two games with Texas-Arlington was the debut of freshman Justin Gominsky. Gominsky went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI in his debut against the Mavericks on Mar. 18, and would start the final 44 games of the season for the Golden Gophers.
The Golden Gophers bounced back with their best offensive series of the year, as they pounded out 38 runs in a three-game sweep at Dallas Baptist (12-3, 15-3, 11-9). Minnesota collected 48 hits in the series, and rallied from an 8-3 deficit to win the third game of the series. In that contest, Minnesota was down 9-8 going into the top of the eighth, before Pettersen delivered an RBI single and McCallum put the Golden Gophers ahead with a sacrifice fly. McCallum started to heat up in the series, as he drove in 10 runs in the three games.
Minnesota Authors One of the Best Turnarounds in Big Ten History (Mar. 27-May 16):
Minnesota carried its offensive momentum into the Big Ten season, as it defeated Indiana 12-5 in the Big Ten opener on the road. The Golden Gophers had eight different players collect RBI in the game, and got a strong eight-inning outing from starter Chauncy Handran. Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second game, but Indiana rallied to win 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance from Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Year Eric Arnett. The final game of the series was lost due to weather.
Following a 9-7 midweek loss to Northern Iowa, Minnesota claimed two of three from Ohio State at the Metrodome. In the first game, the Golden Gophers handed Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Year Alex Wimmers his first loss of the 2009 season and one of only two on the season. In that game, Pettersen reached base all four times he came to the plate and went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI for Minnesota in a 7-5 victory.
The Golden Gophers dropped a 3-2 decision to the Buckeyes in the second game of the series, but bounced back with huge offensive output in the third game as they defeated Ohio State 16-3 in the series finale. In that game, Minnesota scored all of its 16 runs in the first four innings, and was led by Pettersen who was 3-for-5 with four runs, a double and three RBI. McCallum also went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and three RBI, while Knudson was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI.
Minnesota carried that momentum into a midweek Big 12-Big Ten matchup against Missouri. In his first career start, Austin Lubinsky pitched four innings, gave up four hits, one run, walked one and struck out one batter. With the score at 6-3, sophomore Luke Rasmussen entered the game and pitched four shutout innings to pick up the win. Knudson was also 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs and three RBI, while Gominsky also hit his first career home run in the game as well. The Golden Gophers would split the series after falling 20-5 in the second game.
The Golden Gophers followed up by claiming a series sweep over Northwestern at the Metrodome by scores of 5-4, 5-1 and 6-4. In the first game of the series, Minnesota trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before a Nick O'Shea two-run homer tied the game at 3-3. Gominsky and Pettersen added RBI singles to give the Golden Gophers an eventual 5-4 win. In the series finale, Minnesota trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh before O'Shea hit a three-run homer to put the Golden Gophers ahead to stay at 6-4.
Minnesota's next five games featured a historical stretch of individual performanes by McCallum. The stretch started during a 12-2 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee that saw McCallum go 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple and six RBI. The next day, McCallum went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs and six RBI in a 9-6 win over South Dakota State.
McCallum carried his hot hitting into a three-game series at Illinois, as he went 8-for-14 with four runs, three home runs and eight RBI. Unfortunately for the Golden Gophers they saw a 6-1 lead turn into a 15-10 defeat in the series opener against the Illini on Apr. 17. Minnesota led 4-1 in the second game of the series, and first of a doubleheader on Apr. 18, but lost 10-7 to suffer its first and only series loss of the year.
Minnesota was in danger of getting swept in the third game of the series when it trailed 5-4 in the top of the seventh, but McCallum delivered a three-run homer to put Minnesota ahead 7-5. Illinois cut the lead to 8-6, but the Golden Gophers pushed it back out to 12-6, before hanging on to win 12-8. McCallum was named National Player of the Week, during a week that saw him bat .636 (14-for-22) with six home runs and 20 RBI.
After starting out 6-4 in conference play, the Golden Gophers caught fire the rest of the way. After an 8-1 win over North Dakota State in a midweek game on Apr. 22, Minnesota started a strong stretch of play in conference action. The Golden Gophers swept the Boilermakers by scores of 4-3, 3-1 and 5-2 behind three strong outings by the starters Handran, Buske and Seth Rosin.
Following a midweek loss to Division III National Champion St. Thomas 6-3 in a midweek game, Minnesota swept Iowa 4-3, 26-9 and 12-3. The 26 runs in the second game were the most by a Golden Gopher squad since 2002 and the most in a Big Ten contest since 2001. In that game, Matt Nohelty set a school-record with five walks, and missed tying the NCAA record by one walk. He also was hit by a pitch in the game, and went 1-for-2 with four runs and two stolen bases. Minnesota's sweep over the Hawkeyes also gave the Golden Gophers an 11-1 home record in conference play. That mark was Minnesota's best at home in Big Ten play since 1990.
The Golden Gophers finished up their home season with a 6-5 win over North Dakota State at Siebert Field on May 5. It was the earliest date for Minnesota's final home game since the 1965 season. Minnesota went on the road and defeated First-Team All-Big Ten starter Chris Fetter to open its series with a 9-5 win over Michigan. Eric Decker got the Golden Gophers on the board first in the game with a solo home run in the third and helped pace Minnesota as he went 3-for-4 with three runs. Pettersen also was 3-for-5 with three RBI, as he had three RBI singles on the day. McCallum also went 2-for-5 with three RBI in the game.
Minnesota won its ninth Big Ten contest in a row to move 15-4 as it defeated Michigan 12-5 in the second game of the series. Kvasnicka paced the Golden Gophers, as he went 2-for-4 with two runs, two doubles and four RBI. Nohelty also went 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBI. The nine straight Big Ten wins was the best streak by Minnesota since it started Big Ten play 11-0 in 2003. The Golden Gophers dropped the series finale 10-4 after Rosin was knocked out of the game on a line drive off his back in the second inning.
The Golden Gophers claimed a piece of history on May 14, 2009 as it won 7-6 at Penn State to give John Anderson his 1,000th career victory. Anderson became the 39th coach to reach the mark in Division I and 20th to do so with the same program. Minnesota led 6-0 in the game before Penn State rallied to tie it at 6-6. In the top of ninth, Kvasnicka singled and moved to second on a ground out. O'Shea reached on a throwing error by the third baseman, which allowed Kvasnicka to score the winning run in the game.
In the second game of the series, Minnesota got a spectacular outing from Rosin, who pitched seven shutout innings before giving up a two-run homer in the top of the eighth. With the score at 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Matyas made his first two-inning save of the year to close out his 13th save. Decker added a solo home run in the top of the ninth for insurance. With the win, the Golden Gophers took sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with one game to go at 17-5.
Entering the final day, Minnesota needed a win or an Ohio State loss to win the Big Ten regular-season title. The Buckeyes won, while the Golden Gophers battled through a rain-filled day. After a scoreless top of the first, the two teams sat through a 30-minute rain delay. After Penn State scored three runs in the bottom of the first the Golden Gophers answered with four in the top of the second. The Nittany Lions took the lead back at 5-4, but
Minnesota answered with a four-run top of the fourth to make it 8-5. Right when the Golden Gophers looked to have the momentum the sky opened up again and caused an hour and a half rain delay. After the teams returned, neither starter could pitch anymore because of the delay. Buske, who had pitched into at least the sixth in 11 of his previous 12 outings, left the game after he had retired five Nittany Lions in a row.
Minnesota gave up a single run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 8-6 and gave up the lead for good in the bottomof the sixth at 9-8. Penn State closed it out in the ninth with the score at 10-8 to deny Minnesota the Big Ten regular-season title.
Ten Golden Gophers Collect Big Ten Honors:
Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Minnesota had 10 different players collect Big Ten honors. McCallum, who batted .440 with eight home runs, 27 runs and 36 RBI in conference play, was one of three unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten honors. Sophomore closer Scott Matyas (2.13 ERA, 20 SO, 12.2 IP, 10 SV in conference play), redshirt freshman shortstop AJ Pettersen (.367, 30 R, 21 RBI in Big Ten play) and sophomore starter Seth Rosin (5-0, 3.60 ERA in conference play) each claimed Second-Team All-Big Ten honors.
Senior Tom Buske (4-3, 4.20 ERA, .250 opp avg. in Big Ten play), sophomore Michael Kvasnicka (.284, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 15 R in conference play) and senior Matt Nohelty (.333, 29 R, 8 SB, .452 OBP in Big Ten play) claimed Third-Team All-Big Ten honors. Pettersen, Justin Gominsky (.333, 17 R, 11 RBI in conference play), Austin Lubinsky (3-0, 3.93 ERA, 7 App. in Big Ten play) and Nick O'Shea (.303, 4 HR, 5 2B, 17 RBI in conference play) all claimed Big Ten All-Freshmen team accolades.
Gophers Make Eighth Big Ten Tournament Championship Appearance in as Many Years:
Minnesota got off on the wrong foot in the Big Ten Tournament, as it dropped its first game 12-3 to Indiana on May 21. The Golden Gophers fell victim to a strong pitching performance by the Big Ten Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Matt Bashore. Minnesota fought out of the loser's bracket by slugging its way to a 12-3 win over Purdue and a 13-4 victory over Illinois. Despite the fact that Minnesota scored 25 runs and had 29 hits in the two games, the bigger story was Buske's first career complete game against Purdue and Rosin's career-high eighth innings in the win against the Illini. Minnesota's starters pitched 17 of 18 innings on the day to save the Golden Gophers' bullpen.
The final day of the Big Ten Tournament started out with Minnesota's third victory over Ohio State. With the score tied at 4-4 in the third inning, Decker delivered a solo home run in the top of the third. Decker then scored on an RBI double by Gominsky in the top of the fifth and deliverd a two-run double in the sixth to make it 8-4. After Scott Fern made the start, Rasmussen bridged the gap to the eighth inning and picked up the win. Matyas collected his second two-inning save of the season to give Minnesota the 9-6 victory, and its eighth trip to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game in as many appearances (2001-07, 09).
In the championship, Minnesota dropped a 13-2 decision to Indiana in its fifth game of the Big Ten Tournament. It marked the sixth time the Golden Gophers have played five or more games in the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota had four Big Ten All-Tournament honoress, as Buske (SP - 1-0, 9.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO in Big Ten Tournament), Decker (OF - .450, 4 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI in Big Ten Tournament), MCallum (2B - .438, 6 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI in Big Ten Tournament) and O'Shea (1B - .429, 2 HR, 7 RBI in Big Ten Tournbament) all claimed the honors.
Minnesota Returns to Baton Rouge for NCAA Tournament:
Minnesota received the No. 2 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional, which included No. 1 LSU (No. 3 overall in the NCAA Tournament), No. 3 Baylor and No. 4 Southern. The No. 2 seed was the highest in the NCAA Regionals for the Golden Gophers since 2003. It was the Golden Gophers' first trip back to Baton Rouge since they played there in the 2001 NCAA Regionals. Minnesota dropped a tough opener to Baylor 5-0 on May 29. The loss was the first time all year Minnesota had been shut out.
The Golden Gophers battled back with an 11-8 victory over Southern on May 30. In that game, Minnesota took 4-0 lead only to see the Jaguars battle back to make it 4-3. The Golden Gophers expanded the lead to 8-3 in the top of the seventh, but Southern tied it at 8-8 with five-run bottom of the seventh. Knudson came up with a clutch RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to give the Golden Gophers a 9-8 lead. Minnesota added two runs in the top of the ninth on RBI singles by Nohelty and Pettersen to make it 11-8. Matyas pitched the final 1.2 inning to close out a save for Minnesota.
Minnesota took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a McCallum home run against Baylor on May 31, but Baylor scored two in the bottom of the first and three in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. The Golden Gophers cut the lead to 5-3 on a McCallum two-out RBI double in the top of the seventh, and tied the game at 5-5 when Kvasnicka followed by crushing a two-run homer.
The Golden Gophers scored five runs in the eighth and five in the ninth due in large part to a pair of two-run doubles by McCallum top make it 15-5. Baylor fought back with seven runs in the bottom of the ninth before Rasmussen closed out the game. Handran threw over 130 pitches in his final career outing to get Minnesota into the ninth inning, as he picked up his eighth win. McCallum finished the game 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and career-high seven RBI. It was his fourth game of the year with five or more RBI.
Minnesota ran out of gas against No. 2 LSU, as it dropped a 10-3 loss to the Tigers in the NCAA Regional Championship. LSU had saved SEC Pitcher of the Year Louis Coleman to face the Golden Gophers, and the First-Team All-American picked up his 12th win of the year on his way to limiting Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers had four players named to the Baton Rouge All-Tournament team. McCallum (.474, 5 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI in NCAA Regionals), Gominsky (.357, 3 R, 2 RBI in NCAA Regionals), Nohelty (.316, 5 R, 2 RBI in NCAA Regionals) andKyle Geason (.286, 2 R) all collected the honors.
McCallum Leads the Way Among Great Individual Performances:
McCallum finished the year with one of the greatest offensive seasons in Golden Gopher history. He broke the school-record for RBI (previously held by current Major League Robb Quinlan at 84 in 1999) with 86 on the season. McCallum also had the sixth-highest batting average in school history (.409), was fourth in hits (95), tied for third in home runs (18), was third in total bases (172) and sixth in slugging percentage (.741).
Minnesota's three weekend starters also collected 24 wins on the season between them. Buske became the first Golden Gopher pitcher since Glen Perkins in 2004 to collect nine wins in a season. The two senior starters (Buske and Handran) totaled 17 wins between the two of the game, which was the most wins by a pair of Minnesota starters since 2003 when Perkins and CJ Woodrow combined for 18. Rosin also became the ninth pitcher in school-history to go undefeated in Big Ten play with a minimum of five decisions, and tied for the eighth best inning percentage (.875, 7-1) in school history.
Nohelty also finished a remarkable career for the Golden Gophers in the top 10 in several career mark. He finished third in hits with 306, second in stolen bases (92), tied for eighth in batting average (.366), fourth in at-bats (837) and fourth in runs (204).
Gophers Set Several Team Marks
The Golden Gophers tied the school-record for fielding percentage at .971, which was a mark set in 2004. Minnesotaalso hit the most home runs by a Golden Gopher squad since 2001.
The Golden Gophers also collected their ninth 40th-win season in school history, had their best Big Ten winning percentage since 2003 and won the most games in NCAA Regional by the program play since 1999.
