University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 26
Lincoln, NE
2:00 PM
University of Minnesota
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Nebraska
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Minnesota Gophers
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Nebraska
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Gophers Fall in Series Opener to Nebraska
3/26/2021 6:57:00 PM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota baseball team opened their four-game road series at Nebraska with a 6-1 loss on Friday evening.
The Huskers got the scoring started early in the first inning, as Jaxon Hallmark gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field. In the third, Nebraska extended their advantage to 2-0 on a Spencer Schwellenbach RBI double to right-center.
For the two-plus innings to follow, the game remained in a closely-contested, two-run battle. Minnesota starting pitcher Sam Ireland kept the Gophers in the game, allowing just the two runs through his first five innings of work while striking out four.
Nebraska came alive again in the bottom of the sixth, however, following Ireland's exit from the game with two outs and runners at the corners. Upon reliever Tom Skoro's entry to the contest, the Huskers used a pair of RBI singles followed by a throwing error by Chase Stanke to plate three more runs and take a 5-0 lead.
In the eighth inning, the bats started to come alive for the Maroon & Gold. Cody Kelly led off the inning with a pinch hit single to center, while another pinch hit single off the bat of Gabe Knowles gave Minnesota runners at the corners. Zack Elliott then drove in Kelly on an RBI single up the middle. That marked the extent of the scoring in the game for the Gophers, as Zack Raabe bounced into a 5-4-3 double play to end the rally.
Although Stanke reached base to give Minnesota a baserunner in the ninth, the Gophers were unable to mount a late comeback as Nebraska claimed game one by a 6-1 final score.
Ireland was saddled with the loss, finishing with 5 2/3 innings pitched with four earned runs on six hits and four walks.
Nebraska starting pitcher Cade Povich earned the win, throwing seven shutout innings and scattering four hits while striking out ten batters.
Elliott was the lone Gopher to collect multiple hits in the game, notching a pair of singles to finish 2-for-4 with Minnesota's lone RBI. Raabe went 1-for-4 in the loss, collecting the team's only extra-base hit in the form of a fourth inning double.
With the game one loss, Minnesota falls to 3-9 on the season.
Quotable
"We really didn't execute at home plate today very well at all," head coach John Anderson said. "We had some poor at bats and that's really not what Gopher Baseball is about. We'll see if we can make some adjustments here. We have to put together a better offense than we have so far this year and until we do that, I think it's going to be a struggle for us to change the outcome of the scoreboard. Give credit to Povich, the left-handed pitcher for Nebraska, he did an outstanding job. But, like I've said before, all the guys on Fridays in this league are good. We have some work to do from a hitting standpoint, an offensive standpoint, and we'll see if we can't do a better job of executing at home plate tomorrow in the doubleheader."
Notable
Friday's game at Nebraska represented Minnesota's first true away game since visiting Northwestern on May 18, 2019. It also stood as Minnesota's first official competition outdoors since Feb. 17, 2020, when the Gophers opened the first weekend of the season at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Arizona.
Up Next
Minnesota remains in Lincoln for games two and three on Saturday, as the Gophers and Huskers are scheduled for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. CT.
The Huskers got the scoring started early in the first inning, as Jaxon Hallmark gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field. In the third, Nebraska extended their advantage to 2-0 on a Spencer Schwellenbach RBI double to right-center.
For the two-plus innings to follow, the game remained in a closely-contested, two-run battle. Minnesota starting pitcher Sam Ireland kept the Gophers in the game, allowing just the two runs through his first five innings of work while striking out four.
Nebraska came alive again in the bottom of the sixth, however, following Ireland's exit from the game with two outs and runners at the corners. Upon reliever Tom Skoro's entry to the contest, the Huskers used a pair of RBI singles followed by a throwing error by Chase Stanke to plate three more runs and take a 5-0 lead.
In the eighth inning, the bats started to come alive for the Maroon & Gold. Cody Kelly led off the inning with a pinch hit single to center, while another pinch hit single off the bat of Gabe Knowles gave Minnesota runners at the corners. Zack Elliott then drove in Kelly on an RBI single up the middle. That marked the extent of the scoring in the game for the Gophers, as Zack Raabe bounced into a 5-4-3 double play to end the rally.
Although Stanke reached base to give Minnesota a baserunner in the ninth, the Gophers were unable to mount a late comeback as Nebraska claimed game one by a 6-1 final score.
Ireland was saddled with the loss, finishing with 5 2/3 innings pitched with four earned runs on six hits and four walks.
Nebraska starting pitcher Cade Povich earned the win, throwing seven shutout innings and scattering four hits while striking out ten batters.
Elliott was the lone Gopher to collect multiple hits in the game, notching a pair of singles to finish 2-for-4 with Minnesota's lone RBI. Raabe went 1-for-4 in the loss, collecting the team's only extra-base hit in the form of a fourth inning double.
With the game one loss, Minnesota falls to 3-9 on the season.
Quotable
"We really didn't execute at home plate today very well at all," head coach John Anderson said. "We had some poor at bats and that's really not what Gopher Baseball is about. We'll see if we can make some adjustments here. We have to put together a better offense than we have so far this year and until we do that, I think it's going to be a struggle for us to change the outcome of the scoreboard. Give credit to Povich, the left-handed pitcher for Nebraska, he did an outstanding job. But, like I've said before, all the guys on Fridays in this league are good. We have some work to do from a hitting standpoint, an offensive standpoint, and we'll see if we can't do a better job of executing at home plate tomorrow in the doubleheader."
Notable
Friday's game at Nebraska represented Minnesota's first true away game since visiting Northwestern on May 18, 2019. It also stood as Minnesota's first official competition outdoors since Feb. 17, 2020, when the Gophers opened the first weekend of the season at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Arizona.
Up Next
Minnesota remains in Lincoln for games two and three on Saturday, as the Gophers and Huskers are scheduled for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. CT.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Povich, Cade (2-1)
L: Ireland, Sam (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Raabe, Zack 1
RBI: Elliott, Zack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kelly, Cody 1
PO: Ireland, Sam 1
Batting:
2B: Schwellenbach, S. 1
HR: Hallmark, Jaxon 1
RBI: Hallmark, Jaxon 1 ; Schwellenbach, S. 1 ; Hagge, Mojo 1 ; Everitt, Griffin 2
SH: Roskam, Luke 1 ; Cervantes, Efry 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Acker, Joe 1 ; Hallmark, Jaxon 1 ; Anderson, Max 1 ; Roskam, Luke 1 ; Cervantes, Efry 1 ; Hagge, Mojo 1
SB: Everitt, Griffin 1
Game Leaders
1b/ss
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
p/dh
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
ph/rf
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballRHP/1B
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
C
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