University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, March 13
U.S. Bank Stadium
5:00 PM
University of Minnesota
1-5, 0
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Illinois
3-3, 0
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Illinois
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11
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Minnesota Gophers
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8
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Gophers Drop Doubleheader to Illinois
3/14/2021 12:31:00 AM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota baseball team dropped both games of their doubleheader against Illinois on Saturday. The Gophers fell, 11-8, to start the day before dropping the nightcap, 7-1.
Game One Recap
Minnesota dropped the first contest of the Saturday doubleheader against Illinois in a seven inning game.
Things started off on the right foot for the Gophers, who took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Otto Grimm led off the frame with a walk and Zack Raabe reached on a single to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a walk by Jack Wassel to load the bases, Jack Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in the first run of the night and Chase Stanke followed with an RBI single.
Illinois got one run right back in the top of the second on a one-out double followed by an RBI single to right. Another run came around for the Fighting Illini in the third on a two-RBI single to right and again in the fourth on a wild pitch followed by a throwing error.
The fifth inning saw a six spot go on the board for Illinois to make it a 9-2 ballgame. The big half inning was highlighted by a trio of RBI singles. Two runs also crossed the plate for Illinois in the top of the sixth on an RBI double and a sac fly.
Going into the bottom of the seventh with an 11-2 score in favor of the Fighting Illini, the Gophers produced a formiddable rally that fell just short. A Drew Hmielewski walk, a Boston Merlia hit-by-pitch and a walk from Kyle Bork loaded the bases early on. Back-to-back walks from Gabe Knowles and Andrew Wilhite allowed two runs to score. Sam Ireland then sliced an RBI single to right field to plate another and put the score at 11-5.
Minnesota was not yet done in the inning. With the bases still loaded, Zack Elliott and Easton Bertrand were both hit by pitches to plate two Gophers. Batting around the order, Hmielewski came back up to the plate and produced the last run on a fielder's choice to arrive at the final score, 11-8.
Starting pitcher J.P. Massey received the loss for the Gophers, tossing 3 2/3 innings with three runs (two earned) allowed on three hits, four walks and three strikeouts.
Riley Gowens earned the win for Illinois after going four innings and allowing just two runs (one earned) while striking out seven.
Game Two Recap
The Gophers fell in the nightcap by a 7-1 score in a full, nine inning contest.
Illinois jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the second. The scoring started on back-to-back home runs. Jacob Campbell hit a two-run shot to left field and was followed by a solo homer off the bat of Jackson Raper.
Minnesota responded and plated a run in the bottom of the third inning. Elliott walked to start the inning, then advanced to second base on a Bertrand sacrifice bunt and eventually came in to score on a Boston Merila RBI single.
The Fighting Illini drove in two more in the fourth, highlighted by a double from Raper. An additional run came in for Illinois in the sixth inning on a bases-loaded walk and one more in the top of the ninth on a fielder's choice.
Minnesota starter Tom Skoro was saddled with the loss. The southpaw gave up five runs (four earned) over the course of five innings on seven hits while striking out two. Nolan Burchill entered in relief and pitched the final four innings for the Maroon and Gold. Burchill allowed just two runs and struck out four.
Ty Rybarczyk came away with the victory for the Fighting Illini, hurling seven innings of one-run ball to go along with four hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Notable
Raabe continued his hot streak at the plate, going 3-for-4 on the day with one triple, one run scored and one walk. Raabe is now batting .526/.591/.1.211 on the season and owns an active 16-game on-base streak to go with a 12-game hitting streak.
Burchill impressed in his second outing of the season. Pitching out of the bullpen, the senior allowed just two runs in four innings of work and recorded four strikeouts.
Quotable
"You're only as good as the next day's starting pitcher and how you pitch," head coach John Anderson said. "When you play doubleheaders like today, you have to have a lot of 1-2-3 innings and get off the field, and get some momentum and get back on offense. We just have to do a better job of trying to control the game a little bit more on the mound, so we can have some energy left for offense. We have to continue to work at it."
Up Next
The Gophers face the Fighting Illini once more on Sunday in the fourth and final game of the weekend. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm and can be streamed on BTN+.
Game One Recap
Minnesota dropped the first contest of the Saturday doubleheader against Illinois in a seven inning game.
Things started off on the right foot for the Gophers, who took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Otto Grimm led off the frame with a walk and Zack Raabe reached on a single to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a walk by Jack Wassel to load the bases, Jack Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in the first run of the night and Chase Stanke followed with an RBI single.
Illinois got one run right back in the top of the second on a one-out double followed by an RBI single to right. Another run came around for the Fighting Illini in the third on a two-RBI single to right and again in the fourth on a wild pitch followed by a throwing error.
The fifth inning saw a six spot go on the board for Illinois to make it a 9-2 ballgame. The big half inning was highlighted by a trio of RBI singles. Two runs also crossed the plate for Illinois in the top of the sixth on an RBI double and a sac fly.
Going into the bottom of the seventh with an 11-2 score in favor of the Fighting Illini, the Gophers produced a formiddable rally that fell just short. A Drew Hmielewski walk, a Boston Merlia hit-by-pitch and a walk from Kyle Bork loaded the bases early on. Back-to-back walks from Gabe Knowles and Andrew Wilhite allowed two runs to score. Sam Ireland then sliced an RBI single to right field to plate another and put the score at 11-5.
Minnesota was not yet done in the inning. With the bases still loaded, Zack Elliott and Easton Bertrand were both hit by pitches to plate two Gophers. Batting around the order, Hmielewski came back up to the plate and produced the last run on a fielder's choice to arrive at the final score, 11-8.
Starting pitcher J.P. Massey received the loss for the Gophers, tossing 3 2/3 innings with three runs (two earned) allowed on three hits, four walks and three strikeouts.
Riley Gowens earned the win for Illinois after going four innings and allowing just two runs (one earned) while striking out seven.
Game Two Recap
The Gophers fell in the nightcap by a 7-1 score in a full, nine inning contest.
Illinois jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the second. The scoring started on back-to-back home runs. Jacob Campbell hit a two-run shot to left field and was followed by a solo homer off the bat of Jackson Raper.
Minnesota responded and plated a run in the bottom of the third inning. Elliott walked to start the inning, then advanced to second base on a Bertrand sacrifice bunt and eventually came in to score on a Boston Merila RBI single.
The Fighting Illini drove in two more in the fourth, highlighted by a double from Raper. An additional run came in for Illinois in the sixth inning on a bases-loaded walk and one more in the top of the ninth on a fielder's choice.
Minnesota starter Tom Skoro was saddled with the loss. The southpaw gave up five runs (four earned) over the course of five innings on seven hits while striking out two. Nolan Burchill entered in relief and pitched the final four innings for the Maroon and Gold. Burchill allowed just two runs and struck out four.
Ty Rybarczyk came away with the victory for the Fighting Illini, hurling seven innings of one-run ball to go along with four hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Notable
Raabe continued his hot streak at the plate, going 3-for-4 on the day with one triple, one run scored and one walk. Raabe is now batting .526/.591/.1.211 on the season and owns an active 16-game on-base streak to go with a 12-game hitting streak.
Burchill impressed in his second outing of the season. Pitching out of the bullpen, the senior allowed just two runs in four innings of work and recorded four strikeouts.
Quotable
"You're only as good as the next day's starting pitcher and how you pitch," head coach John Anderson said. "When you play doubleheaders like today, you have to have a lot of 1-2-3 innings and get off the field, and get some momentum and get back on offense. We just have to do a better job of trying to control the game a little bit more on the mound, so we can have some energy left for offense. We have to continue to work at it."
Up Next
The Gophers face the Fighting Illini once more on Sunday in the fourth and final game of the weekend. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm and can be streamed on BTN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gowens,Riley (1-0)
L: Massey, J.P. (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Doligale,Danny 1 ; McDonald,Cam 2 ; Raper,Jackson 1
RBI: Jackson,Taylor 1 ; Doligale,Danny 1 ; McDonald,Cam 2 ; Janas,Justin 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 1 ; Raper,Jackson 1 ; Kim,Andrew 1 ; Hejza,Cal 1
SF: Hejza,Cal 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Comia,Branden 2 ; McDonald,Cam 3 ; Janas,Justin 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 2 ; Raper,Jackson 2 ; Kim,Andrew 1
SB: McDonald,Cam 1
CS: Jackson,Taylor 1
HBP: Comia,Branden 1 ; Raper,Jackson 1
Batting:
RBI: Hmielewski, Drew 1 ; Kelly, Jack 1 ; Knowles, Gabe 1 ; Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Ireland, Sam 1 ; Elliott, Zack 1 ; Bertrand, Easton 1
SF: Kelly, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grimm, Otto 1 ; Hmielewski, Drew 1 ; Raabe, Zack 1 ; Merila, Boston 1 ; Bork, Kyle 1 ; Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Ireland, Sam 1 ; Swenson, Riley 1
HBP: Merila, Boston 1 ; Elliott, Zack 1 ; Bertrand, Easton 1
Game Leaders
AB
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RBI
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AB
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lf/rf
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Players Mentioned
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