University of Minnesota Athletics
Monday, March 22
12:00 PM
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Gophers Conclude Series With Comeback Win Over Northwestern
3/22/2021 5:40:00 PM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Baseball team capped off their three-game series against Northwestern with a come-from-behind, 7-3 victory on Monday afternoon.
Jumping out to an early lead, the Gophers plated one run in the first on a Chase Stanke RBI single to left field that scored Zack Raabe. Minnesota then went up 2-0 in the second inning, as Jack Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring Andrew Wilhite home.
Minnesota starting pitcher Trent Schoeberl fired 2 2/3 no-hit frames to open the game before being lifted for reliever Nolan Burchill in the third. Schoeberl exited with a 2-0 lead, finishing with five walks and one strikeout on the day.
In the fifth inning, the Maroon & Gold's lead disintegrated as Northwestern put three runs on the board. Michael Trautwein got the scoring started with a two-run homer to left field, while an RBI double off the bat of Evan Minarovic put the Wildcats on top, 3-2.
From that point forward, the comeback was in order for the Gophers. Minnesota quickly responded with a pair of runs in the sixth to retake the lead, 4-3. Sam Ireland scored as Jack Kelly reached on a fielder's choice to second base, but then Ronald Sweeny came across home as well on the play due to a throwing error by Northwestern shortstop Shawn Goosenberg.
The Maroon & Gold maintained their 4-3 advantage through seven innings, thanks to three scoreless inning of relief from Patrick Fredrickson. While tossing innings six-through-eight for the Gophers, Fredrickson fanned four batters while allowing just one hit.
In the top half of the eighth, Minnesota extended their lead to 6-3 as Zack Elliott doubled down the left field line, scoring Brett Bateman and Wilhite. Elliott later came in to score as well on a wild pitch that brought the score to 7-3 in favor of the Gophers.
Following Fredrickson's exit from the game, southpaw Ryan Duffy came on to shut the door for Minnesota. Duffy made quick work of the Wildcats in the ninth, registering a clean frame with two strikeouts to nail down the Gopher victory.
Burchill received the win, pitching 2 1/3 innings with three runs allowed on five hits, striking out two.
Northwestern reliever Jack Sauser was saddled with the loss, tossing one-third of an inning and allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit and two walks. Wildcats starting pitcher Jack Dyke pitched 1 2/3 frames in the loss, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks.
Raabe was the lone Gopher to collect multiple hits in the game, notching a pair of singles while reaching base four total times. Wilhite and Elliott recorded the only extra-base hits in the win for Minnesota with one double apiece.
Elliott and J. Kelly both drove in two runs to help power Minnesota to the game three victory.
Quotable
"We got out of a couple of jams early," head coach John Anderson said. "Schoeberl made some pitches. He hung in there through some walks and we were able to not let the game get away from us early. We got some momentum from that. Our offense got a lead. The good news was, when we gave the lead up, we did respond and answer."
"I felt like I had a pretty good feel for my changeup and was able to throw enough good pitches to keep them off the barrel of the bat," Fredrickson said. "They're a good team. They played us hard this weekend, but it was a lot of fun."
Notable
Elliott totaled a career-high two RBIs in the game with his two-run double down the left field line in the eighth inning.
Fredrickson pitched three innings of one-hit, scoreless relief to lower his season ERA to 3.00 with a .227 batting average against.
Fredrickson and Schoeberl combined for 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball in game three.
Up Next
Minnesota will take to the road next weekend for a four-game series at Nebraska (March 26-28), representing the team's first matchups of 2021 away from U.S. Bank Stadium.
Jumping out to an early lead, the Gophers plated one run in the first on a Chase Stanke RBI single to left field that scored Zack Raabe. Minnesota then went up 2-0 in the second inning, as Jack Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring Andrew Wilhite home.
Minnesota starting pitcher Trent Schoeberl fired 2 2/3 no-hit frames to open the game before being lifted for reliever Nolan Burchill in the third. Schoeberl exited with a 2-0 lead, finishing with five walks and one strikeout on the day.
In the fifth inning, the Maroon & Gold's lead disintegrated as Northwestern put three runs on the board. Michael Trautwein got the scoring started with a two-run homer to left field, while an RBI double off the bat of Evan Minarovic put the Wildcats on top, 3-2.
From that point forward, the comeback was in order for the Gophers. Minnesota quickly responded with a pair of runs in the sixth to retake the lead, 4-3. Sam Ireland scored as Jack Kelly reached on a fielder's choice to second base, but then Ronald Sweeny came across home as well on the play due to a throwing error by Northwestern shortstop Shawn Goosenberg.
The Maroon & Gold maintained their 4-3 advantage through seven innings, thanks to three scoreless inning of relief from Patrick Fredrickson. While tossing innings six-through-eight for the Gophers, Fredrickson fanned four batters while allowing just one hit.
In the top half of the eighth, Minnesota extended their lead to 6-3 as Zack Elliott doubled down the left field line, scoring Brett Bateman and Wilhite. Elliott later came in to score as well on a wild pitch that brought the score to 7-3 in favor of the Gophers.
Following Fredrickson's exit from the game, southpaw Ryan Duffy came on to shut the door for Minnesota. Duffy made quick work of the Wildcats in the ninth, registering a clean frame with two strikeouts to nail down the Gopher victory.
Burchill received the win, pitching 2 1/3 innings with three runs allowed on five hits, striking out two.
Northwestern reliever Jack Sauser was saddled with the loss, tossing one-third of an inning and allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit and two walks. Wildcats starting pitcher Jack Dyke pitched 1 2/3 frames in the loss, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks.
Raabe was the lone Gopher to collect multiple hits in the game, notching a pair of singles while reaching base four total times. Wilhite and Elliott recorded the only extra-base hits in the win for Minnesota with one double apiece.
Elliott and J. Kelly both drove in two runs to help power Minnesota to the game three victory.
Quotable
"We got out of a couple of jams early," head coach John Anderson said. "Schoeberl made some pitches. He hung in there through some walks and we were able to not let the game get away from us early. We got some momentum from that. Our offense got a lead. The good news was, when we gave the lead up, we did respond and answer."
"I felt like I had a pretty good feel for my changeup and was able to throw enough good pitches to keep them off the barrel of the bat," Fredrickson said. "They're a good team. They played us hard this weekend, but it was a lot of fun."
Notable
Elliott totaled a career-high two RBIs in the game with his two-run double down the left field line in the eighth inning.
Fredrickson pitched three innings of one-hit, scoreless relief to lower his season ERA to 3.00 with a .227 batting average against.
Fredrickson and Schoeberl combined for 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball in game three.
Up Next
Minnesota will take to the road next weekend for a four-game series at Nebraska (March 26-28), representing the team's first matchups of 2021 away from U.S. Bank Stadium.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Burchill, Nolan (1-0)
L: Sauser, Jack (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Elliott, Zack 1
RBI: Stanke, Chase 1 ; Kelly, Jack 2 ; Elliott, Zack 2
SH: Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Kelly, Jack 1
SF: Kelly, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Raabe, Zack 1 ; Ireland, Sam 1 ; Sweeny, Ronald 1 ; Bateman, Brett 1 ; Wilhite, Andrew 2 ; Elliott, Zack 1
CS: Stanke, Chase 1
HBP: Stanke, Chase 2 ; Merila, Boston 1 ; Wilhite, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Bianchina, Vincent 1 ; Minarovic, Evan 1
HR: Trautwein, Michael 1
RBI: Trautwein, Michael 2 ; Minarovic, Evan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Goosenberg, Shawn 1 ; Trautwein, Michael 1 ; Bianchina, Vincent 1
CS: Kaplan, Leo 1
HBP: Kaplan, Leo 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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3
R
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H
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RBI
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AB
5
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H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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LHP
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INF
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RHP
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C/OF
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RHP
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INF
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OF
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