University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Defeats Indiana in Big Ten Tournament
5/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota will face second-seeded Michigan in the winner's bracket game on Friday, May 28 at 6:05 p.m. (CT). The winner will advance to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game on Saturday, May 29.
Minnesota outslugged the top offensive team in the league as it outhit the Hoosiers 15 to 11 on the night. The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 8-0 lead, and held on thanks to gutsy performance by junior Seth Rosin (Shoreview, Minn.)
"I thought Seth (Rosin) did an excellent job of helping us save our bullpen tonight," said Minnesota Head John Anderson. "After that third inning, he settled down, battled and stayed in the game. He got the game to Scott (Matyas) and helped limit the action of the bullpen, and that is important in tournament play. I really think you also need to credit our catcher (Kyle Knudson) who did a good job of keeping Seth in this game, and did an excellent job calling pitches tonight."
Rosin got the Gophers into the eighth inning, as he pitched 7.2 innings, gave up 10 hits, seven runs, walked two, struck out six batters and threw 129 pitches. He picked up the win to move to 8-4 on the season. Scott Matyas (North Prairie, Wis.) came in and nailed down his seventh save to give Minnesota the victory. Matyas gave up one hit, one run, walked two and struck out one in 1.1 innings.
"At times this year, I have struggled at bouncing back from rough innings," said Rosin. "I have worked on that with Coach Anderson and my pitching coach Todd Oakes. Today I wanted to get as deep as I could in this game to help my team in the tournament. The offense has given me tremendous run support this year, and I wanted to keep our team ahead tonight. I think they did a good job of getting us the early lead, and I wanted to help the lead hold up."
Sophomore first baseman Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) and Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) paced the Gophers, as they went a combined 6-for-10 with six RBI on the night. Knudson was 3-for-5 with one run and three RBI on the night, while O'Shea was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Freshman outfielder Andy Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) also went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, while sophomore shortstop AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) reached base three times, and was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs.
"We have had great outings by our pitchers all year, and we just want to go out there as an offense and give them as much run support as we can," said O'Shea. "I think Seth's outing is a testament to the dedication and work that our pitching staff has done all year. We have confidence in everyone on our staff to pitch well."
Sophomore Trip Schultz (Forest Lake, Minn.) went 3-for-4 with a run, while Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) reached base three times, and was 1-for-3 with two runs.
Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead with a single run in the bottom of the first. Pettersen led off the inning with a triple to right center field, and came home to score on an RBI ground out by Henkemeyer.
The Golden Gophers blew open the game with a seven-run bottom of the second inning to take an 8-0 lead. All seven runs came with two outs. Minnesota started the threat when Puhl reached on a one-out error. Schultz chopped a single through the middle to make it first and third with two outs. Larson followed with an RBI single, and Schultz came home after the ball was misplayed to make it 8-5.
Pettersen followed with an infield-single, and Henkemeyer plated Larson with an RBI infield single to make it 4-0. After Kvasnicka drew a walk to load the bases, Knudson followed with a two-run single to move the score to 6-0. The runners moved up to get to second and third, and O'Shea plated both with a two-run single to push the score to 8-0.
Indiana responded with a five-run top of the third to cut the Minnesota lead to 8-5. Jerrud Sabourin got the Hoosiers on the board with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-1. Alex Dickerson followed with a two-run homer to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 8-3. Tyler Rogers delivered an RBI single, and Josh Lyon scored on a wild pitch to trim the Minnesota lead to three runs.
Minnesota added a single run in the bottom of the fourth to move ahead 9-5. Henkemeyer led off with a bunt-single, moved to second on a single by Kvasnicka and scored on an RBI single by Knudson to give the Golden Gophers a four-run lead. Indiana reliever Matt Igel battled back to strike out the next three batters to minimize the damager.
Indiana cut the Gopher lead in half with a two-run homer by Micah Johnson in the top of the sixth to make it 9-7.
Minnesota added a single run to make it 10-7 in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Kvasnicka was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a single by Knudson. O'Shea plated Kvasnicka with an RBI single to push the Golden Gopher lead to 10-7. Indiana reliever Walker Stadler retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.
The Golden Gophers held Indiana in check until the ninth inning. With one out, Dickerson and Early drew back-to-back walks from Matyas. Rogers delivered a two-out RBI double to cut the lead to 10-8. With runners on second and third, Matyas struck Ethan Wilson to close out the ballgame.
Indiana started Johnny Hoffman was chased after two innings, when he gave up seven hits and eight runs in two innings of work. Seven of Hoffman's eight runs were unearned on the night. Matt Igel came in and pitched 3.1 innings, and gave up six hits, two runs and struck out five. Walker Stadler settled things down for the Hoosiers, as he pitched 2.2 shutout innings.
The Hoosiers were led by Rogers who reached base five times, and went 4-for-4 with a double, a triple and two RBI. Micah Johnson also finished 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, two runs and two RBI. Dickerson and Sabourin were held to a combined 1-for-8 on the night, however, Dickerson did hit a home run and collect two runs and two RBI.
