Minnesota is heading back on the road after a midweek contest hosting St. Thomas for the second time this season.

After back-to-back wins, Minnesota (10-20, 1-5) moves back into conference play to Iowa in a three-game series starting Friday. The Hawkeyes (17-12, 3-3) are coming off a series loss at the hands of Illinois the weekend prior and a midweek 16-2 victory over Milwaukee Tuesday.

The Gophers were able to avoid the sweep against Maryland with a 4-3 win in the third game.

Minnesota’s starting pitching has continued to have an up and down season, but now its ace is falling into that narrative. After a red-hot start from junior Sam Ireland, he has run into some trouble in three of his previous four starts. He’s given up 11 of his 17 total earned runs in those three starts, dropping his ERA to 3.53.

The Maroon & Gold could really use the dominant pitching from Ireland to return down the stretch against conference foes. That role could be coming into fruition with redshirt junior Aidan Maldonado who has given up more than two earned runs just twice.

As the No. 3 starter for the Gophers, Maldonado has been impressive in the majority of his starts, even if his ERA doesn’t show. Currently sitting at a 5.02 ERA, he does a good job limiting opponent hits as well as managing his strikeout to walk ratio. Coming into the series with 42 strikeouts, Maldonado’s WHIP sits at 1.65.

On offense, outfielder Jack Kelly is still leading the way for Minnesota with a .375 average, 10 doubles and three triples. He now stands as the only everyday starter for the Gophers to hold an average above .300.

Catcher Chase Stanke is still leading the team in home runs with nine, but has hit a big road block with just two in his past 17 games. Outfielder Brett Bateman has been sitting around the .300 mark for about a month and a half, and is currently at .296. Bateman isn’t much of a power hitter, with just six of his 35 hits going for extra bases.

Looking at the Hawkeye roster, the Gopher offense won’t have an easy road ahead of them. Iowa’s pitching staff has been dominant in the first two months of the season and lead the nation in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.7. It’s also second in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings at 5.98.

The Minnesota offense has been hit or miss this season, and it won’t come easy against a pitching staff that allows an opponent batting average of .187.

Iowa’s offense ranks ninth in the Big Ten sitting at .268, and they’ve scored just 11 more total runs than the Maroon & Gold. The Hawkeyes are on a hot streak right now, winning nine of their previous 13 and have scored 10 or more runs five times. Minnesota has only done that twice.

Minnesota is coming off back-to-back wins and will look to get its second three-game win streak of the season. The Gophers face the easiest Big Ten opponent of their season so far, but Iowa is still a dangerous team that the Gophers will need to play disciplined against.

There hasn’t been much success from the Gophers baseball team through its first month of play. However, junior Sam Ireland has shown that he can be the ace for Minnesota in his third season.

For the past two seasons, Ireland played both as a position player and as a pitcher while getting at-bats at the plate. However, his slash line wasn’t the best last year, .212/.257/.273, and this season Ireland has yet to be at the plate.

That’s little concern for the 6-foot-4 starting pitcher who has allowed just five earned runs in a team-high 23.2 innings pitched. The right-handed pitcher has been dominant in all four of his starts, setting his team up for a win in each outing.

“Last year I was a two-way [player], this year I just decided to focus on my pitching side. So I think just my body, staying in shape and getting all my lifts in really has been the key so far,” Ireland said.

In all four starts, he’s gone at least five innings, while allowing two runs or less in those outings. After striking out just five in his first start, Ireland has become a more dominant strikeout-pitcher in his previous three. He has 32 on the season, which puts him in first by a long shot on the team.

Though Ireland is 2-0 with a 1.90 ERA, he very easily could’ve been credited with a win in all four of his outings. Each of his past two outings, Ireland has left the game with his team in front. Both times, Minnesota has dropped the game by one run.

The Gophers have dropped a couple close games, two of them being against top-25 ranked teams. Four of Minnesota’s losses have been by two runs or less with a one-run loss against then-No. 25 West Virginia and a two-run loss to then-No.12 Notre Dame.

“There’s a lot of talent here, we just got to execute a little bit more. We’re gonna have a lot of fun going forward, and I think we have a good team,” Ireland said. “Keeping close with those teams really put it into perspective that we have a good enough team to compete at that level.”

Minnesota’s ace has put his team in spots to win every game, and that comes from his opponent batting average which is .184 and puts him at eighth in the Big Ten. However, he runs into trouble with his nine walks and three hit batters.

His opponent batting average isn’t the only thing that puts him among the best in the Big Ten. His strikeouts is third best, ERA is fifth, innings pitched is fifth and is among 12 pitchers to not have a loss yet.

This start has been nearly perfect for Ireland, but it isn’t totally unpredictable. Last season, Ireland showed signs of what he could bring to the Maroon & Gold. He had three starts last season where he allowed less than two earned runs while going at least six innings.

The Gophers are right around the corner to be able to play at their home stadium at Siebert Field.

“It’s gonna be really nice, it kind of gets old at US Bank stadium after a little bit,” Ireland said. “Just going in there everyday excited, ‘Oh we’re at US Bank,’ it’s kind of going away. It’s gonna be really nice to just be outside in warm weather.”

Senior Luke Loewe stepped into an important role for Minnesota after the team struggled for much of the conference schedule. Following his high school career in Fond du Lac, Wisc., Loewe played his first four seasons of his collegiate career at The College of William and Mary before transferring to Minnesota.

For much of this season, the Gophers relied on its two stars in senior Payton Willis and sophomore Jamison Battle. Loewe showed some flashes of his potential early on, but hit multiple three-pointers just once in his first 15 games.

Even with his slow start, he was still seeing significant minutes each game, in part because Gophers head coach Ben Johnson typically doesn’t go that deep into his bench — but it gave Loewe even more opportunities to prove his worth.

“I’m gaining a little more confidence, playing a little better,” Loewe said. “Had some rough stretches at the beginning of the season but, personally, I’ve just been staying the path.”

Johnson stuck with Loewe, and he’s now showing Minnesota fans what he’s capable of. Most notably in a win over Northwestern; Loewe had a big role heading into the game after Willis was ruled out due to COVID-19. He didn’t disappoint.

Loewe hit six three pointers and scored a career-high 24 points as a Gopher with Willis sidelined.

“He’s a good player, veteran, just tough. You watch him, he’s got a toughness to him,” Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said about Loewe after that game. “We knew that coming into [tonight], the last four or five games, he’s been shooting at a very good clip.”

Collins was spot on — Loewe has been finding his shot and has recently become a dangerous shooter. Over the past 11 games, Loewe has shot 44.2% from deep on 52 attempts and had seven games where he’s made multiple threes.

Another part of Loewe’s game that has been impressive over the course of the season has been his ability to spread the ball in an efficient manner. Loewe is averaging 2.5 assists per game while turning the ball over just 1.1 times per game.

Out of the five conventional starters for Minnesota, Loewe has the second-most assists, behind Willis, and has the second-fewest turnovers. Redshirt senior Eric Curry holds that lead by just two turnovers, but has started four fewer games than Loewe.

“Luke is a competitor. He’s that guy that’ll do whatever it takes,” Johnson said. “When you do that, you eventually get rewarded, and it’s just really good to see him get rewarded.”

The Gophers men’s basketball team hasn’t had the best inaugural season with head coach Ben Johnson record-wise, but they are making strides nonetheless.

After a perfect 9-0 non-conference schedule, the Gophers have run into trouble in one of the best conferences. Minnesota is just 2-9 in conference games with seven of those as double-digit losses.

However, that record doesn’t exactly tell the full story. Johnson and the Gophers have had a tough stretch in-conference, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t positives from those games.

Over the past five games, senior Luke Loewe is shooting 51% from the field and 47.6% from deep compared to 40.1% and 32.8% from three on the season. In those games, he’s also hit his season-high of 19 points twice.

Freshman Treyton Thompson is starting to get more playing time and getting important minutes in games in his young career. He scored his career-high 10 points in a win against Rutgers when he played all 40 minutes of the game.

Though the Gophers have seven double-digit losses, they are never out of those games. A first-half deficit for Minnesota doesn’t rule them out, and the team will continue to fight back. Unfortunately, the Gophers are struggling to put two full halves together.

“But with it being another example of failing to close, it is becoming who they are. It’s just not what they want to be,” Johnson said on KFAN after the loss to Iowa on Sunday.

Johnson isn’t alone in that thinking. Players know they have to be able to put together a full game to compete in a conference like the Big Ten.

“I think it’s just competing on both ends of the floor. I thought we competed offensively tonight, and I thought at times that we competed on defense. But it’s just about putting it together for that full 40 [minutes],” sophomore Jamison Battle said.

It’s a positive sign that both sides of the team are understanding the problem, and the Gophers have a favorable schedule ahead of them to get back on the right track.

Minnesota’s next two games are against Nebraska, which is currently the only team below the Gophers in the Big Ten standings. They will be on the road Wednesday to try and pick up their third win in the conference.

Saturday, the Gophers will return home to host Penn State, who is currently two games above the Gophers.

Minnesota has shown that no game is going to be an easy contest, but have shown signs that they can battle. These next two games will show a lot about what the team does against lower-ranked teams.

The 2022 Gophers softball season is quickly approaching. On Feb. 11 in Orlando, Fla. their campaign will begin in the UCF Tournament against Georgia.

After going 31-13 and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament last season. Minnesota will look to build on its 2021 success, and hopefully carry momentum into this season with a talented roster.

Replicating 2021 Offensive Success

Second year head coach Piper Ritter will be losing three of the Gophers seven players to record 100 or more at bats last season. Longtime 2B MaKenna Partain will be the biggest loss. Last season she led the team in batting average (.329), total hits (47) and total runs (37).

The Gophers still return a lot of their offensive production from last season’s team, led by senior outfielder Natalie DenHartog who was the team’s best power hitter last season, with a team-high 15 home runs and 42 RBI.

The rest of the outfield will be rounded out by redshirt-senior Ellee Jensen, sophomore Mackenzie Denson, sophomore Chloe Evans and senior Ali Lindner.

Jensen led the group with a .318 batting average last season, ranking third overall on the team, while Evans had three home runs, tying for fifth best on the team.

The infield will be the area that will have to replace the most production from 2021, as all three departing players spent most of their time playing infield positions last season.

Senior Emily Hansen was second on the team last season with 25 RBI, and posted the team’s sixth best batting average .246.

Junior Sydney Strelow and graduate student Megan Dray will both likely have big roles in 2022. Strelow tied for fourth on the team with 17 RBI, while Dray had 17 total hits after appearing in only 29 of the team’s 44 contests last season.

The Gophers will look to get creative for the final starting infield role, and utility player Chloe Evans might find herself starting often in 2022, or a player like sophomore Rylie Costa might be asked to play more this season.

Sophomore catcher Sara Kinch will round out the offense, after posting a respectable .252 batting average a season ago.

Finding a No. 2 pitcher

The Gophers had two starting pitchers last season. Amber Fiser has graduated from the program, while senior Autumn Pease is back for another season.

Pease posted a team high 1.75 ERA last season, and a 12-3 overall record, in 116 total innings pitched. Fiser led the team in innings pitched (167.2), strikeouts (142), and games started (25).

Fiser’s replacement will likely be a player who did not play much last season, as Ava Dueck, the only other player to pitch more than one inning last season, has also graduated from the program.

The No. 2 starting role and main reliever will likely be a combination of sophomore Ashleigh Hollifield and freshman Emily Leavitt, who are the only other pitchers on the roster.

Gophers baseball is right around the corner. First pitch of the 2022 season is on Friday, Feb. 18 in Boca Raton, Fla. in a non-conference series opener against Florida Atlantic.

Heading into his 42nd season at the helm, the Gophers’ head coach John Anderson will look to forget about the 6-31 season in 2021 with a revamped Minnesota roster.

Replacing veteran offensive players

Minnesota will be without its two leaders in total at bats from a season ago. Second baseman Zack Raabe was drafted in the 8th round of the NFL Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and third baseman Jack Wassel graduated from the program.

As for returning position players, the Gophers will rely heavily on senior catcher Chase Stanke, who was third on the team in batting average (.272) in 2021 and tied for second in total hits (34).

Versatile junior Sam Ireland will play a large role in 2022 at both first base and on the mound as a pitcher. After posting a .212 batting average with 66 at bats last season, he will have a similar role in 2022.

The rest of the infield will be led by a combination of redshirt senior Ronald Sweeny, sophomore Boston Merila, junior Drew Stahl and redshirt-junior Noah Berghammer. Sweeny led the group with 114 at bats last season, driving in a team high 30 RBI, posting a .228 batting average.

The Gophers outfield will be headlined by senior Andrew Wilhite, redshirt-senior Easton Bertrand, redshirt senior Jack Kelly, who will double as a backup catcher and sophomore Brett Bateman who will contribute as a pitcher as well. Bertrand was second on the team last season, posting a .295 batting average.

Returning success on the mound

The pitching staff returns every single player who started more than one game a season ago. Junior RHP Sam Ireland, redshirt-junior LHP Jack Liffrig, junior RHP Trent Schoeberl, redshirt-senior LHP Tom Skoro, and senior RHP J.P. Massey will likely round out the unit.

Liffrig led the team with 11 starts. 64 innings pitched and 43 strikeouts last season, he recorded the second best ERA on the team at 4.36.

Ireland and Skoro were the only other two players on the team that pitched 30+ innings in 2021 and Ireland led the team with 4.31 ERA in seven starts.

The Gophers bullpen will have a lot of new names this season, with redshirt-junior RHP Josh Culliver and sophomore Noah DeLuga are the only two other pitchers that pitched 10+ innings last season.

The Gophers baseball team and head coach John Anderson had a busy offseason trying to fill some holes within the roster. Minnesota is welcoming five incoming transfer players as well as 10 new freshmen.

Transfers

A big struggle for the Gophers last season was in their pitching and that was a key component Anderson went after in the offseason. All five of the Gopher transfers are right-handed pitchers (RHP), including two Minnesotans.

Senior Richie Holetz is returning to his home state after playing for Nebraska-Omaha following his graduation from Edina High School. Holetz’s record doesn’t tell the full story, as he finished with a 5-8 record across his three seasons in 109 innings. He struck out 94 batters while allowing just a .256 average to batters.

Holetz should find a spot in the starting rotation once the season gets going, and still has two years of eligibility to help turn this Gopher team around.

Sophomore Will Semb pitched his lone collegiate season for the Hawkeyes in 2021. Semb only pitched 15 innings in seven outings throughout the season. However, that was the most innings pitched among freshmen on the team and he allowed just five runs while striking 16 batters out.

Semb was highly recruited out of the state of Wisconsin, being nationally ranked as the No. 8 overall player and No. 3 RHP in the state.

Sophomore Joe Hauser is a similar player to junior Sam Ireland who brings pitching and hitting skills to the team. Hauser, on the other hand, brings a strong arm and could find himself up the middle on defense as well as on the mound.

Hauser was previously with Arizona State where he made 10 appearances with the Sun Devils with six starts. Those six starts were the third most on the team. He pitched 16.1 innings while striking 14 batters out and allowing a .288 average against.

Redshirt junior Aidan Maldonado spent three seasons in Illinois pitching at the University of Illinois and is now back home. Maldonado graduated from Rosemount High School and has two years of eligibility left at Minnesota. The Rosemount alum pitched 55.2 innings with 47 strikeouts in nine starts and 28 appearances total at Illinois.

Maldonado’s fastball has reached up to 97 MPH and he was selected in the 38th round of the 2018 MLB draft to the Milwaukee Brewers. He also brings previous experience playing in the Big Ten and should find himself making an immediate impact in the pitching staff.

The final transfer is sophomore Randon Dauman who will have three more years of eligibility after spending two years at St. Louis University and Triton Junior College. Last season, Dauman made 10 appearances and allowed opponents to hit just .250 off him in the spring.

Dauman used the shortened COVID season to his advantage and redshirted his freshman year at Triton.

The Gophers still have a lot of work to do if they plan on making an impact in this competitive Big Ten conference, but these five transfers are sure to make a positive impact on the pitching staff as a whole.