University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Heads to NDSU for Midweek Contest
4/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota will begin a six-game road trip on Wednesday, Apr. 28 when it faces North Dakota State at Newman Outdoor Field at 5 p.m.
The Golden Gophers will then head to Iowa City to face Iowa on Friday, Apr. 30 at 6:05 p.m., Saturday, May 1 at 1:05 p.m. and Sunday, May 2 at 1:05 p.m. Minnesota will wrap up the trip at No. 20 Kansas State on Tuesday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, May 5 at 3 p.m. All six games can be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and in the Gold Zone. North Dakota State enters the week with a 14-21 overall record. Iowa is one of nine teams in the Big Ten within two games in a tie for eighth at 5-7. Overall, the Hawkeyes are 16-21 heading into the week. Kansas State is currently 27-10 overall.
Minnesota is led by junior Michael Kvasnicka who is batting .346 with six home runs, 33 RBI and 25 runs this season. Junior first baseman Nick O'Shea is also batting .338 with five home runs, 26 RBI and 24 runs, while Kyle Knudson carries a 14-game hitting streak into the game and is batting .312 with three home runs, 25 RBI and 14 doubles.
Pitching wise, Minnesota is led by Seth Rosin who is 4-3 with a 3.66 ERA and has 56 strikeouts in 64.0 innings. Rosin has only walked two batters in 64.0 innings, which is the best walks per nine innings ratio in the nation. Phil Isaksson enters the week 3-0 with a 3.40 ERA and has 41 strikeouts in 50.1 innings. He has limited opponents to a .232 batting average. Freshman TJ Oakes is 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA and has 36 strikeouts in 52.0 innings. Scott Matyas is also 2-1 with four saves, a team-high 16 appearances and has 29 strikeouts in 20.1 innings.
North Dakota State is led by Zach Wentz who is batting .410 with a team-high 26 runs, is tied with a team-high four homer runs and leads the team with 29 RBI. Justin Kline is tied with a team-high 26 runs, is batting .344 and has 15 RBI. Nic Obey also has four home runs, 19 RBI and is batting .293 in 27 at-bats. Pitching wise, the Bison are led by Kyle Kingsley who is 3-3 with a 4.76 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 38.0 innings. McHale Maristuen is 1-6 with a 5.26 ERA and has 29 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. Luke Anderson has a team-best 1.93 ERA in 14.0 innings, and has collected 18 strikeouts. Anthony Kliniske leads the team with a 3.66 ERA and is 1-0 with three saves. Kliniske has collected 23 strikeouts in 19.2 innings and has limited opponents to a .176 batting average.
Minnesota leads the all-time series 24-4. This year, the two teams have split with the Golden Gophers losing the first game 7-3 on Mar. 23 and winning the second 4-2 on Mar. 24. Both games were played in the Metrodome.
