University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Loses in Target Field Opener
3/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team (8-15) dropped a 9-1 decision to Louisiana Tech (11-11) in the Target Field opener on Saturday, Mar. 27.
In the first game played at Target Field, there were 36,056 fans that went through the turnstiles from 9:15 a.m. until the conclusion of the game.The 36,056 was the second-largest attendance for collegiate baseball game. The largest came on Mar. 11, 2004 when 40,106 fans saw San Diego State and Houston play at Petco Park.
"First and foremost I would like to thank the Minnesota Twins organization and Pohlads for giving us the opportunity to be part of the experience of bringing outdoor Major League baseball back to the state of Minnesota," said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. "I think the community and fans will enjoy this facility a great deal, and we consider it a privilege to be part of this event with a first-class organization."
Minnesota got multiple-hit games from Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who was 2-for-4 with a run. Redshirt freshman Troy Larson (Maplewood, Minn.) was also 2-for-5 on the afternoon.
AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) went 1-for-4 with the only RBI of the game for Minnesota. Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Matt Puhl (North St. Paul, Minn.) each went 1-for-4, while Drew Hanish (McKinney, Texas) finished 1-for-3. Kurt Schlangen (Albany, Minn.) also had a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning.
"It was kind of surreal when we went out there on the field," said Knudson. "It was great to get out there and play in front of that many fans and great crowd."
Golden Gopher freshman starter TJ Oakes (Jordan, Minn.) threw the first pitch in the history of Target Field to Louisiana Tech batter Kyle Roliard. Oakes ended up taking the loss to fall to 1-1, as he gave up six hits, four earned runs, walked one and struck out four. Luke Rasmussen (Northfield, Minn.) gave up four hits and three earned runs in two innings of work.
Cullen Sexton (Plover, Wis.) and Allen Bechstein (Apple Valley, Minn.) combined to pitch the final 1.2 shutout innings for Minnesota.
Louisiana Tech starter Trevor Petersen pitched 6.2 shutout innings, gave up eight hits, walked three and struck out three to pick up the win to move to 3-2 on the season. Mike Jefferson gave up one unearned run in 2.1 innings of work and collected three strikeouts.
In the top of the first inning, Roliard drew a walk in the first official plate appearance at Target Field. Mark Threlkeld followed with the first hit in the history of Target Field on a double that made it second and third. Alex Williams plated Roliard with an RBI ground out to push across the first run in the history of the ballpark to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Minnesota threatened to answer in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Larson reached on an infield single and moved to second on a passed ball. Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) drew a walk, and both runners moved up on a ground out. However, Petterson got the Puhl to ground out to escaped the inning unharmed.
The Bulldogs added a single run in the top of the third to make it 2-0 when Williams plated Roliard with an RBI ground out.
In the top of the fourth, Louisiana Tech catcher Clint Ewing delivered the first home run in the history of Target Field when he delivered his fifth home of the year over the left field wall to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-0.
"It was a great experience to play in front of that many fans, and get to be part of opening up a great ballpark like this one," said Ewing. "To be able to hit the first homer here is something I will think about whenever I watch Twins' games in the future, and something I can tell my grandkids about."
Minnesota got the first two runners on in the bottom of the fourth when Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) drew a walk and Geason singled through the left side. Petersen struck out Hanish for the first out, but Andy Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) drew a walk to load the bases. Trevor Petersen escaped without any damage by inducing a double play to end the inning.
In the first four innings, Minnesota stranded seven runners on base.Louisiana Tech widened the gap in the top of the sixth with four runs to make it 7-0. Devin Dageford lead off with a single, and moved to third on a Joey Ford single. After pinch-hitter Dan Breazeale walked to load the bases, Ewing delivered a two-run single to make it 5-0. Roliard brought home a pair of runs with a two-run triple of his own to make it 7-0.
The Bulldogs added single runs in the top of the seventh and eighth to make it 9-0.
Minnesota moved it to the final tally when Pettersen plated Geason with a sacrfice fly in the bottom of the ninth.
Louisiana Tech was led by Ewing who went 3-for-4 with a home run two runs and three RBI. Roliard was also 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs and two RBI. Dageford also finished 3-for-5 with two runs.
Minnesota and Louisiana Tech will wrap up the series at the Metrodome on Sunday, Mar. 28 at 12 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on KLBB (1220 AM) and in the Gold Zone.
Target Field Firsts
First Pitch - TJ Oakes (Minnesota) ball to Kyle Roliard (La. Tech) ball at 1:08 p.m.
First Walk - Kyle Roliard by TJ Oakes
First Hit - Double by Mark Threlkeld (La. Tech) to right center field (off TJ Oakes)
First Single - Troy Larson (Minnesota) infield single to third base (off Trevor Petersen) in the bottom of the first
First Double - Mark Threlkeld, (La. Tech) (of Oakes) in the top of the first
First Triple - Kyle Roliard (La. Tech) (off Luke Rasmussen) in the top of the sixth
First Home Run - Clint Ewing (La. Tech) (off Oakes) in the top of the fourth inning
First Run - Scored by Kyle Roliard (La. Tech) on an RBI ground out by Alex Williams (La. Tech) in the top of the first
First RBI - Alex Williams RBI ground out to plate Kyle Roliard in the top of the first
First Batter - Kyle Roliard (La. Tech) against TJ Oakes (Minnesota)
First Double Play - Louisiana Tech; 5-4-3 Mark Threlkeld (3B)-Joey Ford (2B)-Alex Williams (1B)
First Strikeout - TJ Oakes strikes out Devon Dageford for the second out of the first inning
First Gopher Batter - AJ Pettersen (flew out to right field against Trevor Petersen)
First Gopher Hit - Troy Larson infield single off Trevor Petersen in the top of the first
First Gopher Walk - Michael Kvasnicka against Trevor Petersen in the top of the first
First Gopher RBI - AJ Pettersen sacrifice fly off Mike Jefferson in the bottom of the ninth
First Gopher run - Kyle Geaso in the bottom of the ninth
