University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
1-0
Oregon
0-1
Gophers Hold Off Oregon for Season-Opening Victory
2/15/2020 2:28:00 AM | Baseball
Junior right-handed pitcher Max Meyer pitched the first five innings of the game for the Gophers, allowing just two hits and two runs (one earned) in the outing. Meyer struck out seven batters in the process.
The Gopher offense started strong right out of the gate, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning in the form of a Jack Wassel two-run double. Wassel would finish two-for-four in the game via a pair of doubles, with his three RBI tying the team-high for the game.
Sophomore Zack Raabe also contributed three RBI in the season-opening victory, collecting a trio of hits against Oregon hurlers. With the three-hit game, Raabe extended his team-leading on-base streak to 16 games – a mark that dates back to April of the 2019 campaign.
Drew Hmielewski, Ronald Sweeny and Andrew Wilhite also registered multi-hit games for the Maroon and Gold. The latter two Gophers chipped in two runs apiece, while Hmielewski paced the team with three runs scored.
Truth be told, it was an up-and-down affair for Minnesota in their first contest of the year. The Gophers got out to an early 11-2 lead through the first five innings before Oregon stormed back with eight unanswered runs.
Heading into the bottom of the eighth, the U held a slim 12-11 lead. Wassel's second run-scoring double of the night ultimately pushed the lead to two.
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth, junior Joshua Culliver entered the game in a crucial save situation. Culliver made quick work of the Ducks to secure the win for Minnesota, recording a strikeout before forcing the final batter of the game to ground out.
With Culliver recording the save, Meyer came away with his first win of the young season. Cullen Kafka was saddled with the loss for Oregon, lasting just 2 2/3 innings and yielding nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits.
Quotable
"Throughout my career, I think sometimes the hardest game to win is the first one," said head coach John Anderson. "There were a lot of good things that went on out there today. We won the game. That's the important part. We stuck in there and found a way to win the game when they were taking a run at us."
"He was coming with the fastballs early and we were jumping on them. We reacted to his fastball and laid off the slider," said Raabe. "Cully came in and slammed the door and it's just a Gopher win. Glad to have the win."
Notable
Raabe extended his team-leading on-base streak to 16 games in the victory after delivering three base hits in the game. Meanwhile, redshirt freshmen Otto Grimm and Riley Swenson each recorded their first collegiate hits via a pair of singles. Freshmen Will Anderson and Sam Ireland also made their Gopher debuts on the mound.
Up Next
Minnesota returns to action tomorrow afternoon in a 2:00 p.m. CT contest against Pepperdine at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Meyer, Max (1-0)
L: Kafka, Cullen (0-1)
S: Culliver, Josh (1)
Batting:
3B: Yovan, Kenyon 1 ; Matthews, Gabe 1 ; Hall, Anthony 1
RBI: Novitske, Sam 1 ; Matthews, Gabe 1 ; Scanlon, Jack 1 ; Hall, Anthony 2 ; Zavala, Aaron 2 ; Williams, Evan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Tanner 2 ; Yovan, Kenyon 2 ; Matthews, Gabe 2 ; Scanlon, Jack 1 ; Hall, Anthony 2 ; Grant, Gavin 1
SB: Grant, Gavin 1
CS: Williams, Evan 1
HBP: Smith, Tanner 1 ; Matthews, Gabe 1 ; Scanlon, Jack 1 ; Miller, A.J. 1
Batting:
2B: Raabe, Zack 1 ; Wassel, Jack 2 ; Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Hmielewski, Drew 1
3B: Stanke, Chase 1
RBI: Raabe, Zack 3 ; Wassel, Jack 3 ; Stanke, Chase 1 ; Hmielewski, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kozicky, Jordan 1 ; Raabe, Zack 2 ; Sweeny, Ronald 2 ; Wassel, Jack 1 ; Stanke, Chase 1 ; Wilhite, Andrew 2 ; Hmielewski, Drew 3
SB: Hmielewski, Drew 1
HBP: Stanke, Chase 1
