University of Minnesota Athletics
Knudson and Oakes Receive Weekly Honors
5/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Senior Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) and freshman TJ Oakes (Jordan, Minn.) received weekly honors from the Big Ten on Monday, May 17.
Knudson received Big Ten Player of the Week honors, while Oakes claimed Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors. It marked only the second time this season that one team swept the weekly honors, as the Gophers joined Penn State who did so the week of May 3. Oakes becomes the third Golden Gopher pitcher to receive the honors, along with Scott Matyas and Seth Rosin. Minnesota is the only team to have three different pitchers claim the honors in 2010. Knudson joins Michael Kvasnicka as the second Gopher to win Big Ten Player of the Week honors this year for Minnesota.
Knudson batted .615 (8-for-13) with two home runs, six RBI, five runs and a double in a three-game sweep over Penn State that put the Golden Gophers into first place in the Big Ten heading into the final week of the regular-season. He got Minnesota off on the right foot in the first game of the series, by going 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs and two RBI in a 12-7 victory.
After going 1-for-4 with an RBI in a 5-1 win in the second game, Knudson had one of the best senior days in the history of Gopher baseball as he went 5-for-5 with a home run, a triple, two runs and three RBI in an 8-1 victory over the Nittany Lions. Knudson finished a double short of the cycle and became the first Minnesota player in over three years to collect five hits in a game.
Oakes picked up a win the second game of the series against Penn State to move to 4-3 on the season. In that game, he retired the first 16 batters he faced before allowing the first baserunner to reach with one out in the sixth inning. Oakes pitched a career-high eight innings, gave up four hits, one run, walked one and struck out four batters. He enters the week at 4-3 with a 3.75 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 72.0 innings. The 72.0 innings are the second-most among Golden Gopher hurlers this season.
The Golden Gophers enter the final week of play in first place by a game at 13-8. Michigan and Purdue are tied for second place at 12-9, and Northwestern is in fourth place at 11-10. Iowa, Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State are all tied for fifth place at 10-11.
Six teams will qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which will be played at Bill Davis Stadium on the campus of Ohio State starting Wednesday, May 26. Minnesota will wrap up the regular-season with a three-game series at Columbus on May 20-22. The Golden Gophers will face Ohio State on Thursday, May 20 at 6:35 p.m., Friday, May 21 at 6:35 p.m. and Saturday, May 22 at 1:05 p.m. Every Golden Gopher game for the remainder of the season can be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and in the Gold Zone.
Knudson received Big Ten Player of the Week honors, while Oakes claimed Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors. It marked only the second time this season that one team swept the weekly honors, as the Gophers joined Penn State who did so the week of May 3. Oakes becomes the third Golden Gopher pitcher to receive the honors, along with Scott Matyas and Seth Rosin. Minnesota is the only team to have three different pitchers claim the honors in 2010. Knudson joins Michael Kvasnicka as the second Gopher to win Big Ten Player of the Week honors this year for Minnesota.
Knudson batted .615 (8-for-13) with two home runs, six RBI, five runs and a double in a three-game sweep over Penn State that put the Golden Gophers into first place in the Big Ten heading into the final week of the regular-season. He got Minnesota off on the right foot in the first game of the series, by going 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs and two RBI in a 12-7 victory.
After going 1-for-4 with an RBI in a 5-1 win in the second game, Knudson had one of the best senior days in the history of Gopher baseball as he went 5-for-5 with a home run, a triple, two runs and three RBI in an 8-1 victory over the Nittany Lions. Knudson finished a double short of the cycle and became the first Minnesota player in over three years to collect five hits in a game.
Oakes picked up a win the second game of the series against Penn State to move to 4-3 on the season. In that game, he retired the first 16 batters he faced before allowing the first baserunner to reach with one out in the sixth inning. Oakes pitched a career-high eight innings, gave up four hits, one run, walked one and struck out four batters. He enters the week at 4-3 with a 3.75 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 72.0 innings. The 72.0 innings are the second-most among Golden Gopher hurlers this season.
The Golden Gophers enter the final week of play in first place by a game at 13-8. Michigan and Purdue are tied for second place at 12-9, and Northwestern is in fourth place at 11-10. Iowa, Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State are all tied for fifth place at 10-11.
Six teams will qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which will be played at Bill Davis Stadium on the campus of Ohio State starting Wednesday, May 26. Minnesota will wrap up the regular-season with a three-game series at Columbus on May 20-22. The Golden Gophers will face Ohio State on Thursday, May 20 at 6:35 p.m., Friday, May 21 at 6:35 p.m. and Saturday, May 22 at 1:05 p.m. Every Golden Gopher game for the remainder of the season can be heard on KLBB (1220 AM) and in the Gold Zone.
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