Kozicky's Birthday Blasts Not Enough for 'U'

Feb. 16, 2018

ATLANTA - The Gopher Baseball team opened its 2018 season at the Atlanta Challenge, falling 3-2 to Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium on Friday afternoon.

A pair of solo home runs by sophomore Jordan Kozicky proved not quite enough offense as Minnesota (0-1) fell by the slimmest of margins to Georgia Tech (1-0). A fourth-inning error on the Gopher infield proved the difference, as designated hitter Kel Johnson reached on an error to lead off the inning, eventually coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Nick Wilhite.

"I'm not too concerned about the scoreboard right now," said head coach John Anderson after the game. "I try to look at how we prepared, how we played, and how we competed. I'm happy with what I saw today. They're a good team. We gave them some help with the three runs. There was a hit batter that contributed to the first run, a walk that contributed to the second run, and an error for the third. That's what happens when you bring extra people to the plate by walks and errors, it comes back to haunt you."

Senior Luke Pettersen, who had one of five hits for the Gophers in the game, led off the game with a fly out to left field, but Kozicky, celebrating his 21st birthday Friday, sparked the Minnesota offense with a line-drive home run to left center field.

"I don't think I've ever played a game on my birthday," said Kozicky. "I wasn't expecting much, definitely not that, but I was glad with how it turned out. I'm a fastball hitter, and I got two fastballs on both of the home runs. I was seeing the ball really well. We've been indoors all offseason in the indoor facility. So, coming outdoors in natural light is really nice on our eyes."

Redshirt junior Reggie Meyer (0-1) toed the rubber for the first opening day start of his career, setting the Yellow Jackets down in order in the first. A lead-off hit-by-pitch helped them scrape together their first run of the day on an RBI groundout by Johnson. The Gophers had a quick answer in the third as Kozicky ripped his second homer of the day with two outs in the inning, but Georgia Tech answered back with two hits and a walk in their half of the inning to tie it up.

While Minnesota touched up Xzavion Curry (1-0) to the tune of two runs, three hits, and four walks in 5.0 innings, they could not solve reliever Connor Thomas, who collected his first collegiate save while striking out five in 4.0 innings of work. Meyer finished with 4.0 innings, allowing four hits, two earned, one walk and three strikeouts. Sophomore Brett Schulze relieved him with 4.0 innings of shutout ball, striking out one while allowing six base runners on four hits and two walks.

"Their lefthander out of the bullpen did a really good job," said Anderson. "We have a left-handed heavy line-up, but he pitched really well. We couldn't get enough quality at-bats back-to-back to score some more runs."

Late in the game, sophomore catcher Eli Wilson lifted a pinch-hit single, eventually coming in to take over behind the plate. That shifted around Minnesota's defensive alignment significantly with junior Cole McDevitt moving from catcher to first, senior Micah Coffey from first to third, and Kozicky from third to left field, a benefit of the Gophers' training at multiple positions during the past offseason.

"We're going to be able to move some people around late in the game," said Anderson. I was very pleased with our catching today. We're a lot better than a year ago. Both Eli and Cole did an outstanding job calling the game, blocking the plate. Eli made a great play throwing a runner out on a ball in the dirt. I couldn't be happier with what I've seen from our catching staff. That's a reflection on Coach Fornasiere and Coach Casey and the work they've done to help them improve."

QUOTABLE
"We had a talk this winter at practice. He was trying too hard, and being hard on himself. When a young player arrives on the scene and has a good year, then they want to do more. I thought in practice he was trying to do more, especially offensively. He wasn't having any fun. He was being too hard on himself. We sat down, and I told him, 'You don't have to do more. The reason you've been successful is that you have fun playing the game with a smile on your face. Take care of that and the results will speak for themselves." - John Anderson on Jordan Kozicky

NOTABLE
Jordan Kozicky's two-homer game is the second of his career, having launched two long flies back on May 16, 2017 against Rutgers â€¦ five hits are the fewest Minnesota has hit since May 18, 2017 against Purdue. The Gophers had more hits in all but eight games last season â€¦two runs are the fewest for Minnesota since the same series, scoring just one run against Purdue on May 19 of last year â€¦ the relief appearance for Brett Schulze was just the second of his career. Friday marked just the second time in his career he has pitched at least 4.0 innings without allowing an earned run.

UP NEXT
The Gophers return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon as Minnesota takes on Kennesaw State (1-0) in a doubleheader at Stillwell Baseball Stadium in Kennesaw to continue the Atlanta Challenge. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET.

Single-game tickets, season tickets, and group ticket packages are available for all Gopher Baseball games including the 2018 DQ Classic/Big Ten-Pac-12 Challenge at U.S. Bank Stadium on March 2-4. Stay up to date with all Gopher Baseball news by following the Gophers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via the links provided, or get all Minnesota Golden Gopher athletics news and highlights, including exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special ticket offers and promotions delivered straight to your inbox by signing up today!

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Team Stats

Jordan Kozicky

Luke Pettersen

Toby Hanson

Eli Wilson

Players Mentioned

Micah Coffey

Jordan Kozicky

Cole McDevitt

Reggie Meyer

Luke Pettersen

Brett Schulze

Eli Wilson

Upcoming Events

University of Minnesota Athletics