By Kaitlin Merkel/Murphy News Service
Game No. 1: Meyer’s complete game leads Gophers to 2-1 win
The Gopher baseball team opened its series against the Michigan Wolverines with a 2-1 win Saturday during game one of a doubleheader at Siebert Field after Friday’s scheduled game was postponed a day due to rain.
Minnesota starting pitcher Ben Meyer pitched a gem for his second straight start (7IP, 6H, 1R, 7K on April 17), pitching a complete game and giving up one run on six hits and striking out six.
“My arm was feeling pretty good today,” Meyer said, “It was nice to go all nine and get the win.”
The Wolverines scored their lone run in the top of the first inning on RBI single by first baseman Carmen Benedetti.
Meyer credited his off-speed pitches with helping keep the Wolverine hitters off balance.
“I thought I had the best slider I’ve had all year,” Meyer said, “I really mixed it up well … kept them off balance and I think that was the key for me was just throwing that and then some changeups because they have a lot of lefties.”
The Gophers recorded their two runs in the fifth inning, scoring on a double by right fielder Jordan Smith and a single by left fielder Matt Fiedler.
Minnesota improves to 18-19 on the season, 7-9 in the Big Ten while Michigan falls to 25-17, 9-7 in Big Ten play.
Game No. 2: Gophers fall in second game of doubleheader 3-2
The Gopher baseball team couldn’t keep up the momentum from its Game No. 1 doubleheader win Saturday as they dropped the second game 4-2 to the Michigan Wolverines.
Minnesota scored its only runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-run single by left fielder Jordan Smith.
The Wolverines scored one run in four separate innings to secure the win.
Catcher Kendall Patrick hit a run-scoring double in the second inning and a solo home run in the fourth to collect two RBI while shortstop Jake Bivens laid down a sacrifice bunt to score the third Michigan run in the seventh inning.
The final Wolverine run came in the ninth inning when a throwing error by Minnesota allowed a run to score.
Wolverine starting pitcher Ryan Nutof pitched 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out six. The Michigan bullpen recorded another seven strikeouts in 3.2 innings of relief.
Starting pitcher Tim Shannon, who transferred to Minnesota from Michigan after the 2013 season, pitched five innings, allowing two runs on nine hits and striking out two against his former team.
“It took a while to kind of calm down. Obviously, I was there and a lot of those guys are good friends of mine,” Shannon said, “The first guy I faced was my roommate freshman year so it was kind of weird. But kind of once the game got going I was able to settle in and forget about that.”
Shannon added that Michigan used the advantage of being “left-handed heavy” to rough up Minnesota for 12 hits.
Minnesota falls to 18-20 on the season, 7-10 in the Big Ten while Michigan improves to 26-17, 10-7 in Big Ten play.
Game No. 3: Gophers drop game 12-3, series 2-1 to Michigan
A six-run seventh inning for the Michigan Wolverines sealed a 12-3 Gopher thumping Sunday, as Minnesota also dropped the weekend series 2-1.
Michigan scored first in the game with two runs in the second inning on a Minnesota error and a wild pitch, and added another unearned run in the third to extend their lead 3-0.
Minnesota rallied with three runs in the fifth inning after a two-run double from shortstop Michael Handel and a one-run double from catcher Matt Stemper. The Gophers would fail to score again after the fifth, however.
In the seventh, Michigan scored one run on a single by shortstop Jake Bivens, two runs on two straight walks with the bases loaded, and added another three runs on a double by first baseman Jacob Cronenworth to push the score to 9-3.
The Wolverines went on to add three runs in the eighth inning on a triple and a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 12-3.
Minnesota starting pitcher Fred Manke pitched three innings, allowing three runs on two hits, walking three and striking out one.
The Gophers used six relievers in the game through the remaining six innings.
Michigan pitchers recorded eleven strikeouts in the game and 38 total in the series.
Minnesota falls to 18-21 on the season, 7-11 in the Big Ten while Michigan improves to 27-17, 11-7 in Big Ten play.
Reporter Kaitlin Merkel is studying journalism and Spanish at the University of Minnesota.