University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, March 7
U.S. Bank Stadium
2:00 PM
University of Minnesota
1-2, 0
13
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8
Rutgers
2-2, 0
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9
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H
E
Rutgers
0
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0
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1
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4
8
14
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Minnesota Gophers
5
4
0
1
0
0
2
1
0
13
16
1
Minnesota Splits Sunday Doubleheader
3/7/2021 10:32:00 PM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Baseball program closed out their opening weekend of play by splitting a pair of nine inning games against Rutgers and Indiana on Sunday. The Gophers defeated Rutgers, 13-8, to begin the day before dropping the nightcap to Indiana, 8-1.
Game One Recap
In game one, Minnesota used a strong offensive performance to power past Rutgers by a final of 13-8.
The Gophers sprung to life offensively in the first. Wilhite got things started with a single up the middle and advanced to third on a Zach Raabe double. Jack Wassel then plated the first Gopher run in Wilhite, while Chase Stanke laced a single to right to drive home Raabe. Ronald Sweeny launched a two-run home run to bring the early score to 5-0 in favor of the Maroon and Gold.
The Scarlet Knights answered back in the top of the second on a pair of doubles. Ryan Lasko led off the inning with a ground rule double that hopped over the center field fence and Peter Serruto hit a two-bagger of his own to allow Lasko to score and trim the deficit to 5-1.
Minnesota's bats continued to produce in the second. Raabe stroked a solo home run to left field for his third home run in as many games. Wassel singled to left in the following at-bat and Cody Kelly put two in scoring position on a double to right field. Stanke then moved both runners home on a two-run single. After Jack Kelly singled and advanced Stanke to second, a Sweeny single pushed Stanke home and gave the Gophers a 9-1 lead.
The bottom of the fourth saw one more run for the Maroon and Gold. After three consecutive batters in C. Kelly, Stanke and J. Kelly were hit by pitches, Sweeny walked to force another run home, marking his fifth RBI of the day
Rutgers responded in the sixth as Josh Rodriguez hit a solo home run. The Scarlet Knights produced two more in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Jordan Sweeney and another solo home run, this time off the bat of Danny DiGeorgio, to move the score to 10-5 in favor of Minnesota.
Minnesota attacked right back in the home half of the seventh. Wassel doubled to left center to drive in Boston Merila and Drew Stahl. Another run came around in the eighth for the Maroon & Gold as Sam Ireland came in on a Sweeny groundout.
Overall, it was a career day for Sweeny, who not only launched his first career home run, but finished with six RBI in game one to lead all Gophers.
Rutgers produced a fight in the top of the ninth as DiGeorgio hit a grand slam for his second home run of the night. The Gophers quickly silenced the rest of the lineup to close the game at 13-8.
Tom Skoro earned the win in his first outing in a Maroon &Gold uniform. The southpaw tossed six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. His eight strikeouts mark the highest for a Gopher starter so far this season. Behind Skoro was Bubba Horton and Trent Schoeberl, who each pitched in relief. Horton took over on the mound for two innings of two-run ball and Schoeberl pitched the ninth, giving up four runs.
Jayson Hoopes of Indiana took the loss after going just one inning. Hoopes allowed five runs on five hits.
Game Two Recap
The Gophers were held quiet in the nightcap and fell to Indiana by a final score of 8-1.
Indiana started the scoring in the first on a Paul Toetz two-run round tripper that also scored Cole Barr. They added one more in the third on an RBI double from Grant Richardson.
Minnesota's lone run of the night came on an Easton Bertrand solo home run to right field in the bottom of the third inning to make the game 3-1.
The Hoosiers tacked on two more during the fifth inning on an RBI single by Jordan Fucci and a Toetz groundout that allowed Richardson to come home. Another pair of runs were added to the Indiana score in the seventh on a solo home run off the bat of Drew Ashley, followed later in the inning by a Tyler Van Pelt RBI single. The final Rutgers run came in the top of the ninth inning off a Fucci double that bounced off the wall in right-center.
Gopher starter Jack Liffrig was handed the loss in his Minnesota debut after giving up five runs in five innings. Joshua Culliver pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning before leaving the game in the seventh without recording an out in the inning and giving up two runs. Patrick Frederickson entered in relief and tossed two scoreless frames. Drake Davis finished the game on the mound and allowed one earned run in the ninth.
Ty Bothwell was credited with the win for Indiana. Bothwell fired five innings and allowed just one run on two hits while striking out ten.
Notable
Minnesota native Tom Skoro made his debut in the Maroon & Gold in game one. The lefty went six innings and recorded eight strikeouts.
Raabe continued his hot streak at the plate, going 2-for-3 in the first game of the doubleheader. Raabe recorded a double and a home run in the game. Raabe has now homered in three consecutive games to open the 2020 season.
While launching his first career home run, Ronald Sweeny collected six total RBI in game one.
Joshua Culliver made his return to the diamond after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2020.
Quotable
"I thought we did a much better job of sticking our nose in there today with some confidence and competing," head coach John Anderson said. "We just have to try to go weekend-to-weekend here and use each weekend to get some information and go back to work, and hopefully we can make steady progress as we go through the year and have some better results… We learned a lot. We got a lot of information and I think the guys will assess and talk and keep trying to make adjustments."
"After the last two games, we came out firing," said Skoro. "When the guys put up five runs in the first inning that was just a great cushion to go out there and throw strikes, get outs and do what I had to do… My first Division I start and I didn't really expect that, but it was a lot of fun."
Up Next
Minnesota hosts Illinois on Friday, March 12 at 5:00 p.m. CT in another Big Ten matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Friday tilt will mark the first game of a four-game weekend series.
Game One Recap
In game one, Minnesota used a strong offensive performance to power past Rutgers by a final of 13-8.
The Gophers sprung to life offensively in the first. Wilhite got things started with a single up the middle and advanced to third on a Zach Raabe double. Jack Wassel then plated the first Gopher run in Wilhite, while Chase Stanke laced a single to right to drive home Raabe. Ronald Sweeny launched a two-run home run to bring the early score to 5-0 in favor of the Maroon and Gold.
The Scarlet Knights answered back in the top of the second on a pair of doubles. Ryan Lasko led off the inning with a ground rule double that hopped over the center field fence and Peter Serruto hit a two-bagger of his own to allow Lasko to score and trim the deficit to 5-1.
Minnesota's bats continued to produce in the second. Raabe stroked a solo home run to left field for his third home run in as many games. Wassel singled to left in the following at-bat and Cody Kelly put two in scoring position on a double to right field. Stanke then moved both runners home on a two-run single. After Jack Kelly singled and advanced Stanke to second, a Sweeny single pushed Stanke home and gave the Gophers a 9-1 lead.
The bottom of the fourth saw one more run for the Maroon and Gold. After three consecutive batters in C. Kelly, Stanke and J. Kelly were hit by pitches, Sweeny walked to force another run home, marking his fifth RBI of the day
Rutgers responded in the sixth as Josh Rodriguez hit a solo home run. The Scarlet Knights produced two more in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Jordan Sweeney and another solo home run, this time off the bat of Danny DiGeorgio, to move the score to 10-5 in favor of Minnesota.
Minnesota attacked right back in the home half of the seventh. Wassel doubled to left center to drive in Boston Merila and Drew Stahl. Another run came around in the eighth for the Maroon & Gold as Sam Ireland came in on a Sweeny groundout.
Overall, it was a career day for Sweeny, who not only launched his first career home run, but finished with six RBI in game one to lead all Gophers.
Rutgers produced a fight in the top of the ninth as DiGeorgio hit a grand slam for his second home run of the night. The Gophers quickly silenced the rest of the lineup to close the game at 13-8.
Tom Skoro earned the win in his first outing in a Maroon &Gold uniform. The southpaw tossed six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. His eight strikeouts mark the highest for a Gopher starter so far this season. Behind Skoro was Bubba Horton and Trent Schoeberl, who each pitched in relief. Horton took over on the mound for two innings of two-run ball and Schoeberl pitched the ninth, giving up four runs.
Jayson Hoopes of Indiana took the loss after going just one inning. Hoopes allowed five runs on five hits.
Game Two Recap
The Gophers were held quiet in the nightcap and fell to Indiana by a final score of 8-1.
Indiana started the scoring in the first on a Paul Toetz two-run round tripper that also scored Cole Barr. They added one more in the third on an RBI double from Grant Richardson.
Minnesota's lone run of the night came on an Easton Bertrand solo home run to right field in the bottom of the third inning to make the game 3-1.
The Hoosiers tacked on two more during the fifth inning on an RBI single by Jordan Fucci and a Toetz groundout that allowed Richardson to come home. Another pair of runs were added to the Indiana score in the seventh on a solo home run off the bat of Drew Ashley, followed later in the inning by a Tyler Van Pelt RBI single. The final Rutgers run came in the top of the ninth inning off a Fucci double that bounced off the wall in right-center.
Gopher starter Jack Liffrig was handed the loss in his Minnesota debut after giving up five runs in five innings. Joshua Culliver pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning before leaving the game in the seventh without recording an out in the inning and giving up two runs. Patrick Frederickson entered in relief and tossed two scoreless frames. Drake Davis finished the game on the mound and allowed one earned run in the ninth.
Ty Bothwell was credited with the win for Indiana. Bothwell fired five innings and allowed just one run on two hits while striking out ten.
Notable
Minnesota native Tom Skoro made his debut in the Maroon & Gold in game one. The lefty went six innings and recorded eight strikeouts.
Raabe continued his hot streak at the plate, going 2-for-3 in the first game of the doubleheader. Raabe recorded a double and a home run in the game. Raabe has now homered in three consecutive games to open the 2020 season.
While launching his first career home run, Ronald Sweeny collected six total RBI in game one.
Joshua Culliver made his return to the diamond after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2020.
Quotable
"I thought we did a much better job of sticking our nose in there today with some confidence and competing," head coach John Anderson said. "We just have to try to go weekend-to-weekend here and use each weekend to get some information and go back to work, and hopefully we can make steady progress as we go through the year and have some better results… We learned a lot. We got a lot of information and I think the guys will assess and talk and keep trying to make adjustments."
"After the last two games, we came out firing," said Skoro. "When the guys put up five runs in the first inning that was just a great cushion to go out there and throw strikes, get outs and do what I had to do… My first Division I start and I didn't really expect that, but it was a lot of fun."
Up Next
Minnesota hosts Illinois on Friday, March 12 at 5:00 p.m. CT in another Big Ten matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Friday tilt will mark the first game of a four-game weekend series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Skoro, Tom (1-0)
L: Hoopes, Jayson (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Lasko, Ryan 1 ; Norton, Bradley 1 ; Serruto, Peter 1
HR: DiGeorgio, Danny 2 ; Rodriguez, Josh 1
RBI: Sweeney, Jordan 1 ; DiGeorgio, Danny 5 ; Rodriguez, Josh 1 ; Serruto, Peter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shulman, Grant 1 ; Schiekofer, Richie 1 ; Sweeney, Jordan 1 ; Valderrama, Victor 1 ; DiGeorgio, Danny 2 ; Lasko, Ryan 1 ; Rodriguez, Josh 1
HBP: Shulman, Grant 1 ; Schiekofer, Richie 1 ; Brito, Chris 1
Batting:
2B: Raabe, Zack 1 ; Wassel, Jack 1 ; Kelly, Cody 1 ; Ireland, Sam 1
HR: Raabe, Zack 1 ; Sweeny, Ronald 1
RBI: Raabe, Zack 1 ; Wassel, Jack 3 ; Stanke, Chase 3 ; Sweeny, Ronald 6
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilhite, Andrew 1 ; Raabe, Zack 2 ; Merila, Boston 1 ; Wassel, Jack 2 ; Kelly, Cody 2 ; Stanke, Chase 1 ; Kelly, Jack 1 ; Ireland, Sam 1 ; Sweeny, Ronald 1 ; Stahl, Drew 1
HBP: Kelly, Cody 1 ; Stanke, Chase 1 ; Kelly, Jack 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
rf/c
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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RHP/1B
/ BaseballC
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C/OF
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LHP
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INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
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