Coming into this school year don't overlook...

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gold04

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Coming into this school year do not overlook the baseball team. Football will get a lot of attention as it always does. The basketball team will get attention with Tubby Smith leading the charge. I think the hockey team will because it's going to rebound this year.

The one team that might have a season that blows them all away this coming school year is the baseball team. Even though Rosin and Kvas left for school early this team will have a lot of depth in their pitching staff and position players. 21 players on the team will be in their 3rd or 4th year in college, so they will have a lot of experience. They may not have All-Americans but they have a lot of good players that this coming season may have breakout years. Plus some of this years recruits could make a big impact right away.

The Gophers have finished second in regions these last two years and the main corp of that team is intact. Yes, we lost some players the last two years but this team should be very good in 2011. I'm not saying College World Series but this coming season they have a shot.
 

It's really amazing that the baseball team has done so well, being stuck in the dome. With the new baseball stadium on the horizon, this will make the Gophers even more appealing for recruits.
 

Dome a huge plus!

The dome is a huge plus for the baseball team. Before the season starts they can practice in a big league faciltiy. Then in the non-conference they don't have to play all their games down south. The dome was a bummer for the Vikings, Twins, and Gopher football team but it's been a huge plus for the baseball team. We need a new facility but the Dome has been a great benefit to the baseball team.
 

gold04 said:
The dome is a huge plus for the baseball team. Before the season starts they can practice in a big league faciltiy. Then in the non-conference they don't have to play all their games down south. The dome was a bummer for the Vikings, Twins, and Gopher football team but it's been a huge plus for the baseball team. We need a new facility but the Dome has been a great benefit to the baseball team.
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I wouldn't say it's going to be as huge of a plus other that practicing in it anymore as it is now suited to play football now instead of baseball with the new turf. I've read somewhere (can't remember where) that all the basepaths and pitcher's mound spots are going to be turfed over permanently. Now, the pitchers mound is portable and home plate lies outside of the football field, but from now on the baseball games will be played on complete turf other than home plate and the pitchers mound. This means the bases will not have dirt around them and players will be sliding on the turf when games are played there. Not very appealing as a player other than being able to practice when it is allowed everyday of the week instead of waiting for the weather to cooperate if need be.
 

The dome was a terrible pro facility but to the Gophers and local baseball teams it's been a huge plus. Many of the local baseball teams besides the Gohers play their non-conference games at that facility. People have talke about what a great benefit it has been to local college baseball teams. John Anderson in an interview commented on what a luxury we have in Minnesota to play in the Metrodome. Yes the Gophers need a new stadium but Metrodome is a huge benefit.
 


The dome is advantageous in that it allows playing home games early in the season instead of on the road. But it's a big disadvantage to have to play all of your games there. It's good to play February games at the dome, terrible to play April and May games there. The atmosphere in the dome was bad enough for football, it's like a tomb for a college baseball game. Attendance will likely increase with a new outdoor stadium.

If the dome goes away, it will take away the opportunity to practice on a full-sized field, and would force the Gophers (and other local teams) to play all their early games on the road. I wonder what it would cost to build an indoor facility that seated a couple thousand, but had room for a baseball field. The baseball field would have to be about as small as is legal.
 

Completely agree with sentiments regarding the baseball team deserving more press and as a team to watch for at the University this season. Another one would be the volleyball team, which brings in one of the most decorated recruits in the history of the school in any sport in Ashley Wittman and returns the bulk of their final 4 team from last year. I also happen to think that the women's soccer team is going to be very formidable this season with Katie Bethke figuring to lead the charge. And both the cross country and track and field programs (both men's and women's) are also pretty darn good.

Of course, everyone pays attention to football, men's basketball and hockey at the U and that's understandable. It's just a shame that more folks don't recognize that we have a number of other programs that are consistently excellent.
 

Indoor practice facility

I thought you made an interesting point in building an indoor stadium that could seat a couple thousand for baseball. I know more and more Northern schools are building indoor practice facilities. A team can at least practice on a baseball size field or close to it, but obviously they go South to play the non-conference games. Maybe some day a team will build a practice facility big enough to host non-conference games.
 

If a team can have an indoor baseball practice facility, that is close to a full-sized field, then perhaps it might not be such a stretch to make it a full-sized field (again, at NCAA minimum size), and have adequate seating, maybe a thousand or two?

If the Metrodome does go away one of these years, there's going to be a demand for an indoor facility. The question is, would that facility be one big enough for baseball? It has to be multi-purpose, or it won't get built.
 



It truly is a shame that the baseball team does not get more recognition at the University and surrounding area. Here is a program that is the longest tendered at the University, has experienced serious success in the Big 10, puts out a winning and competitive team year in and year out and is coming off a regular season and tournament championship.

This next year should be one of the most exciting teams in recent memory. The team provided much excitement when they upset Fullerton and then beat New Mexico to advance to the regional championship. Unfortunately, they couldn't beat Fullerton one more time and failed to advance to the Super Regional round.

Kvasnicka leaving isn't a huge loss with the return of Gominsky, who will be a high draft-pick come June. Rosin had statistically the worst season of the 3 weekend starters and Lubinsky will fill his shoes after being hurt all year and having a dominate summer out in the Cape. The huge loss will be Knudson, who was a wall behind the plate and threw out baserunners at will. The return of Matyas makes the team that much better and coach Anderson has been quoted as saying he is the best closer in the country, which says a lot coming from a Hall of Fame coach. With him at the end of games forces the game into a 7 inning game for the opposing team. The pitching staff will be one of the best in recent Gopher history and have plenty of experience under their belt.

I hope Gopher baseball starts to get more recognition in the area and we are able to hype up the program for what hopes to be an exciting year.
 

I agree with your post but there are some parts I disagree with. I'd have Soule replace Rosin. Soule was very good in relief and pitched a ton of innings for a reliever. I'd give him the first shot to replace Rosin. If Soule doesn't work out put him in the bullpen and start Lubinsky. If Soule works out then put Lubinsky as the mid-week starter.

Lubinsky has done well in the Cape Cod league but it's easier for pitchers to look a lot better in a wooden bat league. I know the Cape cod is the top league and Lubinsky was injured in 2010, but I'd give Soule first crack at replacing Rosin, because he looked like the better pitcher this year.
 

I think Bobby Juan will be a huge suprise as a freshmen and will add some offensive punch to our line-up. Geason will also have his breakthrough year in 2011. I also think Abrahamson will find a way to hit a lot of homers in 2011. Lastly I think Schultz also have a stellar year.
 

Soule will remain in his same role as the set-up man to Matyas. He thrived there and will take over the closer role for his final 2 years. He is only a 2-pitch pitcher which is definitely not ideal for a starter. He is much better suited for the pen and I think the coaches realize this and he will remain in his similar duties.

One of those players you mentioned must step up. The offense was good at the end of the year, nothing spectacular. To take the next step and be a legitimate threat come playoff time next year, an unexpected player must take the next step and become a threat in the middle of the lineup. Shultz, Abrahamson, Sam Ryan and Kurt Schlangen are the first to come to mind.
 



I think the offense will be much improved. Our team battling average this year was at 304. I would not be shocked if it was 330 or higher for 2011. Where is the power going to come from is the question? You need three or four guys in your line-up that will hit homeruns in the double digits. I think O'shea can be in the twenties for homeruns this coming year, but we need other guys to step up. Geason, Shultz, Abrahamson, Ryan and maybe Juan could be candites who might hit homeruns in double digits. We will defintely need other guys to step up and hit homeruns besides Oshea.

What concerns me about pitching is having no dominate starters. It helps to have a pitcher or two that can get you the win no matter how cold the bats are. I know Rosin was inconsistent at times but when he brought his A game, he was unhittable. Oakes might be that possibility but I can't see anyone else in that role. I think we'll have good starting pitching but probably no dominate ones. I think relief pitching might be dominate with Matyas, Soule, Rassmussen, Sexton, and Fern in the bullpen.
 

Could be a very good season!

With a lot of teams in the Big Ten losing quality pitchers, I think 20 wins in the Big Ten is not out of the realm of possibility. Hopefully we can do well in the non-conference with a lot of games in the Metrdome. Next year we might not be as good as I think we can be but the potential is there to have a very good season.
 

Hitting .330 is unrealistic…the team from 2 years ago had loads of talent on the offensive side of the ball managed to hit only .314 so let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

You are correct that many good arms left to the draft this year but we don't want to get like Ohio State this last year and think we have a cakewalk through conference and on into playoffs. While Minnesota will be very good, there are plenty of other teams that return good talent as well as solid recruiting classes. It is almost certain that the Gophers will be the preseason favorite but they will have to take it 1 game at a time as I'm sure they will have a target on their backs after sweeping the conference championships last year.
 

I know the 330 average may be high but I'm thinking of potential. It's easy to look back on a season but a lot harder to look ahead. Two years ago it was a very good offense but no one thought Macallum, Oshea, Gominsky or even Petterson would have the kind of year they had. A lot of these guys came out of nowhere to do well. From some reason I think the 2011 season will produce alot of guys having their breakout years. I see a lot of potential.

I agree it helps to be realistic and during the offseason is when everyone has high hopes for the upcoming season. Let's hope we have a magical year in 2011.
 

I also think it would be nice for Coach Anderson to have one of his teams get to the College World Series. I know he has mentioned it before, how it would great to get back there again. I can't think of a Gopher coach more deserving of a great year than him. We hear a lot about Brewster, Tubby, and Lucia but Anderson has been here long before them and will probably be here long after they leave. Let's hope next year we have enough pieces to the puzzle to make such a run.
 

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