By Kaitlin Merkel/Murphy News Service
The Minnesota Golden Gopher baseball team lost its opening home series of the 2015 season to the Northwestern Wildcats two games to one March 27-29.
Game No. 1: Gophers win home opener, 8-3, led by pitching
After the Gopher baseball home opener at Siebert Field was delayed two days due to inclement weather, Minnesota rolled to an 8-3 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats Friday, March 27, led by a strong showing from starting pitcher Ben Meyer.
Meyer gave up a leadoff home run on the second pitch of the game to Wildcat centerfielder Kyle Ruchim, but settled down after the first to pitch seven consecutive scoreless innings.
Meyer faltered a bit with one out in the ninth when he gave up a two-run home run to JR Reimer, prompting a call to the bullpen. Reliever Lance Thonvold came on to record the last two outs and secure the 8-3 win.
The Gophers took the lead in their half of the first, scoring two runs on a single by first baseman Tony Skjefte, who drove in four runs during the game.
Minnesota continued to extend the lead in the third, hitting through the batting order and scoring six runs on four hits. Two errors by Northwestern in the inning helped the Gophers increase their lead to 8-1.
For the Gophers it was a much-needed successful outing for Meyer.
“That was a better performance than I’ve seen him have all year,” Minnesota head coach John Anderson said of his starter, who gave up six hits and recorded five strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings to earn the win, improving to 1-3 on the season.
“Benny was great, he was really commanding the fastball well. They’re mostly a pull team and he was commanding the outside of the plate,” catcher Matt Halloran said, “He got it over just enough to keep them off balance … it’s fun catching when guys are throwing like that.”
The Gophers recorded eight hits on Northwestern starting pitcher Matt Portland.
The Gophers improved to 8-13 on the year, 1-3 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats fell to 5-19 on the season, 0-1 in the Big Ten.
Game No. 2: Gophers fall, 2-1, in 13 innings
Thirteen innings and seven pitchers weren’t enough for the Gopher baseball team Saturday, March 28, as they dropped the second game of the series to the Northwestern Wildcats 2-1 in a 3-hour, 52-minute game.
After both teams scored one run in their respective halves of the second inning, the game remained tied 1-1 until the top of the 13th, when the Wildcats scored an unearned run on a Minnesota error.
“You just have to forget about it, you just have to move on,” catcher Matt Halloran said of the loss.
Minnesota starting pitcher Toby Anderson pitched six innings, allowing three hits, one run and striking out one.
Relievers Matt Fiedler, Jordan Jess, Brian Glowicki, Tyler Hanson, Lucas Gilbreath held the Wildcats to the one run before Northwestern scored what turned out to be the winning run off Ty McDevitt.
Northwestern starting pitcher Joe Schindler had a similar line, pitching six innings, giving up one run and striking out two. Reliever Reed Mason shut out the Gophers for the remainder of the game, earning the win.
Minnesota’s lone run came when first baseman Toby Hanson doubled to start the second inning and scored on a sacrifice fly from third baseman Tony Skjefte.
“We didn’t execute,” Skjefte said, “We couldn’t push a run across … That’s baseball, one thing can change the whole game.”
The Gophers fell to 8-14 on the year, 1-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats improved to 6-19 on the season, and won their first Big Ten conference game of the year (1-1).
Game No. 3: Gophers lose series with 19-7 loss
The second leadoff home run in the series by Northwestern center fielder Kyle Ruchim set the tone for a 19-7 Gopher baseball loss to the Wildcats March 29 at Siebert Field.
The Wildcats collected 20 hits, including the leadoff home run and a 2-run homer by pinch hitter Jack Mitchell after the game was delayed 40 minutes due to rain.
“We didn’t pitch well today at all,” Minnesota head coach John Anderson said, “We threw 200 pitches and only struck out three guys.”
Gophers starting pitcher Tim Shannon lasted three innings, giving up six runs on eight hits.
Relievers Reggie Meyer, Lucas Gilbreath, Lance Thonvold and Jordan Jess all surrendered at least two runs during their appearances.
“The game starts and ends on the mound,” Anderson said, “You can’t be on defense as long as we were, all day long, and expect to play perfectly and be able to have any energy for offense.”
The Gophers offense recorded nine hits and was led by designated hitter Micah Coffey, who drove in three runs with a double in the first inning and a single in the fifth. Third baseman Tony Skjefte also drove in a run, his sixth RBI of the series, with a single in the first.
“At the plate I feel like lately I’ve really gotten everything together,” Skjefte said, “I’ve been getting in really good situations to get RBIs and I think that’s the biggest thing, is the people in front of me are getting on.”
Gopher players and coaches offered different takes on what went wrong in the final game of the series, which Northwestern took 2-1.
“Today, they just found holes left and right,” Skjefte said.
“The command wasn’t there today and it showed,” catcher Matt Halloran said, adding, “We can’t panic right now, we’re halfway through the season. It’s stuff we can fix.”
“We’ve got work to do, no question about it,” Anderson said, “I don’t think we had a great weekend offensively at all.”
The Gophers fell to 8-15 on the year, 1-5 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats improved to 7-19 on the season, 2-1 in the Big Ten.
Reporter Kaitlin Merkel is studying journalism and Spanish at the University of Minnesota.