University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
1-3
Florida Atlantic
3-1
Gophers Fall to FAU in Series Finale
2/21/2022 9:20:00 PM | Baseball
Easton Bertrand hit two home runs and had five RBI
BOCA RATON, Florida -- Minnesota fell short in the series finale to Florida Atlantic on Monday evening, losing 17-9. The Gophers took game one of the series before the host Owls took the final three.
Redshirt senior right fielder Easton Bertrand had a great night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI (both career-highs). Brett Bateman and Jack Kelly also had multi-hit games while Chase Stanke and Ronald Sweeny hit solo home runs.
Six pitchers appeared for Minnesota, combining to give up 17 runs on 15 hits with 11 strikeouts and eight walks. FAU's Gabriel Rincones Jr. led the Owls offensive attack with a 3-for-5 night at the plate that included two home runs and seven RBI.
FAU struck first, scoring one in the first inning after the leadoff hitter singled and was driven in with a double off the wall by No. 2 hitter Gabriel Rincones Jr. The Owls eventually loaded the bases on starting pitcher George Klassen, who tallied his first career strikeout to earn the second out of the inning. He was replaced by redshirt junior left-hander Jack Liffrig, who struck out the next hitter to strand three Owls on base and limit the damage to just one run.
Minnesota would answer back in the top of the second inning when Easton Bertrand belted a three-run home run on an 0-2 pitch to put the Gophers on the board. Their early lead would prove to be short-lived, however, as Rincones Jr. answered with a three-run blast of his own to put FAU up 4-3 in the bottom of the second.
Ronnie Sweeny would promptly tie the game back up in the top of the third with a tape measure blast over the right field scoreboard. A three-run home run by FAU's Goldstein put the Owls up 7-4 in the bottom of the third.
Bertrand continued his monster night and weekend with his second home run of the night, a two-run opposite field blast to put his team back within one at 7-6 in the top of the fourth. A two-run home run by FAU's Kelder in the bottom of the fourth put the home team back up by three and effectively ended the night of Liffrig. Randon Dauman, a redshirt sophomore who transferred in from Saint Louis, entered in the bottom of the fourth and struck out two batters to end the frame.
The Owls would add three more to their run total in the bottom of the fifth by way of a leadoff walk, a triple and a two-run home run by Rincones, his second of the night. The Gophers would cut the lead to 12-8 after a Brett Bateman RBI single in the sixth, which followed Boston Merila scoring on an error made by the right fielder on a ball hit by Drew Stahl.
FAU ended any hope of a comeback with five more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, culminating with a two-out, three-run double to go up 17-8. A Chase Stanke solo home run, his third of the series, came in the top of the seventh and made the score 17-9, which would be the final.
Iowa transfer Will Semb and junior Michael Gurka combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings, holding FAU scoreless after the sixth.
NEXT UP:
Minnesota (1-3) plays at Florida Gulf Coast (2-2) at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Drumheller (1-0)
L: Liffrig, Jack (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Merila, Boston 1 ; Stahl, Drew 1
HR: Stanke, Chase 1 ; Sweeny, Ronald 1 ; Bertrand, Easton 2
RBI: Bateman, Brett 1 ; Stanke, Chase 1 ; Sweeny, Ronald 1 ; Bertrand, Easton 5
Base Running:
RUNS: Stanke, Chase 1 ; Sweeny, Ronald 1 ; Kelly, Jack 1 ; Merila, Boston 3 ; Bertrand, Easton 2 ; Stahl, Drew 1
CS: Bateman, Brett 1
HBP: Merila, Boston 1 ; Stahl, Drew 1
PO: Kelly, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: Rincones, Jr 1 ; Loden 1 ; Ross 2
3B: Albert 1
HR: Rincones, Jr 2 ; Kelder 1 ; Goldstein 1
RBI: Albert 1 ; Rincones, Jr 7 ; Kelder 3 ; Loden 3 ; Goldstein 3
SF: Rincones, Jr 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Albert 4 ; Rincones, Jr 2 ; Schanuel 2 ; Kelder 2 ; Loden 1 ; Toney 1 ; Goldstein 1 ; Ross 2 ; DeBose 2
SB: DeBose 1
HBP: Schanuel 1 ; Loden 1 ; Goldstein 1
