University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, April 1
Piscataway, NJ
1:00 PM
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Rutgers
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Minnesota Drops Big Ten Opener to Rutgers
4/1/2022 4:05:00 PM | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The Golden Gophers baseball team fell 6-4 to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday afternoon to open Big Ten play.
Junior right-hander Sam Ireland (3-1) struck out seven in 5.0 innings pitched, allowing six hits and three earned runs. Scarlet Knights' starter Jared Kollar (5-0) tied a career-high by striking out 10 hitters, allowing four hits and two earned runs.
Redshirt senior third baseman Jack Kelly went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a two-run home run to pace the Minnesota (8-16, 0-1 Big Ten) offense, which had just six hits on the afternoon. It was his team-best 11th multi-hit game of the season.
Rutgers (19-6, 3-1 Big Ten) started the scoring in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs with two outs. A two-out, RBI single by RU's Evan Sleight plated the first run of the afternoon. The next hitter, Tony Santa Maria, lifted a high, shallow fly ball to right field. A miscommunication by Boston Merila and Otto Grimm allowed the ball to drop, scoring Sleight from first base to put the home team up 2-0.
A solo home run by RU's Josh Kuroda-Grauer put the Scarlet Knights up 3-0 in the bottom of the second.
Neither team scored between the third and fifth innings. Minnesota had runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings but couldn't breakthrough on the scoreboard.
After a 15-minute rain delay following the fifth inning, the Gophers offense got going. Chase Stanke walked with one out before Jack Kelly bashed a hanging curveball over the right field fence to get his team on the board. The home run was Kelly's sixth of the season.
Ireland's day was completed after five innings (82 pitches) and he was replaced by freshman right-hander Seth Clausen in the sixth. After Clausen walked the first two hitters, Tom Skoro entered. After striking out the first hitter, a pair of one out singles scored two runs and the Scarlet Knights regained their three-run lead at 5-2. Richie Holetz came into the game and got the Gophers out of a jam without any more damage.
RU added one more in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out RBI single to go up 6-2. Minnesota would respond with two runs in the top of the eighth. After Brett Bateman reached on an error, Kelly drove him in with a two-out double into the right field corner for his third RBI of the day. Grimm then crushed a double off the fence in right to score Kelly and get the Gophers back within two at 6-4. Merila came to the plate representing the tying run, but popped out to first to end the inning.
Minnesota went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning to end the game.
As a team, the Scarlet Knights tallied 10 hits. Freshman Josh Kuroda-Grauer led the way with two hits, including a home run and an RBI single.
UP NEXT
Because of expected rain on Sunday, Minnesota and Rutgers will play games two and three of the series tomorrow afternoon. Game two is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET while game three will begin around 3 p.m. ET.
Junior right-hander Sam Ireland (3-1) struck out seven in 5.0 innings pitched, allowing six hits and three earned runs. Scarlet Knights' starter Jared Kollar (5-0) tied a career-high by striking out 10 hitters, allowing four hits and two earned runs.
Redshirt senior third baseman Jack Kelly went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a two-run home run to pace the Minnesota (8-16, 0-1 Big Ten) offense, which had just six hits on the afternoon. It was his team-best 11th multi-hit game of the season.
Rutgers (19-6, 3-1 Big Ten) started the scoring in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs with two outs. A two-out, RBI single by RU's Evan Sleight plated the first run of the afternoon. The next hitter, Tony Santa Maria, lifted a high, shallow fly ball to right field. A miscommunication by Boston Merila and Otto Grimm allowed the ball to drop, scoring Sleight from first base to put the home team up 2-0.
A solo home run by RU's Josh Kuroda-Grauer put the Scarlet Knights up 3-0 in the bottom of the second.
Neither team scored between the third and fifth innings. Minnesota had runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings but couldn't breakthrough on the scoreboard.
After a 15-minute rain delay following the fifth inning, the Gophers offense got going. Chase Stanke walked with one out before Jack Kelly bashed a hanging curveball over the right field fence to get his team on the board. The home run was Kelly's sixth of the season.
Ireland's day was completed after five innings (82 pitches) and he was replaced by freshman right-hander Seth Clausen in the sixth. After Clausen walked the first two hitters, Tom Skoro entered. After striking out the first hitter, a pair of one out singles scored two runs and the Scarlet Knights regained their three-run lead at 5-2. Richie Holetz came into the game and got the Gophers out of a jam without any more damage.
RU added one more in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out RBI single to go up 6-2. Minnesota would respond with two runs in the top of the eighth. After Brett Bateman reached on an error, Kelly drove him in with a two-out double into the right field corner for his third RBI of the day. Grimm then crushed a double off the fence in right to score Kelly and get the Gophers back within two at 6-4. Merila came to the plate representing the tying run, but popped out to first to end the inning.
Minnesota went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning to end the game.
As a team, the Scarlet Knights tallied 10 hits. Freshman Josh Kuroda-Grauer led the way with two hits, including a home run and an RBI single.
UP NEXT
Because of expected rain on Sunday, Minnesota and Rutgers will play games two and three of the series tomorrow afternoon. Game two is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET while game three will begin around 3 p.m. ET.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kollar, Jared (5-0)
L: Ireland, Sam (3-1)
S: Stanavich, Dale (6)
Batting:
2B: Kelly, Jack 2 ; Grimm, Otto 1
HR: Kelly, Jack 1
RBI: Kelly, Jack 3 ; Grimm, Otto 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bateman, Brett 1 ; Stanke, Chase 1 ; Kelly, Jack 2
Batting:
2B: Santa Maria, Tony 1
HR: Kuroda-Grauer, Josh 1
RBI: Sleight, Evan 1 ; Brito, Chris 1 ; Kuroda-Grauer, Josh 2 ; Nyisztor, Mike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DiGeorgio, Danny 1 ; Cimillo, Nick 1 ; Sleight, Evan 1 ; Santa Maria, Tony 1 ; Brito, Chris 1 ; Kuroda-Grauer, Josh 1
SB: Lasko, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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