University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
7-2
South Dakota State
0-7
Culliver and Pettersen Star in 1-0 Win
2/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS - The Gopher Baseball team held South Dakota State without a hit for the first six innings and made a first-inning run hold up to claim a 1-0 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium on Wednesday night.
Minnesota (7-2) scraped a run across in the first inning when Luke Pettersen singled to lead off the inning, stole second, advanced to third on a balk and came around to score on a groundout by Terrin Vavra. Pettersen was the only baserunner for the Gophers through the first five innings when he launched a double down the right field line, which Vavra followed with a two-out walk. Pettersen's three hits would be the only offense of the day for Minnesota.
"Everybody loves offense, but the foundation of any successful program is being able to play defense and throw strikes," said head coach John Anderson after the game. "You have to be able to win a 1-0 game because we aren't going to hit .350 for the whole season. Eventually, the percentages go against you."
Joshua Culliver (1-0) tossed 5.0 hitless innings in his first collegiate start, striking out three. Jeff Fasching relieved him, working 3.0 shutout innings and striking out two. South Dakota State (0-7) broke through with their first hit of the game in the seventh but the Gopher defense quickly erased it from the board. Max Meyer moved from the designated hitter spot to the pitcher's mound for the ninth and collected his second save of the season despite allowing a walk.
"Getting on the bullpen mound to warm up [before the game], I was struggling a little bit. I never throw good bullpens before I pitch," said Culliver after the game. "I was thinking, 'This might be a sign that I'll have a good day.' Facing the first guy, I was a little nervous, but I got ahead and got a strikeout. After that, I just let my defense work."
QUOTABLE
"He was able to regain his focus there and gain some composure to finish that inning out. That was a big step for him to see him be able to do that: get the ball back in the strike zone, execute some pitches. That's something he can go back to when he needs to and know that he knows how to do it and he can do it." - head coach John Anderson on Culliver's ability to rebound after a walk to lead off the fifth to get a double play and strike out to end his day
NOTABLE
Culliver, Fasching, and Meyer combined for Minnesota's first shutout since a 6-0 victory over Rutgers last season on May 16, 2017 … the Gophers were held to just three hits for the first time since April 1, 2017 at Michigan State … the 1-0 victory was the first for Minnesota since April 2, 2014 against Augsburg at Siebert Field.
UP NEXT
Minnesota will host the annual DQ Classic, this year an extension of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge as six of the top teams in the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences descend on U.S. Bank Stadium for the three-day, nine-game event. The first game of the event will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday while the Gophers take on Arizona in the nightcap with a 7 p.m. first pitch.
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!
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Culliver, Josh (1-0)
L: Korey Kuhlmann (0-3)
S: Meyer, Max (2)
Batting:
2B: Pettersen, Luke 1
RBI: Vavra, Terrin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pettersen, Luke 1
SB: Pettersen, Luke 2
