University of Minnesota Athletics
Dual Threat: Matt Fiedler
6/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
To view the full feature of Fiedler, check out the recent edition of Ski-U-Mah Magazine.
Written by Justine Buerkle
Big Ten Player of the Year Matt Fiedler is one the Big Ten's most dangerous hitters, while leading off Minnesota's pitching rotation.
On a cool evening in Orem, Utah, Matt Fiedler did something it appears even Baseball Hall of Famer and fellow Minnesotan Dave Winfield never did as a Golden Gopher.
The junior registered a win as the starting pitcher, hit a home run and stole a base all in the same March 18 game against Utah Valley.
On the mound, Fiedler followed a two-run first inning with five shutout frames. He scattered three hits over his last five innings and struck out five batters. At the plate in the third, he drew a walk and stole second. After belting a solo homer in the fifth, he would pitch two more innings before moving to the designated hitter spot.
That's a typical stat line for Fiedler these days as one of the Gophers' leaders on both sides of the ball. The Friday starter as a pitcher also bats third in the lineup. For the second straight year he has been named to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List. This 5-foot-9 baseball player from a soccer family has emerged as a star for a team engineering one of the nation's biggest turnarounds from last year.
