University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Michigan State
Gophers Win on Senior Day
5/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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May 16, 2015
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The Golden Gophers closed their season with a 2-1 win against Michigan State at Siebert Field. Minnesota finished 2015 with a 21-30 record and 9-15 mark in Big Ten play. The Gophers won the series 2-1 but missed a Big Ten Tournament berth by one game.
Dalton Sawyer (4-3) tied his career high with seven strikeouts as he allowed just one unearned run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings. Left fielder Tony Skjefte hit 2-for-3 while the team had just six hits. Catcher Matt Halloran and first baseman Austin Athmann drove in runs, and right fielder Matt Stemper and shortstop Michael Handel scored them.
The Spartans' only run on their four hits came in the first inning. Ryan Krill hit a single and got to second on a dropped throw while Mark Weist reached on a fielder's choice. Ryan Richardson drove in Krill with a single to right.
The Gophers countered in the second. Stemper hit a leadoff single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Connor Schaefbauer. A Skjefte single moved Stemper to third. Halloran hit a fly ball to left that was dropped by the left fielder, and Stemper scored. The play was scored as a sacrifice fly with an error.
Athmann's RBI double in the sixth broke the tie and put Minnesota ahead for good. Handel had legged out an infield single on a grounder to deep short, and scored from first on Athmann's hit. Both the Gophers' runs were off of starter Jeff Kinley (4-3).
Brian Glowicki struck out a pair of Spartans in two innings in relief, and Lance Thonvold recorded the final two outs for his first save of the season.
NOTABLE
*Handel finished the season with a .328 batting average and five home runs to lead the Gophers. He also hit a team-best .385 in conference play.
*The Gophers more than doubled their 2014 home run total, hitting 30 home runs in 2015, their most since knocking out 41 in 2010. Minnesota also increased its stolen base production from 39 steals in 2014 to 64 this year, the most since notching 78 in 2009.
*Matt Fiedler turned in the Gophers' best ERA, at 2.86 in 22 innings pitched. He held opposing batters to a .173 average.
*Ben Meyer tossed a team-high 87 2/3 innings and led the staff with 71 strikeouts. The only pitcher in the starting rotation for the entire season, Meyer held a 4.31 ERA in his senior season.
*The Gophers honored seniors Jake Bergren, Kyle Crocker, Matt Halloran, Michael Handel, Neal Kunik, Ben Meyer, Chris Schaaf and Tony Skjefte after the game.
