University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Claims Big Ten Regular-Season Title
5/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team (27-27, 15-8) claimed sole possession of the 2010 Big Ten Regular Season title as it defeated Ohio State (27-23, 10-13) 4-3 in the second game of the series on Saturday, May 22 at Bill Davis Stadium.
It was the Golden Gophers 23rd Big Ten title, and the fifth regular-season title for Minnesota since 2000. John Anderson has now finished the regular-season first place nine times, including the five regular-season titles since 2000. Minnesota won nine of the final Big Ten games to claim the regular-season title.
Today's game was picked up with the Gophers trailing 1-0 in the top of the second after last night's game was suspended due to weather.
Minnesota rallied from a 3-1 deficit going into the top of the seventh, as it scored two in the seventh and went ahead 4-3 on an RBI single by Trip Schultz (Forest Lake, Minn.) that plated Matt Puhl (North St. Paul, Minn.) in the top of the eighth.
Luke Rasmussen (Northfield, Minn.) took over with runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the sixth, got out of the jam and ended up with the win. Rasmussen pitched 2.1 shutout innings, gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two in the winning effort. Scott Matyas (North Prairie, Wis.) came and pitched 1.1 shutout innings and struck out three batters to nail down his sixth save.
TJ Oakes (Jordan, Minn.) started and went one inning, gave up two hits, one run, walked and struck out one on Friday, May 21. Oakes was relieved by Austin Lubinsky (LaCrosse, Wis.) to start the action on Saturday. Lubinsky pitched 4.1 innings, gave up nine hits, two runs, walked one and struck out two in a no-decision effort.
Schultz finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI, while senior Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Junior Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) reached base twice and was 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Puhl also reached base three times, and was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
Andy Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) collected two of the five hits off Ohio State starter Alex Wimmers, as he went 2-for-4. Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also reached base twice, and was 1-for-3. Troy Larson (Maplewood, Minn.) also finished 1-for-4 with a run.
Wimmers received a no-decision, failing to pick a win for the first time in 10 starts on the year. He started and pitched one inning on Friday, and came back to continue his start on Saturday. Wimmers gave up five hits, one run, walked three and struck out eight. Jared Strayer took the loss to fall to 2-2, as he gave up five hits and three runs in one inning. Eric Best pitched two perfect innings and struck out four batters for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes got on the board first with a single run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Cory Kovanda got things started with a one-out single, and moved to second when Dan Burkhardt drew a walk to make it first and second. Michael Stephens reached on a fielder's choice, and loaded the bases when Burkhardt got to second on an error by the second baseman. Ryan Dew plated Kovanda with an RBI single to make it 1-0. Oakes bounced back to retire the next two batters to limit the damage.
Ohio State added a single run in the bottom of the third to move their lead to 2-0. Kovanda started off with a bunt single, and moved to second when Burkhardt reached on a bloop single that fell between the shortstop and left fielder. Stephens loaded the bases with a bunt single. Dew crushed a ball to deep right field, but Kvasnicka caught it on the warning track, as the sacrifice fly plated Kovanda to make it 2-0. Lubinsky picked off Stephens at first base, and struck out Brad Hallberg to minimize the damage.
Ohio State scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 3-0. Cory Rupert and Matt Streng led off with back-to-back singles to make it first and third. Tyler Engle followed with a hard hit ball to left field, but Henkemeyer tracked it to make a great play and got it back into the infield to double off Streng at first base for the second out. Rupert did tag up to score the third run on the play.
Minnesota scored a single run in the top of the sixth to cut it 3-1. Kvasnicka drew a lead-off walk and Knudson singled to right center field to make it first and third. Wimmers got O'Shea to hit a shallow fly ball to center field that made Kvasnicka hold at third base. Puhl followed with an RBI single to cut the Buckeye lead to two runs. Geason drove a ball to deep right field, but Dew made a great leaping catch at the warning track to save a couple of runs. Wimmers bounced back to strike out Schultz to get out of the inning.
The Golden Gophers tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh off Strayer. Larson led off the inning with a single, and moved to second on a ground out by Henkemeyer. Kvasnicka delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 3-2. Knudson followed by tying the game with an RBI double to right center field. Strayer retired O'Shea on a fly out to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Minnesota pushed across run in the top of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead. Puhl drew a leadoff walk, and moved to second on a single by Geason. Schultz plated Puhl with an RBI single through the middle to give the Gophers their first lead of the game. Eric Best came in and got Larson to pop out on a bunt. Pettersen drew a walk to load the bases, but Best came back to strike out pinch-hitter Kurt Schlangen (Albany, Minn.) and Kvasnicka to escape further damage.
Ohio State was led by Dew who reached base in all four plate appearances, and was 1-for-1 with two RBI. Kovanda was also 2-for-5 with two runs, and Rupert finished 2-for-4 with a run.
It was the Golden Gophers 23rd Big Ten title, and the fifth regular-season title for Minnesota since 2000. John Anderson has now finished the regular-season first place nine times, including the five regular-season titles since 2000. Minnesota won nine of the final Big Ten games to claim the regular-season title.
Today's game was picked up with the Gophers trailing 1-0 in the top of the second after last night's game was suspended due to weather.
Minnesota rallied from a 3-1 deficit going into the top of the seventh, as it scored two in the seventh and went ahead 4-3 on an RBI single by Trip Schultz (Forest Lake, Minn.) that plated Matt Puhl (North St. Paul, Minn.) in the top of the eighth.
Luke Rasmussen (Northfield, Minn.) took over with runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the sixth, got out of the jam and ended up with the win. Rasmussen pitched 2.1 shutout innings, gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two in the winning effort. Scott Matyas (North Prairie, Wis.) came and pitched 1.1 shutout innings and struck out three batters to nail down his sixth save.
TJ Oakes (Jordan, Minn.) started and went one inning, gave up two hits, one run, walked and struck out one on Friday, May 21. Oakes was relieved by Austin Lubinsky (LaCrosse, Wis.) to start the action on Saturday. Lubinsky pitched 4.1 innings, gave up nine hits, two runs, walked one and struck out two in a no-decision effort.
Schultz finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI, while senior Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Junior Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) reached base twice and was 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Puhl also reached base three times, and was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
Andy Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) collected two of the five hits off Ohio State starter Alex Wimmers, as he went 2-for-4. Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also reached base twice, and was 1-for-3. Troy Larson (Maplewood, Minn.) also finished 1-for-4 with a run.
Wimmers received a no-decision, failing to pick a win for the first time in 10 starts on the year. He started and pitched one inning on Friday, and came back to continue his start on Saturday. Wimmers gave up five hits, one run, walked three and struck out eight. Jared Strayer took the loss to fall to 2-2, as he gave up five hits and three runs in one inning. Eric Best pitched two perfect innings and struck out four batters for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes got on the board first with a single run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Cory Kovanda got things started with a one-out single, and moved to second when Dan Burkhardt drew a walk to make it first and second. Michael Stephens reached on a fielder's choice, and loaded the bases when Burkhardt got to second on an error by the second baseman. Ryan Dew plated Kovanda with an RBI single to make it 1-0. Oakes bounced back to retire the next two batters to limit the damage.
Ohio State added a single run in the bottom of the third to move their lead to 2-0. Kovanda started off with a bunt single, and moved to second when Burkhardt reached on a bloop single that fell between the shortstop and left fielder. Stephens loaded the bases with a bunt single. Dew crushed a ball to deep right field, but Kvasnicka caught it on the warning track, as the sacrifice fly plated Kovanda to make it 2-0. Lubinsky picked off Stephens at first base, and struck out Brad Hallberg to minimize the damage.
Ohio State scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 3-0. Cory Rupert and Matt Streng led off with back-to-back singles to make it first and third. Tyler Engle followed with a hard hit ball to left field, but Henkemeyer tracked it to make a great play and got it back into the infield to double off Streng at first base for the second out. Rupert did tag up to score the third run on the play.
Minnesota scored a single run in the top of the sixth to cut it 3-1. Kvasnicka drew a lead-off walk and Knudson singled to right center field to make it first and third. Wimmers got O'Shea to hit a shallow fly ball to center field that made Kvasnicka hold at third base. Puhl followed with an RBI single to cut the Buckeye lead to two runs. Geason drove a ball to deep right field, but Dew made a great leaping catch at the warning track to save a couple of runs. Wimmers bounced back to strike out Schultz to get out of the inning.
The Golden Gophers tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh off Strayer. Larson led off the inning with a single, and moved to second on a ground out by Henkemeyer. Kvasnicka delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 3-2. Knudson followed by tying the game with an RBI double to right center field. Strayer retired O'Shea on a fly out to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Minnesota pushed across run in the top of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead. Puhl drew a leadoff walk, and moved to second on a single by Geason. Schultz plated Puhl with an RBI single through the middle to give the Gophers their first lead of the game. Eric Best came in and got Larson to pop out on a bunt. Pettersen drew a walk to load the bases, but Best came back to strike out pinch-hitter Kurt Schlangen (Albany, Minn.) and Kvasnicka to escape further damage.
Ohio State was led by Dew who reached base in all four plate appearances, and was 1-for-1 with two RBI. Kovanda was also 2-for-5 with two runs, and Rupert finished 2-for-4 with a run.
Players Mentioned
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