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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Ready for Mid-Week Series Against Bison
3/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 20, 2012
| Minnesota vs North Dakota State | |
| Tickets | Purchase Online |
| Date | Tues-Wed, March 20-21, 2012 |
| Time | 6:35 p.m.(Tues.), 3:05 p.m. (Wed.) |
| Location | H.H.H. Metrodome |
| Video | Gopher All-Access |
| Audio | GopherSports.com (Listen Online) |
| In-Game Chat | Live In-Game Blog |
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UP
NDSU John Straka (Jr., RHP) vs MN: Ben Meyer (Fr. RHP)
NDSU Luke Anderson (Sr., RHP) vs. MN TBD
GAME TIME CHANGE FOR SUNDAY'S GAME
Due to flight arrangements, the Sunday game against The Citadel will be moved up an hour from its original schedule. Minnesota and The Citadel will now play at noon Sunday instead of the original 1:05 p.m. first pitch. The three-game series against the Bulldogs will now have a schedule of 6:35 p.m. Friday, 2:05 p.m. Saturday and the changed noon start on Sunday. All games will be played at the H.H.H. Metrodome.
NDSU NOTES
• Minnesota dropped their first match-up against the Bison in Fargo last year in a 5-2 loss on May 3, but prevailed on May 17 in a 8-5 win home game at Siebert Field.
• North Dakota State is Minnesota's first opponent in the Summit League this season, followed by South Dakota State on March 28. Minnesota challenges Nebraska-Omaha on April 17, who will be entering the Summit league in the 2013 season.
• In non-conference action, NDSU holds the Summit League's overall record with 12-5. Also in the Summit League is Oral Roberts (9-10), Western Illinois (5-10), South Dakota State (4-10-1), IPFW (4-13), Oakland (3-12), and Southern Utah (3-15).
ON THE BUMP
Making his first collegiate start will be right-handed pitcher Ben Meyer. Seeing action in five games this year, the 6-foot-5 inch New Brighton, Minn., native made his collegiate debut in the St. John's game (2/18). On the season, Meyer holds a 0-1 record (SJ), allowed seven earned runs off of seven hits, struck out 12 and walked one batter. Playing for Totino Grace High School, Meyer was named all-state and helped his team win the North Suburban Conference championship and a 13-5 record. As a senior, he held a held a record of 5-2 in both his senior and junior seasons, while posting a 3-1 record as a freshman. Meyer also played Legion baseball with Fridley in 2011.
WHERE THEY RANK
Dan Olinger rank high nationally in doubles. Olinger has hit eight doubles this season, ranking in a tie for 37th nationally. The NCAA statistics are compiled weekly and can be found http://www.ncaa.com/stats/baseball/d1
KEEP IT GOIN'
Minnesota has a few players that have a nice hitting streak going. Dan Olinger is currently on a 14-game hit streak. As a red-shirt sophomore, his longest streak last year as a rookie was four-straight games. On the year, Olinger leads the team with a .395 batting average, eight doubles an on-base percentage of.435 and 30 hits, leading the team in all categories. As a freshman, Olinger played in 39 games and had 27 hits, three doubles and 18 RBI. Last year, former Gophers AJ Pettersen and Justin Gominsky had the longest hit streak, set at 19 and 11 games, respectively. Andy Henkemeyer is currently on an eight-game hit streak, while Troy Larson is at six and Michael Handel has hit safely in four-straight games.
CAL POLY RECAP
Minnesota snapped a five-game losing skid in a big way when it earned a series win against Cal Poly in a Sat.-Mon. series. The Gophers fell, 4-3 to the Mustangs on March 17, but rebounded to take the next two for the series win. TJ Oakes suffered his first loss of the season on Saturday when he allowed a three-run home run to Mitch Haniger, which was the deciding factor of the game. Minnesota was up 2-0, but with the three-run homer to left, the Mustangs won the game. In Sunday's game, DJ Snelten pitched a gem, while Ryan Abrahamson had a home run and a double lead the Gophers to a 4-1 win. Snelten pitched 5.1 scoreless innings and allowed four hits, struck out two and walked two for the win. On Monday, Cal Poly jumped up to an early 2-0 lead, but Minnesota came back and tied the game in the third and would later take the lead in the fourth. In the top of the ninth, the Mustangs would tie the game off a single from Tim Wise, scoring Jimmy Allen from third. However, Minnesota added a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth as Andy Henkemeyer had a walkoff RBI hit.
DID YOU KNOW?
Andy Henkemeyer scored Tony Skjefte in yesterday's bottom of the ninth win against Cal Poly. The last time Minnesota had a walkoff hit to win a game came last year against Ohio State. In the first game of a doubleheader, Troy Larson scored former Gopher Justin Gominsky when he delivered an RBI single on May 19, 2011 at Target Field. Larson came in to pinch hit for Henkemeyer in that game and hit for the win.
SCOUTING THE BISON
North Dakota State is off to a 12-5 start this year, it's best start since the 2002 season. Last week in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, the Bison pulled off six straight wins by defeating Akron 4-3 in the final match-up on March 16. While the Bison's season started off with two losses in a three-game series against nationally ranked Arizona, they then followed up to win a four-game sweep over Northern Colorado. North Dakota State has five hitters over the .300 batting average in team leaders Nick Colwell, Nick Anderson, Tim Colwell, Zach Wentz, and David Ernst. After 13 games into the regular season, Nick Colwell ranked second nationally with a batting average of .547. Now with 17 games under his belt, N. Colwell is leading the Bison by hitting a .463, and an on-base percentage of .513. He has 21 RBI and two home-runs this season. Tim Colwell is batting .431 with 10 RBI and four doubles. Nick Anderson is batting .373 with 11 RBI and leading the team in home-runs with three, while Wentz is batting .348 with 19 RBI, and Ernst batting a .333. Pitcher Luke Anderson leads the team with credited wins this season with a record of 4-0. He has an ERA of 2.67. Junior pitcher John Straka holds a 4.06 ERA with a record of 1-2.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
DJ Snelten faced North Dakota State last year and recorded the win against the Bison. As a team, Minnesota held a 16-18 overall record after their first match-up against NDSU. After facing off again later in the season and taking an 8-5 win on March 17, 2011, Minnesota had a 21-20 overall record.
THE LAST TWO TIMES
The Gophers and the Bison split their action last year, each winning a game at home. In the first game, Minnesota fell 5-2 on May 3 at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, N.D. In the loss, Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning on a one-out RBI single from Dan Olinger and an RBI double by Kyle Geason. However NDSU followed the inning with four runs in the bottom of the eighth with pinch hitter Tyler Steen's three-run double off Minnesota closer Scott Matyas giving them the lead and the win.
Minnesota answered back at Siebert field with an 8-5 victory on May 17. This was Minnesota's last non-conference win of the regular season. During the win, Dan Olinger was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs batted in, while former Gopher center fielder Justin Gominsky tripled and drove in three runs. Trip Schultz was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI for the Gophers. On the mound, Minnesota utilized seven pitchers, with left-hander DJ Snelten earning his first career victory. Snelten allowed six hits and two earned runs in 2.1 innings. Pitchers combined for seven strikeouts in the game, with then former senior Tim Ryan leading the way with a pair of Ks in just two-thirds of an inning.
