University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Northwestern
Gophers Fall in 13 Innings
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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March 28, 2015
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A loss to Northwestern in 13 innings evened the Golden Gophers' first home series of the season. Minnesota fell 2-1 in its longest game of the year. The Wildcats (6-19, 1-1 Big Ten) outhit the Gophers (8-14, 1-4 Big Ten) 9-5 in the ballgame and won on an error in the 13th.
Starting pitchers Toby Anderson for Minnesota and Joe Schindler for Northwestern each allowed one run in six innings of work. Both came in the second inning. For the Wildcats, Matt Hopfner was hit by pitch, advanced on a walk and a sacrifice bunt, then scored on a squeeze bunt by Antonio Freschet.
The Gophers answered when first baseman Toby Hanson doubled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on third baseman Tony Skjefte's sacrifice fly.
Both teams' offenses stalled after the second. In the seventh, Reed Mason (1-6) took over for Schindler and went on to earn the win with nine strikeouts in six shutout innings.
The Gophers' best scoring threats during that stretch came when outfielder Alex Boxwell doubled with one out in the eighth, and when Skjefte reached on a two-base error and pinch hitter Matt Stemper singled to short with two outs in the 12th. But the Wildcats got out of both situations.
Minnesota used six relievers, with Brian Glowicki's 3 1/3 scoreless innings being the Gophers' longest stint out of the bullpen. Matt Fiedler, Jordan Jess, Glowicki, Tyler Hanson, Lucas Gilbreath and Ty McDevitt shared the last seven innings of the game.
The Minnesota defense stranded Northwestern runners in scoring position in the 10th, 11th and 12th before losing on an unearned run in the end.McDevitt(0-1) pitched the 13th took the loss. Scott Heelan led off the inning with a single and stole second. He scored on an error at third that allowed Hopfner to reach.
A two-out scoring threat kept the Gophers' hopes alive in the bottom of the 13th. Center fielder Dan Motl knocked a single to right and kept going to second on a fielding error. Second baseman Connor Schaefbauer hit a single that was stopped by a diving Freschet at second, keeping Motl on third. Jake Stolley retired designated hitter Matt Fiedler for the third out to get the save.
Heelan and Joe Hoscheit each hit 2-for-6 for the Wildcats. The Gophers' five hits all came from different batters.
NOTABLES
*Minnesota's previous extra-inning game this year was a 5-3 win in 12 innings at Creighton.
*The start was Toby Anderson's first of the season, and his longest career outing. The right-hander's longest start before today was three innings at Richmond, and his longest relief appearance was 3 1/3 innings at Texas.
UP NEXT
The Gophers and Wildcats will conclude their series with a game starting at 1:05 p.m. CT Sunday.
