University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 29
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Come Up Short Against Duke in Extras Despite Late Power Surge
3/1/2020 12:38:00 AM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS – The Gopher Baseball team mounted a late comeback against No. 14 Duke on Saturday night, but ultimately fell to the Blue Devils in extra innings, 7-3.
J.P. Massey started on the mound for the Gophers, silencing the Blue Devil bats through the first two frames while registering the first six outs via the strikeout. The sophomore right-hander ran into trouble in the third, however, with Duke pushing across an unearned run with an RBI groundout.
A triple to center field extended the Duke lead to 2-0 in the fourth, but Massey navigated the Gophers away from further damage while striking out his eighth batter of the night – a new career high.
Massey surrendered a third run in the sixth before being lifted from the game, finishing with a final line of 5 2/3 innings with three runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks and eight strikeouts. Bubba Horton subsequently entered in relief and worked the Gophers out of a jam, setting the tone for the team heading into the bottom half of the inning.
Minnesota broke into the scoring column in the sixth, plating their first run on a Jordan Kozicky RBI single to left-center. The game stayed fairly uneventful from there over the next two innings, as Horton silenced the Duke offense with a pair of scoreless frames.
The fireworks then erupted for the Maroon and Gold in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Jack Wassel crushed a lead-off solo home run to straightaway center field to bring the Gophers within one run. Two batters later, Easton Bertrand followed Wassel's lead with his own moonshot to left-center, effectively knotting the game at 3-3.
With neither team unable to break the tie in the ninth, the game headed to extras. The Blue Devils took over at that point, putting together a four-run 10th inning that knocked Horton out of the game in favor of Patrick Fredrickson.
Behind 7-3 in the bottom of the 10th, Minnesota was unable to claw their way back into the contest the second time around. Horton was saddled with the loss, throwing four innings and giving up four runs on six hits, two walks and six strikeouts.
Although he was tagged for a pair of homers in the eighth, Duke reliever Thomas Girard earned the win for the Blue Devils.
Quotable
"Our guys competed for nine innings. I've seen that all year long. It's a good quality to have and will serve us well as we go along," said head coach John Anderson. "Massey did a really good job for us. But against good teams, you can't make a mistake. I give Duke credit – they have a good team. They were able to make one more pitch, one more play, one more hit than we were able to tonight."
Notable
In his 5 2/3 innings of work, Massey set a new career high in strikeouts with eight. The sophomore recorded the first six outs of the game via the strikeout.
Wassel and Bertrand connected for a pair of solo home runs in the eighth inning to momentarily tie the game at three runs apiece.
Up Next
Minnesota hosts No. 13 NC State at 6 p.m. on Sunday in their third and final game of the 2020 CambriaCollegeClassic at U.S. Bank Stadium. At the conclusion of the game, an award ceremony will be held and the tournament championship trophy, handcrafted by flagship sponsor Cambria, will be awarded in addition to tournament MVP honors. Cambria and Minnesota Baseball will also announce the 2020 CambriaCollegeClassic All-Tournament team at this time.
J.P. Massey started on the mound for the Gophers, silencing the Blue Devil bats through the first two frames while registering the first six outs via the strikeout. The sophomore right-hander ran into trouble in the third, however, with Duke pushing across an unearned run with an RBI groundout.
A triple to center field extended the Duke lead to 2-0 in the fourth, but Massey navigated the Gophers away from further damage while striking out his eighth batter of the night – a new career high.
Massey surrendered a third run in the sixth before being lifted from the game, finishing with a final line of 5 2/3 innings with three runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks and eight strikeouts. Bubba Horton subsequently entered in relief and worked the Gophers out of a jam, setting the tone for the team heading into the bottom half of the inning.
Minnesota broke into the scoring column in the sixth, plating their first run on a Jordan Kozicky RBI single to left-center. The game stayed fairly uneventful from there over the next two innings, as Horton silenced the Duke offense with a pair of scoreless frames.
The fireworks then erupted for the Maroon and Gold in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Jack Wassel crushed a lead-off solo home run to straightaway center field to bring the Gophers within one run. Two batters later, Easton Bertrand followed Wassel's lead with his own moonshot to left-center, effectively knotting the game at 3-3.
With neither team unable to break the tie in the ninth, the game headed to extras. The Blue Devils took over at that point, putting together a four-run 10th inning that knocked Horton out of the game in favor of Patrick Fredrickson.
Behind 7-3 in the bottom of the 10th, Minnesota was unable to claw their way back into the contest the second time around. Horton was saddled with the loss, throwing four innings and giving up four runs on six hits, two walks and six strikeouts.
Although he was tagged for a pair of homers in the eighth, Duke reliever Thomas Girard earned the win for the Blue Devils.
Quotable
"Our guys competed for nine innings. I've seen that all year long. It's a good quality to have and will serve us well as we go along," said head coach John Anderson. "Massey did a really good job for us. But against good teams, you can't make a mistake. I give Duke credit – they have a good team. They were able to make one more pitch, one more play, one more hit than we were able to tonight."
Notable
In his 5 2/3 innings of work, Massey set a new career high in strikeouts with eight. The sophomore recorded the first six outs of the game via the strikeout.
Wassel and Bertrand connected for a pair of solo home runs in the eighth inning to momentarily tie the game at three runs apiece.
Up Next
Minnesota hosts No. 13 NC State at 6 p.m. on Sunday in their third and final game of the 2020 CambriaCollegeClassic at U.S. Bank Stadium. At the conclusion of the game, an award ceremony will be held and the tournament championship trophy, handcrafted by flagship sponsor Cambria, will be awarded in addition to tournament MVP honors. Cambria and Minnesota Baseball will also announce the 2020 CambriaCollegeClassic All-Tournament team at this time.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Thomas Girard (1-0)
L: Horton, Bubba (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Michael Rothenberg 1
3B: Wil Hoyle 1
RBI: Joey Loperfido 3 ; Chase Cheek 2 ; Michael Rothenberg 1 ; Wil Hoyle 1
SH: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Erikson Nichols 1 ; Wil Hoyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Chase Cheek 1 ; RJ Schreck 1 ; Jake Topolski 1 ; Grant Norris 1 ; Erikson Nichols 2
SB: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Michael Rothenberg 1 ; Ethan Murray 1
HBP: Michael Rothenberg 1 ; Matt Mervis 1
Batting:
2B: Wassel, Jack 1
HR: Wassel, Jack 1 ; Bertrand, Easton 1
RBI: Wassel, Jack 1 ; Bertrand, Easton 1 ; Kozicky, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wassel, Jack 2 ; Bertrand, Easton 1
CS: Raabe, Zack 1
HBP: Raabe, Zack 1
PO: Stanke, Chase 3
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
4
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
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