University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
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Florida Atlantic
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Gophers Drop Game Two to FAU
2/19/2022 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
Sunday's game is set to begin at 11 a.m. CT
BOCA RATON, Florida -- Minnesota fell by the score of 8-2 to the Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday afternoon in Boca Raton, Fla., evening the season-opening series at one game apiece.
Easton Bertrand paced the Gophers offense with a 2-for-3 outing at the plate while Drew Stahl mashed a pinch hit, two-run triple off the fence in the seventh inning. Joe Hauser also tallied a multi-hit game in his first start, but the Gophers couldn't string enough offense together after falling into an early deficit.
Stahl starts the 2022 season 3-for-4 at the plate with a single, double, triple and 5 RBI 💨💨 pic.twitter.com/Ri6G9Zu304
— Minnesota Baseball (@GopherBaseball) February 19, 2022
FAU left-hander Hunter Cooley went 6.2 innings, striking out five and allowing five hits with two earned runs before turning it over to the bullpen.
FAU struck first in the second inning after Jalen DeBose drove in a run with a two-out RBI double off the center field fence. DeBose would drive in three more runs on a bases-clearing double in the fourth inning before scoring himself on a sacrifice fly to put the Owls up 5-0. Minnesota would then hold FAU scoreless until the eighth inning, where they pushed across three more insurance runs with a two-out RBI single and a two-run home run immediately ensuing.
Redshirt junior Aidan Maldonado, a transfer from Illinois, started on the mound for Minnesota and was impressive, striking out five batters in 3.0 innings. He allowed two hits and one earned run while walking one and hitting two Owls. He was replaced after the third inning because of a 35-minute rain delay.
That's 5⃣ punch outs through three innings for @Maldonado_aidan!
— Minnesota Baseball (@GopherBaseball) February 19, 2022
That slider tho 😩 pic.twitter.com/7LzzkGpnMc
True freshman Sam Malec replaced Maldonado after the delay and ran into immediate trouble in his Gophers debut. After walking the leadoff hitter and surrendering back-to-back singles, FAU's DeBose hit his second double of the game, which cleared the bases and put the home team up 4-0. He would later score on a sacrifice fly to put the Owls up 5-0. Malec would eventually settle down, striking out four and allowing no more hits or runs through 3.0 innings on the hill.
Another true freshman, Noah Rooney, finished the game on the mound for the 'U'. He pitched 2.0 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and walked one.
NEXT UP:
Minnesota and FAU play again tomorrow afternoon at noon ET/11 a.m. CT. Senior right-hander J.P. Massey will take the ball for Minnesota in his first start of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cooley (1-0)
L: Maldonado, Aidan (0-1)
Batting:
3B: Stahl, Drew 1
RBI: Stahl, Drew 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bertrand, Easton 1 ; Hauser, Joe 1
CS: Wilhite, Andrew 1
HBP: Wilhite, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: DeBose 2
HR: Rincones, Jr 1
RBI: Albert 1 ; Rincones, Jr 3 ; DeBose 4
SH: Toney 1
SF: Rincones, Jr 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Albert 1 ; Rincones, Jr 1 ; Ross 1 ; Goldstein 3 ; Toney 1 ; DeBose 1
SB: Goldstein 1
HBP: Albert 1 ; Goldstein 2
