University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Nebraska
Gophers Fall 12-3 in Nebraska Series Finale
4/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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April 12, 2015
The Golden Gophers fell 12-3 in their series finale at No. 23 Nebraska on Sunday. The Cornhuskers (26-11, 5-4 Big Ten) outhit Minnesota (12-19, 3-9 Big Ten) 17-6 and led the whole way.
Christian Cox hit 2-for-4 with a pair of two-run home runs, both into the Gophers' bullpen in right field. Nebraska had seven extra-base hits for the game.
Center fielder Dan Motl extended his hitting streak to 15 games. He has the longest hitting streak by a Gopher since AJ Pettersen's 22-game streak extending from the end of 2010 into 2011.
Blake Headley's double off the left field wall was the only fair ball to leave the infield in the bottom of the first, but Nebraska still got out to a 3-0 lead. Ryan Boldt and Jake Schleppenbach hit infield singles and scored on ground balls. In the second, Cox's first home run of the day followed an Austin Christensen single to make it 5-0.
Minnesota got back into the game with three runs on three hits off Derek Burkamper in the fourth. Motl led off with a single and stole second. Second baseman Connor Schaefbauer walked, then designated hitter Matt Fiedler singled to load the bases. First baseman Toby Hanson walked to bring in the first run. Third baseman Tony Skjefte drove in another with a sacrifice fly, and left fielder Jordan Smith's RBI single cut the deficit to 5-3.
But the Huskers responded in the bottom of the inning. Cox again homered with Christensen on base. Tim Shannon (1-4) left the game down 7-3. Nebraska tacked on one more in the fourth on an RBI double by Schleppenbach off Tyler Hanson.
Jake Bergren hit 2-for-3 for Minnesota, with two of the team's three hits that came after the fourth inning. The Gophers had two one-out base runners in both the sixth and eighth innings, but no one got past second base.
The Huskers added one run in the fifth and four runs in the eighth. Between those runs, Jordan Jess pitched 1 1/3 innings and retired all four batters faced.
NOTABLES
*The Gophers played errorless defense the whole series. Their error-free streak is at four games, as they also fielded 1.000 against Carleton.
*Skjefte played three positions--third base, left field and right field--in the ballgame. He moved into the outfield after Motl came out of the game.
*With today's steal of second, Motl is 10-for-12 on stolen base attempts. Fiedler is 11-for-13 to lead the team.
UP NEXT
The Gophers begin a 13-game homestand by hosting North Dakota State on Tuesday, April 14 at 3:05 p.m. Their next Big Ten series is against Penn State April 17-19 at Siebert Field.
