2017 Gopher Baseball Season Thread

Some really bad base running errors last night. Game should never have made it to extra innings.
We left after the twelfth. Hitters looked like they were over swinging.
 

Some really bad base running errors last night. Game should never have made it to extra innings.
We left after the twelfth. Hitters looked like they were over swinging.
Definitely agree with both of those observations just glad they didn't come back to bite them again last night.
 


Gophers continued to scuffle offensively really getting nothing going tonight. That is now 4 straight games where they haven't been able to do much offensively and it needs to get back on track quick. Tonight it was a mixture of things. The Gophers did hit some balls very hard but right at Hawaii guys, Hawaii was also very good defensively making some real nice plays, and there were a few at bats where hitters just seemed to give it away with non competitive plate appearances. Defense wasn't as crisp as you'd like it either as Hawaii's first run was unearned as the runner reached on a error advanced to 3rd on a single and then scored on a wild pitch. Brett Schulze started going 5 innings giving up 2 runs(1 earned), 5 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Jeff Fasching went 1/3 of an inning allowing 2 hits and 1 run which came on a homerun. Jake Stevenson went the next 2 innings and gave up 1 run on just 1 hit which was a homerun while walking 2 and striking out 1. Tim Shannon went the final 1.2 innings and struck out 2 will not giving up anything. Terrin Vavra was the only Gopher with more than 1 hit tonight. I know it is early in the season but the Gophers need to get going here and start playing the way they are capable of. This team shouldn't be losing to teams like NDSU and Hawaii(twice). Need to get off to a good start tomorrow against Iowa and play well and then continue to do that in the 2 midweek games against SDSU and Milwaukee.
 

B1G is really struggling as a whole so far this year. Early indication is that the conference is down this year, which means the race is wide open.
 


B1G is really struggling as a whole so far this year. Early indication is that the conference is down this year, which means the race is wide open.
Only 5 teams over .500 right now Michigan St(8-1), Michigan(7-3), Iowa(6-3 1 win against a D3), Minnesota(5-4), and Purdue(5-4).
 

Things didn't start well at all for the Gophers as Toby Anderson would give up a leadoff single, a walk, and a 3 run homerun and the Gophers were quickly down 3-0. Anderson would work around another walk and get out of the 1st down 3-0. After that he would settle in and not give up another hit until the 6th. Anderson would get the win and give the Gophers 6 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Nick Lackney pitched the next 1.2 innings giving up just 1 hit and 1 walk. Brian Glowicki came in for the final 1.1 innings and recorded the save while striking out 1. The Gophers offense started a little slow but would strike in the 3rd for 3 runs coming from a lead off walk, single, single, walk, and double. The Gophers got the go ahead run to lead off the 4th as Jordan Smith hit a solo homerun. The Gophers got a couple insurance runs in the 8th as a walk, single, sacrifice bunt, and strikeout would set up 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs for Ben Mezzenga and he would come through with a single to left field. Gophers face South Dakota State Tuesday night.
 

Does anyone know why Sam Bridges hasn't pitched yet? He pitched well in the fall scrimmages and I saw one recruiting service had him in the top 100 left handed high school senior pitchers. I think he was somewhere around 90. I heard of arm trouble at times in High School. Is he not good enough this year or arm trouble or maybe something else?
 

Gophers put up 3 runs in the 1st and another 4 in the 3rd and that was enough for the win. Terrin Vavra and Alex Boxwell each had 2 hits while Matt Stemper drove in 3 runs with a double. The Gophers used 4 pitchers in the game with Nolan Burchill starting and going 3.2 innings giving up 3 runs(2 earned) on 5 hits while walking 2, hitting a batter, and striking out 1. Jackson Rose went 2.1 innings and gave up 2 runs on 1 hit while walking 1, hitting 2, and striking out 2. Jeff Fasching pitched 2 shutout innings giving up just 1 hit and striking out 2. Tim Shannon closed the game out with a flawless 9th inning. Gophers face Milwaukee tomorrow night.
 



Sam has had arm issues and is getting healthy and is doing much better. Very good chance he will be red-shirted along with 4-5 other players. Gophers have some outstanding Freshmen pitchers and having Sam red-shirt will help the young pitching depth along with all the pitchers arriving next season.
 

The Gophers are loaded with young pitching talent with Nick Lackney, Nolan Burchill, Alex Farley, Sam Bridges and Brett Schulze leading the way. All 5 of these pitchers have great velocity from both sides. 3 left and 2 right-handers.
 

I would also put Jake Stevenson in that category of really good young pitchers. He had a great summer in the northwoods league
 

B1G is really struggling as a whole so far this year. Early indication is that the conference is down this year, which means the race is wide open.

We were at the Surprise Tourney in AZ. My Beavers smacked around Nebraska and split with Ohio State. I was more impressed with the Buckeyes. They played pretty solid and mistake free.
Great set up for the games. Stadium is used by the Rangers and Royals. Only downside is big league beer prices.
 



Big test coming this weekend with a solid 10-2 Missouri State team coming to town.
 

Pretty well played competitive college baseball game. Lucas Gilbreath gave the Gophers a solid start of 5 innings, 2 runs(1 earned), 3 hits,
3 walks, 2 hit batters, and 6 strikeouts. Tyler Hanson got the win for the Gophers pitching 3 scoreless innings with just 1 hit, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Brian Glowicki earned the save with 2 popups and a strikeout in the 9th. Offensively the Gophers got on the board in the 3rd as Jordan Smith singled then stole second and Alex Boxwell hit a triple to drive Smith in. Gophers scratched across another run in the 5th as a Eli Wilson single would drive in Pettersen. Missouri State put together a 6th to tie it up but the Gophers answered back in the bottom of the 8th as Matt Stemper would come up with 1 out and the bases loaded and he would clear them with a 3 RBI double down the left field line.
 

Missouri State takes game 2. Both teams exchanged homers in the 2nd as Micah Coffey would supply the Gophers. Missouri State would get a run in the 5th off of 2 doubles. The Gophers undoing was the 6th as Missouri State would get 4 runs on only 1 hit the big component was 5 walks and 1 hit batter in the inning. The Gophers got 1 in the 7th on a Matt Stemper homerun but that would be all the closer they would get. Gophers will look for the series win tomorrow afternoon.

 


Real ugly one today for the Gophers in a 12-3 loss. Started in the 1st inning with a lead off walk, a steal, and then a deep sac fly that scored the runner from 2nd gave the Bears an early run. Missouri State scored 3 more in the 3rd and 4 in the 4th with 3 homeruns between the 2 innings including back to back in the 4th. It was another tough start for the SR Toby Anderson as he went just 3.2 innings and gave up 8 runs on 7 hits and walked 4. The Gophers finally got on the board in the 7th with back to back to back singles from Kozicky, Traxler, and Estrada. They would add a couple runs in the 9th as well. The Gophers sit at 9-6 now and will head to California for 1 game with Cal and 3 with Sacramento State and I think it is a pretty important week. Really would be big to have a 4-0 or 3-1 week before conference play gets started at Ohio State
 

Gophers fell to 9-7 last night. Gophers had a leadoff triple from Boxwell followed by a sac fly from Pettersen to start the game but after that there wasn't any offense for the Gophers as they continued to struggle with the bats. Need to get back on track tomorrow night at Sacramento.
 

Gophers let one get away to Sacramento State 3-2. Looked like the Gophers would get back on track as they got a couple 2 out hits to score a run in each the 2nd and 3rd to go with a great start from Lucas Gilbreath 6 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 0 runs, and 9 strikeouts but the bullpen would blow it. Tyler Hanson pitched a flawless 7th but could not record an out in the 8th giving a leadoff homerun up followed by back to back singles before exiting. Brian Glowicki came on and got out of the inning but not before 2 inherited runners scored. With the Gophers really needing a win right now I'm not sure why Anderson didn't just go to Glowicki right away to start the 8th as he has had plenty of 2 inning appearances.
 

Gophers snap the skid with a 9-2 win. Solid start from Brett Schulze with 6 strong innings with 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Reggie Meyer pitched the final 3 innings and gave up just 1 run in the final inning. The offense was led by Alex Boxwell who had 3 hits including a homerun and Toby Hanson who also had 3 hits including a double and triple. Terrin Vavra, Matt Stemper, and Jordan Smith all had multi hit games as well.

 

Toby Anderson stepped up with his best start of the season going 7.1 innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits and walking 1 and striking out 2. Brian Glowicki pitched the final 1.2 innings and struck out 1 to get the save. Gophers got homeruns from Toby Hanson and Jordan Smith as well as a RBI triple from Terrin Vavra. Micah Coffey missed his 2nd game in a row not sure if he is injured or sick or what but hopefully he will be back in the lineup when the Gophers open up B1G play at Ohio State Friday afternoon. Gophers will enter conference play in a similar position with an 11-8 record while last year they entered with an 11-9 D1 record.

 

Gophers win B1G opener. Quality start from Lucas Gilbreath, Tyler Hanson and Brian Glowicki were solid in relief. Alex Boxwell had a homerun while Toby Hanson, Jordan Smith, and Jordan Kozicky all had 2 hits.
 

Since Gilbreath is really hitting his stride, the season is probably going to boil down to the performance of our number 2 and 3 starting pitchers. I hope the freshmen can continue to get better and hopegully Anderson gets back to his old form.
 

Gophers take game 2 and win the series. Will go for the sweep coming up about 2:30.

 

The Gophers won their 4th game in a row pounding OSU in the first game today 15-5. The bats have been on fire the past week. Great way to begin the Big Ten season with 2 wins. Gilbreath has been sharp and Schulze should continue to get better with each start and more experience. Anderson needs to give the Gophers another good start today and gain more confidence.
 

Gophers hang on for the sweep and get off to a nice start in conference. A few uncharacteristic mistakes but battled through them and still came out on top. Toby Anderson got the win going 6.2 innings giving up 4 runs(2 earned) on 7 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3. Tyler Hanson struggled a little today only getting 1 out while giving up a run on 2 hits and Tim Shannon came on but did not record an out walking a man on 4 pitches. Brian Glowicki came into a tough bases loaded no out situation with the Gophers up 6-4 in the bottom of the 8th. He allowed a sac fly and a walk but was able to get out of the jam with a ground out and strikeout. He retired the Buckeyes in order in the 9th. Offensively Alex Boxwell had another homerun while Matt Stemper had 3 hits and Eddie Estrada and Cole McDevitt each had 2 hits. Gophers did not have Micah Coffey at all this weekend and saw a writer said he is out with a sprained ankle suffered last Thursday so not sure how long he will be out. Gophers will head to Kansas next for games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

Good to see the guts get off to a good start in conference play...:)

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Good to see the guys get off to a good start in conference play...:)

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Apologies, but I hate spellcheck somtimes.....grrrr

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