University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 5
U.S. Bank Stadium
7:00 PM
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Gophers Fall to Indiana in Season Opener
3/5/2021 11:16:00 PM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Baseball team dropped their 2021 season opener to visiting Indiana on Friday night, 5-2.
Making his first career start on the mound for Minnesota, right-handed pitcher Sam Ireland started out the game strong by retiring the first two batters of the game via the strikeout. However, the next two Indiana hitters to follow, Cole Barr and Jordan Fucci, used back-to-back doubles to give the Hoosiers an early 1-0 lead.
Indiana then tacked on two more runs in the third inning on a Fucci home run to right field.
Ireland was ultimately chased midway through the fifth inning, tossing a career-high 4 1/3 frames with three earned runs on seven hits and two walks. The right-hander also turned in a new career high in strikeouts with six.
The Hoosiers added one run apiece in the sixth and eighth innings as well against Minnesota reliever Nolan Burchill, with a Hunter Jessee solo home run putting Indiana up, 5-0, in the latter inning.
The Gophers would not go quietly, however, as the Minnesota bats came alive in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Andrew Wilhite laced a bases-empty single to center field to give the Maroon & Gold life. Zack Raabe then stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run to left field to put the Gophers on the board.
Jack Wassel followed Raabe with a double to right-centerfield, but the rally ultimately fizzled as the game concluded with a 5-2 final score.
Indiana starting pitcher Tommy Sommer received the win, firing eight shutout innings on two hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts.
In addition to the trio of Wilhite, Raabe and Wassel, Easton Bertrand and Chase Stanke also collected hits for the U.
Left-handed pitcher Ryan Duffy also saw action in the game, as he pitched a clean top of the ninth inning with two strikeouts prior to the Minnesota rally.
Quotable
"Their left-handed pitcher, Sommer, was outstanding. He didn't throw many in the middle of the plate with a three-pitch mix and some deception in the delivery. You have to give him credit. He did a phenomenal job," head coach John Anderson said. "Again, we played outstanding defense. We made the routine plays and a couple of difficult plays. We have to make some adjustments at the plate, but let's not let our confidence go away here. We have to regroup. We got beat by a good pitcher tonight. We're going to run into another guy like that this year and hopefully the next time we do, we can learn something from this and apply it. I'm just happy we got back out there to play again."
Notable
Starting pitcher Sam Ireland registered new career highs in innings pitched (4 2/3) and strikeouts (six) in his first career start.
Second baseman Zack Raabe hit his second career home run in the ninth inning on Friday night.
Up Next
Minnesota hosts Rutgers on Saturday, March 6 at 4 p.m. CT in another Big Ten showdown at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Making his first career start on the mound for Minnesota, right-handed pitcher Sam Ireland started out the game strong by retiring the first two batters of the game via the strikeout. However, the next two Indiana hitters to follow, Cole Barr and Jordan Fucci, used back-to-back doubles to give the Hoosiers an early 1-0 lead.
Indiana then tacked on two more runs in the third inning on a Fucci home run to right field.
Ireland was ultimately chased midway through the fifth inning, tossing a career-high 4 1/3 frames with three earned runs on seven hits and two walks. The right-hander also turned in a new career high in strikeouts with six.
The Hoosiers added one run apiece in the sixth and eighth innings as well against Minnesota reliever Nolan Burchill, with a Hunter Jessee solo home run putting Indiana up, 5-0, in the latter inning.
The Gophers would not go quietly, however, as the Minnesota bats came alive in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Andrew Wilhite laced a bases-empty single to center field to give the Maroon & Gold life. Zack Raabe then stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run to left field to put the Gophers on the board.
Jack Wassel followed Raabe with a double to right-centerfield, but the rally ultimately fizzled as the game concluded with a 5-2 final score.
Indiana starting pitcher Tommy Sommer received the win, firing eight shutout innings on two hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts.
In addition to the trio of Wilhite, Raabe and Wassel, Easton Bertrand and Chase Stanke also collected hits for the U.
Left-handed pitcher Ryan Duffy also saw action in the game, as he pitched a clean top of the ninth inning with two strikeouts prior to the Minnesota rally.
Quotable
"Their left-handed pitcher, Sommer, was outstanding. He didn't throw many in the middle of the plate with a three-pitch mix and some deception in the delivery. You have to give him credit. He did a phenomenal job," head coach John Anderson said. "Again, we played outstanding defense. We made the routine plays and a couple of difficult plays. We have to make some adjustments at the plate, but let's not let our confidence go away here. We have to regroup. We got beat by a good pitcher tonight. We're going to run into another guy like that this year and hopefully the next time we do, we can learn something from this and apply it. I'm just happy we got back out there to play again."
Notable
Starting pitcher Sam Ireland registered new career highs in innings pitched (4 2/3) and strikeouts (six) in his first career start.
Second baseman Zack Raabe hit his second career home run in the ninth inning on Friday night.
Up Next
Minnesota hosts Rutgers on Saturday, March 6 at 4 p.m. CT in another Big Ten showdown at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sommer, Tommy (1-0)
L: Ireland, Sam (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Barr, Cole 2 ; Fucci, Jordan 1 ; Toetz, Paul 1 ; Southern, Jacob 1
HR: Fucci, Jordan 1 ; Jessee, Hunter 1
RBI: Ashley, Drew 1 ; Fucci, Jordan 3 ; Jessee, Hunter 1
SH: Houston, Jeremy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Richardson, Grant 1 ; Barr, Cole 1 ; Fucci, Jordan 1 ; Jessee, Hunter 1 ; Southern, Jacob 1
HBP: Southern, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: Wassel, Jack 1 ; Stanke, Chase 1
HR: Raabe, Zack 1
RBI: Raabe, Zack 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Raabe, Zack 1
PO: Bertrand, Easton 3
Game Leaders
Hitting
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RBI
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AB
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H
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RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
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AB
3
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H
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP/1B
/ BaseballINF
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C
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
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