University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Defeats North Dakota State 11-6
4/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team (17-24) defeated North Dakota State (14-22) 11-6 in a midweek contest at Newman Outdoor Field on Wednesday, Apr. 28.
Minnesota was led by redshirt freshman Matt Puhl (North St. Paul, Minn.) who went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI and one run. Senior Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) reached base three times, and was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. With the two hits, Knudson extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) reached base four times, and was 2-for-3 with three runs and a double. Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) was also 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI and two doubles. Kurt Schlangen (Albany, Minn.) also had a career-high three hits, as he went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
Minnesota starter Austin Lubinsky (LaCrosse, Wis.) pitched for the first time since Mar. 28, and gave up four hits, three runs, walked two and struck out four in 2.2 innings. Kevin Kray (Maple Grove, Minn.) picked up the win in relief to move 2-1, as he gave up two hits and one run in an inning of work. Tim Ryan (Eagan, Minn.) pitched two shutout innings, and Cullen Sexton (Plover, Wis.) finished the game with a scoreless ninth.
Bison starter Luke Anderson took a no-decision as he pitched three innings, gave up two hits, one run, walked four and struck out one. Colby Tognetti took the loss to fall to 1-2, as he gave up two hits and two runs in two-thirds innings.
Minnesota's defense also turned a season-high four double plays in the game.
North Dakota State got on the board first with a single run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Tyler Steen plated Justin Kline with an RBI single to give the Bison the early one-run lead.
Minnesota tied the game with a single run in the top of the third inning with a single run. Kvasnicka got things started with a two-out single to the right side, and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Knudson drew walk to make it first and second. O'Shea followed with an RBI double to tie the game at 1-1, but Knudson was thrown out at the plate to end the inning to keep the game tied.
North Dakota State scored pair of runs in the bottom of the third on solo home runs by Tim Jallen and Zach Wentz to give the Bison a 3-1 lead.
The Bison hit two more home runs in the bottom of the fourth as Tanner Adam and Jay Hartman hit back-to-back solo homers to put North Dakota State ahead 5-1.
Minnesota tied the game at 5-5 with four runs in the top of the sixth. With one out, Knudson got things started when he was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a double by O'Shea. Puhl followed with a two-run single to cut the lead to 5-3. Geason followed with an RBI double to plate to Puhl to make the score 5-4. Geason moved up on a wild pitch when Henkemeyer drew a walk to make it first and third. Schlangen plated Geason with an RBI single into the gap to tie the game. Larson hit a bloop to left field, but Jallen made a great diving catch and doubled off Henkemeyer at second to end the inning.
North Dakota State threatened to take the lead back in the bottom of the sixth when it loaded the bases with one out for Jallen. Jallen lifted the ball to right field where Kvasnicka caught it and threw out Adam at home trying to tag up to end the inning.
The Golden Gophers took their first lead of the game in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs to make it 7-5. Pettersen led off the inning with a walk and moved to third when Kvasnicka chopped a ball over the first baseman's head for double. Knudson plated Pettersen with an RBI single to put Minnesota ahead 6-5. Two batters later Puhl plated Kvasnicka on a bloop RBI single to make it 7-5.
North Dakota State got a single run back in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 7-6. Kenny Beese led off the inning with a double. Tim Ryan came in and walked the next two batters after a wild pitch to load the bases. However, Ryan bounced back to get Tyler Steen to ground into double play that scored Beese to make it a one-run game. Adam grounded out to third for the final out of the inning.
Minnesota added four runs in the top of the eighth inning to take an 11-6 lead. Schlangen led off with a single, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Troy Larson (Maplewood, Minn.). Pettersen followed with an infield single, and Kvasnicka walked to load the bases. Knudson greeted reliever Anthony Kliniske with an RBI single to left field. Pettersen also came around to score to make it 9-6. when left fielder bobbled the ball in left field. Knudson and Kvasnicka moved to second and third on the play. With two outs, Puhl plated both runners with a two-run single to move the lead to 11-6.
North Dakota State was led by Hartman who went 3-for-4 with a home run. Wentz was also 2-for-4 with a home run, while Jallen also finished 2-for-4 with a home run.
Minnesota will be back in action this weekend when it travels 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.
