The Gopher baseball team had one of their best weekends from their starting rotation this season, but didn’t have much to show from it. Starters Sam Ireland and Aidan Maldanado lasted seven innings each while J.P. Massey went six on Saturday.

Gophers take series opener

Penn State got out to the early lead with a triple in the top of the first to get the game started, but Minnesota was quick to answer. Another run in the bottom of the second inning gave Ireland some cushion.

The Nittany Lions tied the game in the top of the fifth before the Gophers exploded for four runs in the bottom of the frame. Ireland settled in for his final two innings of the game and grabbed four more strikeouts before being pulled going into the eighth.

Reliever Tom Skoro came in to close the game and in his second inning of work had bases loaded with no outs. Penn State managed to get just one run across in the top of the ninth as Minnesota held on to a 7-3 win in the opener.

Eighth inning collapse ties series

It was a pitcher’s duel for the second game of the series in the first half between Massey and Penn State starter Travis Luensmann. The Nittany Lions broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the sixth inning with a solo shot.

Ronald Sweeny was able to get the Gophers on the board in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI on a groundout to first. Unfortunately, the tie wouldn’t last for long.

Penn State exploded for six hits to score four runs and break open the game in the top of the eighth. Minnesota used three different relievers in the inning as Noah DeLuga was charged with the loss and two of the runs.

The Gophers couldn’t get much going in their final two turns at the plate and the Nittany Lions tied up the series 1-1 after a 5-1 win.

Gophers blow lead with another eighth inning fiasco

Penn State got to Maldanado early with a pair of runs in the top of the first, though one was due to an error with two outs. Kyle Bork hit a three-run home run during a four-run first inning to put Minnesota out in front.

The Nittany Lions and Gophers each grabbed a run in the middle innings as Maldanado completed seven frames before leaving with a 5-3 lead.

Freshman reliever Noah Rooney came in for the eighth and got two quick ground outs to start the inning. Back-to-back walks ended Rooney’s day and Josh Culliver came in to try and pitch around the jam. On a full count, Penn State retook the lead with a three-run bomb.

The Gophers had a threat in the ninth, but couldn’t get one across to tie and Minnesota fell 6-5 and lost the series.

Up next

The Gophers have a pair of mid-week games against South Dakota State on Tuesday and St. Thomas on Wednesday. Minnesota then travels to Michigan to face the Spartans in a three-game weekend series.

St. Thomas got early offense matched with shutdown pitching to blank Minnesota in a mid-week matchup. The Tommies used three straight two-run innings starting in the second inning to jump out to an early lead they wouldn’t surrender.

Freshman Tucker Novotny got the nod for his first start of the season and put up an impressive first inning with a pair of strikeouts. St. Thomas got to the freshman with a pair of two-out singles to grab the first two runs of the game.

Novotny allowed a two-run bomb in the third inning before finishing the third frame and ending his night. On the offensive side, Minnesota recorded two of its three hits, but failed to get anything going.

Minnesota went to freshman reliever Seth Clausen who ran into trouble before getting his second out of the inning. Once again the Tommies used a two-out rally to tack on another pair of runs and extend their lead to 6-0.

Over the final five innings, the Gophers sent just 16 batters to the plate and never found a runner in scoring position.

This was the second straight game against the Tommies that the Minnesota offense struggled in. Last time out, the Gophers were able to be on the right end of a pitching battle with a 2-1 win over the in-state rival.

The Gophers take a four-game losing streak into the weekend as they try and get back on the right track against Penn State. Minnesota is still looking for its second conference win against the Nittany Lions who have a 5-7 conference record.

The Gophers had their first home series at Siebert Field over the weekend, but failed to grab a series win. Maryland took the first two games, but Minnesota scored a late run in the third game to win its first conference game.

Game One:

Starter Sam Ireland struggled in the Big Ten home opener as Maryland got on the board early with a pair of runs in the first. The Minnesota offense was up for the challenge and tied the game with a solo shot and three singles in the first.

After back-to-back shutout innings, Maryland got to Ireland again and the Gopher ace quickly allowed three more earned runs as the Terrapins got a 6-2 lead. The bullpen wasn’t able to quiet down the offense as Maryland grabbed five more runs between the sixth and eighth innings.

Minnesota tried to stay on pace with the Terps, but couldn’t get the game closer than four runs after the sixth inning. Maryland took the opener 11-7.

Game Two

It was another early offensive pounce from Maryland for the second game in a row grabbing the first lead of the game. Starter J.P. Massey went just over three innings, in which he gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks. The Terps got a 5-0 lead before Minnesota got on the board.

The Gopher offense slowly chipped away at the five-run deficit. They grabbed a run in each the fourth and sixth inning, and put up a crooked number in the seventh to cut the lead to just one. It wasn’t enough to complete the comeback even with five straight shutout innings from the Gopher bullpen.

Minnesota dropped a close one as Maryland secured a series win 5-4.

Game Three

It was Minnesota’s turn to strike first in the series finale. A single and a double got the Gophers on the board, followed by a groundout that put Minnesota up 2-0 after the first frame. The two offenses traded runs in the second and third which allowed the Gophers to keep a two-run lead.

Starter Aidan Maldonado had an impressive outing to put Minnesota in a prime spot to take the finale. Maldonado went six innings and allowed just one run on seven hits while striking out five. He would’ve been set up for a win, but Maryland got to reliever Seth Clausen and tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh.

Second baseman Brady Counsell hit a two-out triple in the eighth and scored on a passed ball to retake the lead for the Gophers. Reliever Tom Skoro came in for the save and struck out the side to give Minnesota its first conference win with a  4-3 victory over the Terrapins.

Minnesota was set to have its first game of the season at Siebert Field Tues., April 5 against North Dakota State University. However, the team announced on Monday afternoon that the game has been canceled, citing inclement weather.

Tuesday has a 90 percent chance of rain and an expected high temperature of only 47 degrees, according to forecasting by KARE11.

The game, at the moment, does not have a makeup date scheduled. The first game at Siebert will now be slated to play Friday against Maryland in a three-game series.

The Gophers have yet to play at their home stadium, but have been using U.S. Bank Stadium as their home base for the early part of the season.

The Gopher baseball season got off to a hot and cold start in non-conference play. Though their record doesn’t completely show it, the Gophers have some positives to take away from the first month and a half.

In their only two games against top-25 ranked teams, the Gophers almost came away with a win against then-No. 25 West Virginia and then-No. 12 Notre Dame. Minnesota has also seen its top hitters take the stage ahead of conference play.

Outfielder Jack Kelly has taken a big step forward from his previous two seasons and leads the team with a .405 average and 25 RBIs. Outfielder Easton Bertrand is also having a career year with an early .383 average in his 14 starts.

Heading into conference play, Minnesota has clearly found its three-man rotation. Ace Sam Ireland has been spectacular in his third season in the Maroon & Gold.

Right behind Ireland are starters J.P. Massey and Aidan Maldonado. Both have struggled in starts, but have shown they are up for the challenge to be Minnesota’s two and three.

Now, the Gophers’ focus turns to conference play, and it starts with Rutgers on April 1. Minnesota is one of five Big Ten teams yet to play a conference game. Minnesota still will have midweek non-conference games throughout the season.

The Scarlet Knights (18-6) have had a solid start to the season and won two of three against Penn State this past weekend in their first conference series.

Rutgers has a power offense that features seven different batters who have started at least 15 games and are hitting above .300. The Scarlet Knights have also hit more home runs (29) than Minnesota (26), and have 65 doubles compared to 46 for Minnesota.

They also have a dominant pitching staff led by starter Jared Kollar who is a perfect 4-0 with a 2.60 ERA. As a team, Rutgers holds a 3.27 ERA compared to Minnesota’s 6.42.

The upcoming weekend definitely will give Minnesota a challenge, but the Gophers have shown they have the ability to compete with top teams in baseball.

Minnesota used an impressive string of starts in all three games to pace itself to a weekend sweep. Early-inning run support gave Minnesota the ability to cruise past the Leathernecks in all three games.

Game One

Junior starter Sam Ireland got back on track and earned his third win of the season improving to 3-0 after six innings allowing just one earned run. Ireland got early run support as Minnesota got out to a 9-1 lead after five innings.

A pair of two-run home runs from infielders Drew Stahl and Ronald Sweeny helped pace the Gopher offense. Outfielder Otto Grimm led the offense with three hits to get a hot start to the series that he would continue to ride.

Ireland had some control problems on the mound, walking six batters while striking five out, but he allowed just one runner to score. After a three-run first inning, Minnesota didn’t look back and routed the Leathernecks 11-4 to open up the series.

Game Two

After Western Illinois took a 2-0 lead, Minnesota answered back and put together back-to-back crooked number innings. Senior starter J.P. Massey was spectacular in his outing, almost pitching seven innings while allowing zero runs.

The Leathernecks got a run in the second and third inning, but both were because of fielding errors from Massey. He allowed just five hits and struck out six en route to his second win of the season in 6.2 innings.

The Gophers grabbed their first lead of the game with a two-out, bases-loaded double that cleared the bases. With a 4-2 lead, Minnesota added three more runs in the fifth as they won Game 2, 7-2.

Game Three

Another early offensive surge from Minnesota led way to a 6-1 win to earn its first sweep of the season. Another impressive start from the Gophers rotation, this time from redshirt junior Aidan Maldonado, helped Minnesota cruise on Sunday.

Maldonado struck out a career-high nine batters in five innings to earn his first win of the season while allowing no runs. The bullpen came in and did its job, allowing just one run in a combined four innings.

Catcher Chase Stanke got back on his home run surge and hit his team-leading eighth of the season. Stanke’s first-inning home run got the offense going, and combined with dominant pitching across the board, Minnesota had no problem picking up the sweep.

Up next

Minnesota has its first conference series of the season as the Gophers travel to face Rutgers in a three-game series starting Friday.

Minnesota was on the wrong side of a three-game sweep over the weekend against Creighton. The Gophers starting pitchers struggled in the first two games, while the offense went silent after the first inning in the finale.

Game One

As hot as junior Sam Ireland was in the first month of the season, he finally ran into some struggles in the series opener. Ireland found trouble early in the game as the Bluejays jumped out to a 4-0 lead through three innings.

Ireland lasted just one more inning, a season low, giving up four earned runs on six hits and striking out just one batter. The bullpen came in and shut the door for the next five innings and Minnesota rallied from behind.

Redshirt senior Jack Kelly was a big part of that comeback accounting for three hits, a home run shy of the cycle, and an RBI. Sophomore Boston Merila accounted for two more RBIs and Minnesota tied the game at four apiece heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Creighton walked it off to take the first game of the series 5-4.

Game Two

Starter J.P. Massey was able to shut out the Bluejays through two innings before his rough patch. Massey kept Creighton hitless in the first two innings before giving up the first two runs of the game. Minnesota answered right back to tie the game in the top of the fourth.

Then it all blew up.

Creighton put together four hits to score five runs and run Massey out of the game. Massey was an out away from getting through the fourth unscathed. Relief pitcher Jack Liffrig was called upon to clean up the mess, but the Bluejays plated three more before the frame was over.

Minnesota outscored Creighton 4-1 over the final three and a half innings, but the Bluejays already had a comfortable 13-3 lead.

The Gophers dropped the second game 14-7.

Game Three 

Minnesota took its first lead of the series in the opening frame, scoring two runs courtesy of outfielder Brett Bateman. Bateman accounted for two hits, including an RBI-single and would later come around and score in the first.

That was the only offense that came for the Gophers which took away from a solid outing from starter Aidan Maldanado. He kept Creighton scoreless for four innings before giving up a pair in the fifth and getting pulled.

Reliever Josh Culliver kept the damage at just two when he came in with bases loaded and just one out. Culliver got out of the jam and the game remained tied at 2-2 through five.

The Bluejays had bases loaded with no one out in the eighth and plated two late runs on groundouts to take the lead.

Creighton completed the sweep with a 4-2 victory.

Up Next

Minnesota is back home for its next series, and the last one of the year at U.S. Bank Stadium when it hosts Western Illinois.

Minnesota was able to win the series finale to avoid a sweep against Air Force, but missed an opportunity to take the series win.

The Gopher baseball team has fallen subject to crooked-number innings, and it has been the downfall in the first month. It makes games tougher to win when giving up multiple runs in an innings is all too common, especially when leading most of the game.

Gophers drop series opener 8-7 Friday night 

That was the case in the series opener where junior Sam Ireland got his fourth start of the year. Ireland, once again, gave his team a commanding start, striking out nine batters while allowing just one run in 5.1 innings.

In that time, the Gophers’ offense piled together five runs to give Ireland a comfortable lead. What ensued, didn’t help the case. After Ireland got knocked out in the sixth as Air Force scored its first run, the bullpen let up back-to-back innings allowing more than one run.

In the seventh, a five-run inning gave the Falcons their first lead of the game. A two-run eighth extended that lead, and Minnesota failed to rally back, dropping game one of the series after plating two in the bottom of the eighth, 8-7.

Falcons draw walks to pad Saturday win over Minnesota 

The Gopher pitchers ran into some trouble in game two, which led to a blowout that was never really close. Starter J.P. Massey pitched just 1.1 innings, where he allowed four earned runs and walked six batters. That set the tone for the rest of the game as the Falcons drew 13 total walks.

Through three innings, Air Force was already up by six runs before Minnesota even found the scoreboard. Right after the Gophers did that, the Falcons dropped an eight-bomb to go up 14-1. Minnesota had a small answer in the bottom of the fifth, but the game was out of reach.

It was the walks that led to a Game 2 disaster as the Falcons scored 15 runs on just nine hits. The Gophers didn’t have much offense, with just six hits of their own and dropped the second game 15-6.

Gophers bounce back to avoid sweep in series finale 

Minnesota was finally on the right end of a close game in the series finale. After trailing 2-0 early, the Gophers scored in back-to-back innings, including three runs in the fifth to grab a 4-2 lead. That lead wouldn’t last long after the Falcons scored four runs in the seventh to retake the lead.

Redshirt senior Jack Kelly had an outstanding day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. His biggest RBI of the game came in the seventh which started a three-run inning to give Minnesota a 7-6 lead.

Relief pitcher Will Semb came in and shut the door on any Falcon comeback. He pitched 2.2 innings, allowing zero runs while striking six batters out and picked up his first win as a Gopher. Minnesota completed the comeback and took the finale 7-6.

Looking ahead

Minnesota has its last non-conference away series starting Friday for a three-game series against Creighton. Coming off back-to-back wins, Creighton is .500 with a 6-6 record ahead of the series.

Minnesota seems to have found its 1-2-3 punch in Ireland, Massey and transfer starter Aidan Maldonado. Outside of Ireland, Massey and Maldonado have both shown upside to their game, but also struggles.

Maldonado has gone at least five innings in his previous two starts while allowing just five hits and two earned runs in each start. His only bad outing was his second start against Indiana State where he allowed six runs in 4.1 innings.

Massey has been a little more inconsistent in the first month. He’s had two outings going five plus innings and allowing just one earned run. But, he’s also had two outings going four or less innings and giving up four runs, his most recent against Air Force.

Kelly will need to continue his hot offensive start, and Minnesota will need catcher Chase Stanke to get back on his homerun march, as he leads the team with seven. Kelly leads the team with a .412 average, 20 RBIs and 14 runs.

Outfielders Easton Bertrand and Brett Bateman have also been key contributors to the offense this season.

Sophomore Jamison Battle’s valiant effort wasn’t enough to get Minnesota men’s basketball back to .500 Wednesday night against Maryland. A dominant effort from the Terrapin bigs in the paint led to an 84-73 loss for the Gophers.

Battle scored a career-high 39 points and was hitting shots at all levels. It was clear he was feeling it from the get-go and hit seven threes. Battle’s effort wasn’t enough, and Minnesota lost its 15th conference game, this time noticeably lacking the efforts of Redshirt senior Eric Curry

Maryland had a field day inside the paint, and it wasn’t just from one guy. The Terrapins spread the ball out perfectly, having five guys score in the double figures. Maryland led Minnesota 46-16 in paint scoring.

Curry was announced out prior to the start of the game with an undisclosed injury. That led to a constant struggle for Minnesota, who even went without either of its other bigs for much of the second half.

Senior Charlie Daniels and freshman Treyton Thompson had a better chance of seeing an increase in minutes, but that wasn’t entirely the case. Daniels played 13 minutes, just four in the second, while Thompson played just three first-half minutes.

A short-handed Minnesota team got off to a hot start behind Battle and senior Payton Willis. Willis had the teams’ first eight points, with a pair of threes before Battle got his career night going.

Willis ran into foul trouble early, and it turned into a Battle night. He scored Minnesota’s first 14 points coming out of the half, and in doing so, broke his career-high in points.

There wasn’t much scoring outside of the dynamic duo, who accounted for 60 of the teams’ 73 points and combined to shoot 21-45 from the field.

Minnesota has its last regular-season game Sunday against Northwestern before the Big Ten tournament gets underway on Wednesday, March 9 in Indianapolis.

It was a must-win game for Indiana with the NCAA tournament just around the corner and the Gophers couldn’t match their energy. At least for the first 32 minutes of the game. The final stretch was a game of its own.

With just over eight minutes left in the game, a switch was flipped and Minnesota looked like a completely different team. Indiana had a 70-43 lead, and it looked like the game was already decided.

The Gophers put together a strong effort to get back into the game and try to soil the Hoosiers’ weekend plans. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. Indiana took the second meeting of the season 84-79.

Senior Sean Sutherlin was giving the Gophers are he could, and it finally started to wear off on the rest of the team. Sutherlin was playing aggressively on both ends of the court, and finished the game with 13 points in 22 minutes.

Senior Payton Willis was able to shoot the Gophers back into the game and hit a game-high seven three-pointers on the way to 28 points. He also had seven assists on the night.

The Hoosiers had their way on offense, and the Gophers didn’t have much going themselves. Senior Xavier Johnson had the hot hand for Indiana in the first half, hitting four three-pointers to help jumpstart the offense.

Johnson slowed down in the second half, but was able to continue to score off free throws late in the game. He led Indiana with 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Minnesota was struggling all game to get stops on a relentless attack that scored at will Sunday. Willis was able to hit a three at the end of the rest half to keep the game within reason.

That didn’t last long. An offense that was already struggling ran into a bigger problem in the second half. It wasn’t solely because of good defensive possessions from Indiana, though the Hoosiers had their fair share of them.

The Gophers were still able to find open shots, the ball just wasn’t finding the bottom of the net.

Indiana didn’t run into that problem. Everything seemed to be falling as Minnesota continued to see the gap expand. The Gophers got down as many as 27 points, but something that’s been evident all year came into play– fight.

Minnesota will conclude its regular season on the road. The Gophers will face Maryland on Wednesday before the season finale against Northwestern on Sunday.