University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
21-10, 5-1
Penn State
7-18, 1-8
Gophers Sweep Penn State Series with 8-2 Clincher
4/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Gopher Baseball team wrapped up a three-game Big Ten Conference series sweep over Penn State with an 8-2 victory at Purdue's Alexander Field on Sunday.
Nittany Lions starter Dante Biasi (1-4) allowed seven walks in his 4.2 innings of work, and the Gophers would eventually make him pay for one as Luke Pettersen walked with one out in the third and came around to score on a double by Terrin Vavra, the first hit of the day for Minnesota (21-10, 5-1 Big Ten). Vavra would then come in to score himself on a single by Eli Wilson, giving the Gophers a 2-0 lead.
The Gophers worked a two-out rally in the fifth with a pair of walks by Micah Coffey and Cole McDevitt. Ben Mezzenga singled home Coffey after fouling off three strikes, and pinch hitter Eduardo Estrada Jr. grounded a single of his own up the middle to bring home McDevitt. Luke Pettersen started the sixth inning with a single and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Vavra.
Reggie Meyer (3-2) worked five scoreless innings against Penn State (7-18, 1-8 Big Ten), striking out four while scattering just two hits and a walk. The Nittany Lions scraped across a pair of unearned runs across in the seventh thanks to an error and a walk, followed by a bloop single into right by Jordan Bowersox.
The Maroon & Gold answered in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three more runs in the inning. Coffey and Mezzenga both doubled in the inning, and Alex Boxwell put an exclamation mark on the game with a two-run single after getting a second chance following a dropped foul ball by the Nittany Lions' third baseman.
NOTABLE
Minnesota has now won 12-straight against Penn State … the Gophers last swept a Big Ten series when they took both ends of a doubleheader against Rutgers lasts season on May 16 and last swept a three-game Big Ten series against the same Penn State team on May 5-7, 2017 … Ben Mezzenga and Eli Wilson each had a hit in every game this weekend and share the team lead with four-game hitting streaks.
UP NEXT
The Gophers will return to West Lafayette next weekend to take on the home team, Purdue, in a three-game Big Ten Conference series. The series opens Friday at 6 p.m. ET. First, the team will try again to open its home schedule Tuesday as Minnesota welcomes North Dakota State to Seibert Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CT, weather permitting.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Meyer, Reggie (3-2)
L: Biasi, Dante (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Sloniger, Ryan 1 ; Klemann, Connor 1
RBI: Bowersox, Jordan 2
SH: Sbranti, Shea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robison, Curtis 1 ; Hendershot, Parker 1
HBP: Giavedoni, Braxton 1
Batting:
2B: Vavra, Terrin 1 ; Coffey, Micah 1 ; Mezzenga, Ben 1
RBI: Vavra, Terrin 2 ; Wilson, Eli 1 ; Mezzenga, Ben 2 ; Estrada, Jr., Eduardo 1 ; Boxwell, Alex 2
SH: Smith, Riley 2
SF: Vavra, Terrin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pettersen, Luke 2 ; Vavra, Terrin 1 ; Coffey, Micah 2 ; McDevitt, Cole 2 ; Mezzenga, Ben 1
SB: Boxwell, Alex 1
