University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, May 12
College Park, MD
5:30 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Maryland
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Photo by: Bjorn Franke
'U' Goes to No. 19 Maryland for Final B1G Road Series
5/9/2023 12:33:00 PM | Baseball
The Terrapins lead the conference with a 13-5 B1G record
Friday, May 12
Minnesota at Maryland
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT
Location: College Park, Md. (Bob Smith Stadium)
Minnesota Starter: LHP Tucker Novotny (2-5, 4.74 ERA, 62.2 IP, 69K)
Maryland Starter: RHP Nick Dean (3-1, 4.69 ERA, 55.2 IP, 58K)
TV: B1G+
Saturday, May 13
Minnesota at Maryland
First Pitch: 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Location: College Park, Md. (Bob Smith Stadium)
Minnesota Starter: RHP George Klassen (1-6, 5.07 ERA, 49.2 IP, 46K)
Maryland Starter: RHP Jason Savacool (5-4, 4.69 ERA, 71.0 IP, 68K)
TV: B1G+
Sunday, May 14
Minnesota at Maryland
First Pitch: Noon ET/11 a.m. CT
Location: College Park, Md. (Bob Smith Stadium)
Minnesota Starter: RHP Richie Holetz (2-5, 4.60 ERA, 60.2 IP, 49K)
Maryland Starter: TBA
TV: BTN
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-31, 7-11 Big Ten) will look to keep their postseason hopes alive when they travel east to take on the defending Big Ten champion Maryland Terrapins (33-17, 13-5 Big Ten) in a critical series for their Big Ten Tournament hopes. The Terps are No. 19 in the latest DIBaseball.com rankings. Live stats will be available at GopherSports.com while B1G+ is set to provide streaming on Friday and Saturday. BTN will televise on Sunday.
HISTORICAL NOTES
-The 'U' is in its 135th year in program history.
-John Anderson is in his 42nd year at the helm of Gopher Baseball, holding a 1,361-995-3 (.578) record. This includes a 611-411 (.597) B1G mark. Under his watch, the Gophers have won 11 B1G titles and hold 19 NCAA Tournament appearances.
-The winningest coach in Big Ten history, Anderson won his 600th conference game last April vs. Penn State. He's the only B1G coach to reach that mark.
-On May 11, 2002, John Anderson won his 755th career game as the #Gophers manager, passing Dick Siebert for the most wins all-time in program history. Since then, he's added 606 wins, seven Regional appearances, five B1G titles & one Super Regional.
GOPHERS WIN SECOND B1G SERIES OF 2023
-Minnesota earned its second conference series win of the year in its takedown of Michigan last weekend at Siebert Field. It's the first time since 2019 that the 'U' won two B1G series in a season.
-The Gophers posted their second shutout of the year on Friday in a 4-0 win and held Michigan to just six total runs on the series. The last time the 'U' held a team to six-or-fewer runs in a series was April 22-24, 2016, when it gave up six runs vs. Northwestern
SCOUTING MARYLAND
-Maryland (33-17, 13-5 Big Ten) is led by sixth-year head coach Rob Vaughn. The Terrapins went 48-18 last year, won the Big Ten regular season title and hosted an NCAA Regional in College Park, Md.
-The Terps have six everyday starters hitting over .300, led by Nick Lorusso, who's hit 20 home runs with 84 RBI. Fellow infielder Matt Shaw has 20 home runs with 55 RBI.
-UMD has won all of its conference series, sweeping Indiana and taking two out of three from Rutgers, Iowa, Purdue, Ohio State and Nebraska.
-In non-conference, the Terps went 1-3 vs. Ole Miss and were knocked off by Vanderbilt. They took two of three from UCF and Albany and sweeping Maine.
SERIES HISTORY
-Minnesota is 5-10 all-time vs. Maryland. The two teams played last year at Siebert Field, with the Terps taking two of three.
-They last played at Maryland in 2021, when UMD took a sweep. This will be Minnesota's third series at Maryland since they joined the Big Ten, as the teams also competed here in 2015.
WIETGREFE WHIFFING HITTERS OUT OF BULLPEN
-Sophomore southpaw Connor Wietgrefe has been one of the 'U's most dependable bullpen arms.
-The JUCO transfer leads the bullpen by a wide margin in strikeouts (48) and opponent batting average (.212). His 37.0 innings and 4.38 ERA are second behind only Noah Rooney.
-In his last eight outings, Wietgrefe holds 29 strikeouts in 20 innings, allowing six earned runs.
GOPHERS WIN THRILLER AT NEBRASKA
-Minnesota trailed 5-4 heading into the ninth inning on Friday night before torching NU for five runs. After scoring on an error to tie the game, a bases-loaded walk from Jake Perry and a three-run double from Kris Hokenson gave the 'U' a 9-5 lead. Noah Rooney and Seth Clausen shut it down in the ninth as the Gophers clawed back for a 9-7 game one win.
GAMES AGAINST NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
-Minnesota has played six teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament, posting a 3-7 record vs. UCSB, OSU, Gonzaga, Vanderbilt, Michigan, and Ole Miss (National Champion).
-Maryland will be the seventh 2022 NCAA Tournament team they play this year.
-13 of their 56 scheduled games are against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
REACHED BASE STREAKS
-Junior designated hitter Boston Merila led Minnesota with a 24-game reached base streak and an 11-game hitting streak. Sunday's game vs. Michigan was the first time since March 17 against Houston where he didn't reach base.
-Merila ranks second on Minnesota with a .322 batting average in 2023.
BIG TEN CATEGORY LEADERS
-LHP Tucker Novotny has struck out 69 batters (sixth in the Big Ten), including 22 batters looking (fourth) in 2023. which ranks second in the B1G. His 62.2 innings rank 10th.
-Brady Counsell ranks fourth in assists (124).
-Brett Bateman ranks sixth in stolen bases (16).
-Richie Holetz ranks fifth in innings pitched (66.2).
INJURIES HAMPERING GOPHERS IN 2023
-The Gophers have been snake-bitten by injuries in 2023, losing several key contributors to injuries.
-Catcher Sam Hunt is out with a finger fracture he suffered early in the year that hasn't healed.
-LHP Noah Rooney, the team's top bullpen pitcher, got hurt Friday vs. Michigan and is out for the year.
-RHP Caden Capomaccio was out for 45 days before coming back recently.
-RHP Sam Malec was out with an illness for 52 days before coming back in April.
-RHP Joe Hauser is out for the year (bone bruise).
-Closer Will Semb hasn't played this year due to an upper body injury and is taking a medical redshirt.
-LHP TJ Egan is out for the year with an arm injury.
-Minnesota 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year and RHP Sam Kennedy is out for the year (arm injury).
-OF Josh Fitzgerald out with an ACL tear, the DBU transfer was expected to start in the outfield.
BIG TEN STANDINGS UPDATE
-The 'U' sits at 7-11 in the Big Ten, 3.0 games back of eighth place in the league. Minnesota will look to gain ground in the next two weeks to try and clinch their first Big Ten Tournament bid since 2019.
UP NEXT
Minnesota hosts South Dakota St. on Tuesday and Rutgers from Thursday-Saturday to close the 2023 regular season.
Minnesota at Maryland
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT
Location: College Park, Md. (Bob Smith Stadium)
Minnesota Starter: LHP Tucker Novotny (2-5, 4.74 ERA, 62.2 IP, 69K)
Maryland Starter: RHP Nick Dean (3-1, 4.69 ERA, 55.2 IP, 58K)
TV: B1G+
Saturday, May 13
Minnesota at Maryland
First Pitch: 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Location: College Park, Md. (Bob Smith Stadium)
Minnesota Starter: RHP George Klassen (1-6, 5.07 ERA, 49.2 IP, 46K)
Maryland Starter: RHP Jason Savacool (5-4, 4.69 ERA, 71.0 IP, 68K)
TV: B1G+
Sunday, May 14
Minnesota at Maryland
First Pitch: Noon ET/11 a.m. CT
Location: College Park, Md. (Bob Smith Stadium)
Minnesota Starter: RHP Richie Holetz (2-5, 4.60 ERA, 60.2 IP, 49K)
Maryland Starter: TBA
TV: BTN
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-31, 7-11 Big Ten) will look to keep their postseason hopes alive when they travel east to take on the defending Big Ten champion Maryland Terrapins (33-17, 13-5 Big Ten) in a critical series for their Big Ten Tournament hopes. The Terps are No. 19 in the latest DIBaseball.com rankings. Live stats will be available at GopherSports.com while B1G+ is set to provide streaming on Friday and Saturday. BTN will televise on Sunday.
HISTORICAL NOTES
-The 'U' is in its 135th year in program history.
-John Anderson is in his 42nd year at the helm of Gopher Baseball, holding a 1,361-995-3 (.578) record. This includes a 611-411 (.597) B1G mark. Under his watch, the Gophers have won 11 B1G titles and hold 19 NCAA Tournament appearances.
-The winningest coach in Big Ten history, Anderson won his 600th conference game last April vs. Penn State. He's the only B1G coach to reach that mark.
-On May 11, 2002, John Anderson won his 755th career game as the #Gophers manager, passing Dick Siebert for the most wins all-time in program history. Since then, he's added 606 wins, seven Regional appearances, five B1G titles & one Super Regional.
GOPHERS WIN SECOND B1G SERIES OF 2023
-Minnesota earned its second conference series win of the year in its takedown of Michigan last weekend at Siebert Field. It's the first time since 2019 that the 'U' won two B1G series in a season.
-The Gophers posted their second shutout of the year on Friday in a 4-0 win and held Michigan to just six total runs on the series. The last time the 'U' held a team to six-or-fewer runs in a series was April 22-24, 2016, when it gave up six runs vs. Northwestern
SCOUTING MARYLAND
-Maryland (33-17, 13-5 Big Ten) is led by sixth-year head coach Rob Vaughn. The Terrapins went 48-18 last year, won the Big Ten regular season title and hosted an NCAA Regional in College Park, Md.
-The Terps have six everyday starters hitting over .300, led by Nick Lorusso, who's hit 20 home runs with 84 RBI. Fellow infielder Matt Shaw has 20 home runs with 55 RBI.
-UMD has won all of its conference series, sweeping Indiana and taking two out of three from Rutgers, Iowa, Purdue, Ohio State and Nebraska.
-In non-conference, the Terps went 1-3 vs. Ole Miss and were knocked off by Vanderbilt. They took two of three from UCF and Albany and sweeping Maine.
SERIES HISTORY
-Minnesota is 5-10 all-time vs. Maryland. The two teams played last year at Siebert Field, with the Terps taking two of three.
-They last played at Maryland in 2021, when UMD took a sweep. This will be Minnesota's third series at Maryland since they joined the Big Ten, as the teams also competed here in 2015.
WIETGREFE WHIFFING HITTERS OUT OF BULLPEN
-Sophomore southpaw Connor Wietgrefe has been one of the 'U's most dependable bullpen arms.
-The JUCO transfer leads the bullpen by a wide margin in strikeouts (48) and opponent batting average (.212). His 37.0 innings and 4.38 ERA are second behind only Noah Rooney.
-In his last eight outings, Wietgrefe holds 29 strikeouts in 20 innings, allowing six earned runs.
GOPHERS WIN THRILLER AT NEBRASKA
-Minnesota trailed 5-4 heading into the ninth inning on Friday night before torching NU for five runs. After scoring on an error to tie the game, a bases-loaded walk from Jake Perry and a three-run double from Kris Hokenson gave the 'U' a 9-5 lead. Noah Rooney and Seth Clausen shut it down in the ninth as the Gophers clawed back for a 9-7 game one win.
GAMES AGAINST NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
-Minnesota has played six teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament, posting a 3-7 record vs. UCSB, OSU, Gonzaga, Vanderbilt, Michigan, and Ole Miss (National Champion).
-Maryland will be the seventh 2022 NCAA Tournament team they play this year.
-13 of their 56 scheduled games are against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
REACHED BASE STREAKS
-Junior designated hitter Boston Merila led Minnesota with a 24-game reached base streak and an 11-game hitting streak. Sunday's game vs. Michigan was the first time since March 17 against Houston where he didn't reach base.
-Merila ranks second on Minnesota with a .322 batting average in 2023.
BIG TEN CATEGORY LEADERS
-LHP Tucker Novotny has struck out 69 batters (sixth in the Big Ten), including 22 batters looking (fourth) in 2023. which ranks second in the B1G. His 62.2 innings rank 10th.
-Brady Counsell ranks fourth in assists (124).
-Brett Bateman ranks sixth in stolen bases (16).
-Richie Holetz ranks fifth in innings pitched (66.2).
INJURIES HAMPERING GOPHERS IN 2023
-The Gophers have been snake-bitten by injuries in 2023, losing several key contributors to injuries.
-Catcher Sam Hunt is out with a finger fracture he suffered early in the year that hasn't healed.
-LHP Noah Rooney, the team's top bullpen pitcher, got hurt Friday vs. Michigan and is out for the year.
-RHP Caden Capomaccio was out for 45 days before coming back recently.
-RHP Sam Malec was out with an illness for 52 days before coming back in April.
-RHP Joe Hauser is out for the year (bone bruise).
-Closer Will Semb hasn't played this year due to an upper body injury and is taking a medical redshirt.
-LHP TJ Egan is out for the year with an arm injury.
-Minnesota 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year and RHP Sam Kennedy is out for the year (arm injury).
-OF Josh Fitzgerald out with an ACL tear, the DBU transfer was expected to start in the outfield.
BIG TEN STANDINGS UPDATE
-The 'U' sits at 7-11 in the Big Ten, 3.0 games back of eighth place in the league. Minnesota will look to gain ground in the next two weeks to try and clinch their first Big Ten Tournament bid since 2019.
UP NEXT
Minnesota hosts South Dakota St. on Tuesday and Rutgers from Thursday-Saturday to close the 2023 regular season.
First Practice of Fall
Thursday, September 18
Weber Neels Highlights
Wednesday, May 28
Gophers (11) - Michigan State (5) Highlights
Friday, May 16
Gophers (4) - Michigan State (3) Highlights
Thursday, May 15