University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
UC Irvine
Gophers Pick Up First Win of 2017
2/19/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Irvine, Cal. - The University of Minnesota picked up their first win of the 2017 season after defeating the UC Irvine Anteaters 9-8 Saturday night.
The first game of the doubleheader was cancelled due to unfavorable field conditions but the two teams had no weather problems for the second scheduled game.
The Gophers started quick by scoring three runs in the first inning. In the leadoff spot, Alex Boxwell started the season by getting hit by a pitch. Luke Pettersen followed that with a single through the left side then Terrin Vavra walked to fill the bases for Micah Coffey.
Coffey laced a 2-2 pitch through the right side to score Boxwell and Pettersen to give Minnesota an early 2-0 lead. Two batters later, Vavra would score as Matt Stemper grounded into a double play.
The Anteaters answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning but the Maroon and Gold would score three more runs in the second inning. Boxwell scored his second run of the game, this time off of a Vavra single to leftfield. In the next at-bat Coffey doubled to centerfield scoring Pettersen and Vavra.
The top of the third inning would see the Gophers take a 9-3 lead following a two-run home run by Eduardo Estrada, Jr. to right field with Jordan Smith scoring. The ninth and final run for the Gophers came with Petersen's third hit of the night that scored Ben Mezzenga.
Southpaw Lucas Gilbreath started on the mound for Minnesota where he pitched three innings giving up six runs, five earned runs and struck out two batters, one looking. Gilbreath ended up picking up the win for Minnesota.
Tyler Hanson came in for 2.2 innings of relief. The Beav gave up only one hit while allowing three earned runs until he gave away to Tim Shannon who pitched 2.1 innings. Shannon only allowed one hit and struck out two batters.
Senior Brian Glowicki game into the ninth inning where he picked up his first save of the season. He struck out the first two Anteaters including Preseason All-American and Golden Spikes preseason watch list selection, Keston Hiura. The final batter of the game popped up to first basemen Toby Hanson to secure the Gopher victory.
Game Notes
- Petterson recorded a career high four hits.
- Jordan Smith was a home run shy of the cycle.
- All starting nine batters had a hit.
- Stemper threw out his first attempted base stealer of the season.
The Gophers will look for a two-game series sweep tomorrow against the Anteaters at 1 p.m. central time. You can follow the action this year by following the Gophers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
