2017 Gopher Baseball Season Thread

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Current B1G Tournament Seeds, Remaining Schedule Strength

Current B1G Tournament Seeds
#1 Maryland (13-5)
#2 Nebraska (9-5-1)
#3 Michigan (9-6)
#4 GOPHERS (9-6)
#5 Iowa (9-6)
#6 Purdue (9-6)
#7 Indiana (10-7-1)
#8 Michigan State (7-8)

Outside Looking In
#9 Rutgers (5-7)
#10 Northwestern (6-9)
#11 Illinois (5-10)
#12 Ohio State (5-10)
#13 Penn State (2-13)

Easiest to Most Difficult Remaining B1G Schedules (opponents' B1G winning % in parentheses)
1 Indiana (.233) -- Penn State, @ Ohio State
2 Nebraska (.333) -- Rutgers, Michigan State, @ Penn State
3 Maryland (.367) -- @ Illinois, Northwestern
4 GOPHERS (.367) -- @ Penn State, Purdue
5 Iowa (.378) -- @ Michigan State, Ohio State, @ Illinois
6 Rutgers (.456) -- @ Nebraska, Illinois, @ Northwestern
7 Michigan (.467) -- Ohio State, @ Purdue, @ Michigan State (2), Michigan State (1)
8 Purdue (.533) -- Northwestern, Michigan, @ Minnesota
9 Ohio State (.594) -- @ Michigan, @ Iowa, Indiana
10 Illinois (.600) -- Maryland, @ Rutgers, Iowa
11 Northwestern (.600) -- @ Purdue, @ Maryland, Rutgers
12 Penn State (.604) -- Minnesota, @ Indiana, Nebraska
13 Michigan State (.611) -- Iowa, @ Nebraska, Michigan (2), @ Michigan (1)
 

Terrin Vavra did not play again after exiting game 2 of the Illinois series in the middle innings and Alex Boxwell who DH'd last weekend and is still dealing with a hamstring issue wasn't used either. Nolan Burchill went the first 1.1 innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 1 but left with an injury after throwing a pitch he called to the dugout and exited. Toby Anderson came in and did a solid job for 2.2 innings giving up 1 run(solo homerun) on 2 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3. Fred Manke was next on the mound and pitched 3 innings allowing just 1 hit while walking 3 and striking out 5. Jake Stevenson went the final 2 innings and allowed 1 hit while also striking out 1. Offensively the Gophers were led by Jordan Kozicky with 3 hits. Kozicky and Luke Pettersen each scored 3 runs and Pettersen walked twice. Toby Hanson had 2 hits and drove in a run, Eli Wilson had a hit and drove in 3 runs, and Micah Coffey had a hit and drove in 2. Gophers face Georgia State again tomorrow looking for the sweep.

 

Gophers-Rutgers will play doubleheader at Siebert on May 16

B1G absolutely doing the right thing to get 2 of the 3 games in. Rutgers didn't make an honest effort to get here after its initial flight problems, they should be forced to make this trip. Too much at stake. Games likely to have significant bearing on B1G Tournament seeding, especially for Rutgers (5-7), currently in 9th place but well within striking distance of Michigan State (7-8).

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/050317aaa.html
 

Not great timing on the Rutgers series. Wish they would've played it the Monday/Tuesday after they were supposed to play it like the Gophers wanted. Makes it 8 games in 9 days for the Gophers. Long Beach State the 12th, 13th, and 14th, Rutgers twice on the 16th, and Purdue the 18th, 19th, and 20th then another short week with the B1G tournament starting in Indiana on 24th. Rutgers isn't bad so it gives you the opportunity for a couple more solid wins. Not a fan of how this was handled and I can't imagine Coach Anderson or anyone with the Gophers is either. Really will put a strain on your pitching staff and it is likely already shorthanded with the injury to Nolan Burchill last night. Hopefully it ends up being minor but it looked pretty serious.
 

Pretty terrible effort all the way around from the Gophers tonight and that is how you get beat by a pretty bad team. Pitchers consistently left pitches up in the middle of the zone and missed spots badly as well as a few that struggled to throw strikes at times. Giving up 14 hits to a team that came into the game hitting around .230 says a lot about the execution or lack of execution from the pitching staff tonight. Lot of noncompetitive at bats from Gopher hitters today making it easy for Georgia State. Some defensive mistakes that gave Georgia State opportunities and runs instead of making them earn them. Just not very good baseball tonight from the Gophers and not a whole lot of energy either.

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B1G tourney all that matters now

Dog Days of the regular season.

Gophers know they're out of the running for an at-large bid, and their only hope for the NCAA Tournament is via the automatic bid. Probably a little more difficult to get juiced for these midweek games with that now being the case.

Make sure they're a part of the B1G Tournament in Bloomington. ... that's what they're playing for now. There's not a great team in the league like there was when Purdue (Kevin Plawecki/Cameron Perkins) & then Indiana (Kyle Schwarber/Sam Travis) were dominating, so the tournament will be up for grabs. Last year the #4 and #8 seed played for the championship, and I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happens again in a few weeks.
 

Gophers grind out the Friday night win. Looked like a quick start for the Gophers as Jordan Kozicky crushed the ball over the top of the fair pole to start the game but the umps called it foul, Coach Anderson went out to argue and the umps did talk about it but stuck with the foul call. Kozicky would end up striking out and after a Terrin Vavra walk Micah Coffey and Toby Hanson would also follow with strikeouts. That was really the only inning where the Gophers didn't hit the ball hard. The rest of the game they squared up Penn State pitching pretty good but didn't have a lot of luck with balls falling in. Penn State got on the board first in the 2nd in by way of a single, balk, single, sac bunt to setup 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Penn State would strike out but a wild throw to 1st allowed the runner to score. A pop out to 1st and a fly out to center would end the inning so a bit of a gift run for Penn State. The Gophers answered in the 4th after 1 out Cole McDevitt reached on a error and advanced to 2nd on a balk then following a fly out Matt Stemper walked and Luke Pettersen came through with the RBI single. It looked like Jordan Kozicky would add a couple more runs for the Gophers but the Penn State 3rd basemen made a real nice diving play on a ground ball to rob Kozicky and end the inning. Gophers took the lead in the 8th as Micah Coffey singled and then stole 2nd on a 3-2 pitch and Jordan Smith would come up with a 2 out hit to score him. Penn State would tie it again in the bottom of the 8th as the rain started to come down pretty good as Tim Shannon retired the first batter on a fly out but then hit the 2nd batter. Alex Farley came in to face a lefty but walked him. Brian Glowicki came in and would walk the first batter he faced then he would get a couple fly outs to end the inning but the first one was good enough to tie the game as a sac fly. Gophers rallied again in the 9th with a Alex Boxwell leadoff single followed by Matt Stemper looking to sacrifice him over but he was hit in the face by the pitch and would exit the game. Luke Petttersen sacrificed the runners over and then Jordan Kozicky would single up the middle to score both runners. Terrin Vavra singled, Micah Coffey reached on a fielders choice, and Toby Hanson hit a shallow fly pop up to centerfield that the Penn State 2nd basemen attempted to catch while still running out and I don't know if the rain helped or what but it ended up falling in off the Penn State players head to give the Gophers a 6-2 lead. The Gophers would need all of that as the first Penn State hitter reached on a strikeout as the ump said the throw from Cole McDevitt pulled Hanson off the base. Penn State would get 3 singles in a row before the Gophers would call on Fred Manke to close out the game. Manke entered with bases loaded and nobody out and retired the first 2 batters with groundouts but allowing a couple runs to score making it a 6-5 game with the tying run on 2nd but Manke struck out the final batter on 4 pitches. Lucas Gilbreath with another good start and it seems like you can pretty much count on this type of outing from him now. Went 7 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 run(unearned), 1 walk, 2 hit batters, and struck out 10. Offensively Micah Coffey had 2 hits while Toby Hanson and Jordan Kozicky each drove in 2 runs.

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Looks like Glowicki is wearing down. He has struggled his last 4 outings. Hopefully the pitching staff gets it going again soon.
 

Gophers broke out in a big way this afternoon. The Gophers struck right away as Jordan Kozicky led off the game with a single up the middle, Terrin Vavra struck out, Micah Coffey walked, Toby Hanson singled, Jordan Smith singled, Alex Boxwell walked, Cole McDevitt hit a sac fly, Luke Pettersen singled, and Ben Mezzenga grounded out to finally end the inning but the Gophers put up 5 runs on 4 hits in the 1st and batted around. The Gophers kept adding on with 3 runs in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, 1 in the 4th, 3 in the 6th, and 3 in the 8th on their way to 17 runs. Micah Coffey went 4-6 with 6 RBI and hit for the cycle. Jordan Smith also had 4 hits and Toby Hanson and Terrin Vavra each had 3 hits. The Gophers hit 3 triples(Vavra, Coffey, and Mezzenga) and 4 doubles(Vavra, Coffey, McDevitt, and Pettersen). I believe all 13 Gophers that had a plate appearance reached base at least once. Brett Schulze had maybe his best outing as a Gopher going 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run on a solo homerun, no walks, and striking out 8 and throwing just 87 pitches. Jackson Rose came on for the final 2 innings and allowed 1 hit, no runs, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and struck out 3. I believe Reggie Meyer will start for the Gophers tomorrow and they are in pretty good shape with the bullpen as well with Tyler Hanson and Nick Lackney both fresh and Tim Shannon facing just 2 hitters last night.

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Gophers complete the sweep! Gophers jumped on Penn State right away for 3 runs in the 1st and followed that with 3 in both the 2nd and 3rd innings as well and cruised to victory. A big day for Terrin Vavra going 3-4 with a triple and scored 4 runs and tallied 2 RBI. Micah Coffey had another 3 hits including a double. Toby Hanson and Jordan Kozicky each had 2 hits and 3 RBI. Ben Mezzenga and Alex Boxwell also both had 2 hits in the game. Reggie Meyer started and went 4.2 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits while walking 4, hitting a batter, and not recording a strikeout. Toby Anderson went the next 1.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 2. Fred Manke was the most effective pitcher today going 1.2 innings and not allowing any hits or runs while striking out 1. Nick Lackney went the final inning and allowed 1 run on 3 hits and struck out a batter. Gophers didn't have to rely on their bullpen a whole lot this weekend and got some key guys some rest. No midweek games this week but a very good Long Beach State team comes to Siebert next weekend. I think Long Beach was top 15 in all the polls coming into this weekend.

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I would not say the Gophs can't get an at large bid yet for the NCAA tourney. If they win two of three against Long Beach State, and win your final five games at home against weaker Big Ten teams (Rutgers, Purdue), we'd probably win Big Ten title and have a 36-16 record. I know our RPI would not be the greatest. Still, winning a series against a highly ranked team, winning your conference, and having a record of 36-16 has to count for something in the committee's eyes. I would say if won just two games in the Big Ten tourney, we for sure be in. Could be in with just one win.

Probably Long beach State will sweep us and we will win one of our last 5 games, and this will be a mute point.
 

Anderson made the right move in the pitching rotation. Toby had a really good year last year, but this year he's just struggled. I think putting Meyer in the rotation was the right move. His stats for the game weren't overwhelming but giving up one run in about 5 innings is pretty good. Granted it's not against elite competition but in Meyer's three starts this season, he's done very well. I do think Toby can have a really good impact in relief or as a fourth or fifth starter. I'm not saying our pitching rotation now is stellar, but it was a move Anderson had to make. Hopefully it will work out for the better.
 

This last stretch drive, we'll see what this team is made of!

8 games in 9 days. That's what this season boils down to. Thankfully all those games are at home. We'll see how we do against elite competition (Long Beach State), average teams (Purdue), and teams that struggled this year (Rutgers). This stretch will define just how good or average the Gophs are this year. Seems like everyone on the team is healthy or getting there, don't know about Burchill, hopefully he's okay. I think this stretch drive will be memorable or disappointing for this year. Of course, I'm hoping for Memorable.
 



Gophers sit at 74 in the RPI right now and after this weekend you should know whether or not the Gophers have any realistic at large chances. Long Beach is currently #25 in the RPI so a series win over them should move you up quite a bit. Rutgers is #96 and Purdue is #113 so think you will need all 5 games against them and if you won all 5 of them I do think there is good chance you would win the regular season championship. I do like that all 8 games are at Siebert with the compacted schedule but we haven't exactly had a lot of success there this season with just a 13-10 home record overall and 5-5 at Siebert so hopefully that changes down the stretch here.
 

The Gophers are far from healthy with Burchill out for the year, Stemper hurting with a broken nose, Boxwell still mending his hamstring issue and several other players with minor injuries that have slowed their recovery period. Hopefully Glowicki will be back to form after a long rest. The schedule is not going to do the Gophers any favors so the bullpen will get a lot of use to close the regular season. As mentioned above, the best thing about the final 2 weeks is that all games will be played at Siebert. Hopefully big crowds for the final 8 games. Plenty of scouts should be on hand.....
 

Projected B1G Tournament Records & Seeds

Pegs Gophers to win 4 of final 5 conference games, and the #3 seed in Bloomington.

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goldfan24 said:
The Gophers are far from healthy with Burchill out for the year, Stemper hurting with a broken nose, Boxwell still mending his hamstring issue and several other players with minor injuries that have slowed their recovery period. Hopefully Glowicki will be back to form after a long rest. The schedule is not going to do the Gophers any favors so the bullpen will get a lot of use to close the regular season. As mentioned above, the best thing about the final 2 weeks is that all games will be played at Siebert. Hopefully big crowds for the final 8 games. Plenty of scouts should be on hand.....
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Jeff Fasching is another one who is out for the year. He has a torn labrum in his hip and either will have or has had surgery to repair it. He has been out a while good chance he gets medical redshirt.
 

Sorry about seems to be getting healthy, didn't know about Burchili. I guess our injuries mean we'll be lucky to win a game the rest of the year.
 

Think every team is banged up at this time of the year and most have probably lost at least 1 guy for the rest of the season. Still enough talent for the Gophers to make a run. Think it was Mississippi State who has lost like 8-9 pitchers since the fall and they are still having a nice season. This weekend is huge should tell us whether this team is a contender or a pretender.
 

I agree Goldly every team gets banged up. Stemper has a broken nose, but lots of guys in all sports play with broken noses. Our players have minor injuries, so does every team out there. Stemper, Vavra, Boxwell, Coffey are all now playing and they were not at one time this season. Doesn't mean these guys are 100 percent. Too bad Burchill is gone for the season but teams seem to suffer one or two of those losses a year. If fans think your team getting healthy means no one injured, it's not going to happen. If fact this week was a good week for guys to get better with no mid-week games. I agree Goldy. This coming week will tell us a lot about our team.
 

Long Beach State takes game 1. Really solid college baseball game Long Beach just did a little better job of taking advantage of their opportunities. Gophers scored first in the 3rd inning getting a 2 out single from Jordan Kozicky followed by a Terrin Vavra double to score Kozicky. Long Beach answered in the 4th with a 1 out bunt single, a single, and a sac fly to get the run. LBSU added a solo homerun in the 6th and a leadoff triple to start the 7th would eventually score on a safety squeeze play. Gophers loaded the bases with 2 outs in the 8th and scored 1 run on a Toby Hanson walk but LBSU got a groundout to end the inning and leave them loaded. Gophers also had something going in the 6th with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Toby Hanson up but hit the ball hard right at the shortstop for a tailor made double play ball. Lucas Gilbreath was very good on the mound again going 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 6. Tim Shannon went the final 2 innings walking 1 and striking out 2. Jordan Kozicky had 2 hits for the Gophers.
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Gophers even the series up. Long Beach State struck first with a long 3 run homerun in the 3rd inning. Gophers answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the 3rd with a leadoff double from Matt Stemper, a groundout, Luke Pettersen infield single, Jordan Kozicky walk, Terrin Vavra double, and a Toby Hanson sac fly. Long Beach State manufactured a run in the 6th to go back ahead but the Gophers answered with a big bottom of the 6th. When the inning was over the Gophers would score 9 runs on 7 hits and send 13 batters to the plate. A couple of the big plays in the inning were a Cole McDevitt sac fly to tie the game back up after Toby Hanson and Jordan Smith started the inning with singles. A 1 out double from Eddie Estrada to give the Gophers the lead, a Luke Pettersen 2 RBI single, and a double by Micah Coffey that scored 2. Long Beach State would get a little something going in the 7th with a walk, hit by pitch, a double, and a single to score 2 runs but a strikeout and double play would end the threat. Terrin Vavra, Matt Stemper, and Luke Pettersen each had 2 hits. Pettersen and Cole McDevitt each drove in 3 runs. Brett Schulze had another solid start going 5.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 9. The big blow was obviously the homerun and Schulze really didn't have much trouble aside from that even though he did seem to get squeezed a little by the ump at times. Fred Manke went 1.1 innings and picked up the win allowing 2 runs on 3 hits walking 1 and striking out 2. Tyler Hanson went the final 2 innings allowing 2 hits and striking out 2.

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Long Beach State takes the series with a Sunday win. Long Beach State scored at least a run in each of the first 6 innings and added another in the 8th for the win. They were very good at taking advantage of each baserunner they got and finding a way to get him in the majority of this game. The Gophers had a lot of chances it seemed like they had at least a runner on in about every inning but could never come through to score the runner. The Gophers left 10 runners on base in the game. Luke Pettersen led the offense with a 3 hit game while Matt Stemper and Toby Hanson each had 2 hits. Gophers started Reggie Meyer but really this was a bullpen game. Gophers used 8 pitchers Meyer, Nick Lackney, Toby Anderson, Jackson Rose, Jake Stevenson, Tim Shannon, Alex Farley, and Brian Glowicki. Only Tim Shannon and Brian Glowicki were able to get through their outing without allowing a run. With the way the staff setup the pitching today I'm gonna guess we see Reggie Meyer starting game 1 of the Rutgers doubleheader and could possibly have Toby Anderson start game 2 on Tuesday.

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With this weekends conference results the standings look like this.
1.Nebraska 14-6-1 @Penn State(3)
2.Minnesota 12-6 Rutgers(2), Purdue(3)
2.Michigan 14-7 @Michigan State, Michigan State, @Michigan State
4.Maryland 15-9
5.Iowa 13-8 @Illinois(3)
6.Indiana 12-8-1 @Ohio State(3)
7.Northwestern 10-11 Rutgers(3)
8.Purdue 10-11 @Minnesota(3)
9.Michigan State 9-12 Michigan, @Michigan, Michigan
10.Rutgers 7-11 @Minnesota(2), @Northwestern(3)
11.Illinois 8-13 Iowa(3)
12.Ohio State 7-14 Indiana(3)
13.Penn State 3-18 Nebraska(3)
So without any help from anyone else this week the Gophers could make it back-to-back regular season B1G championships with a 5-0 week.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
With this weekends conference results the standings look like this.
1.Nebraska 14-6-1 @Penn State(3)
2.Minnesota 12-6 Rutgers(2), Purdue(3)
2.Michigan 14-7 @Michigan State, Michigan State, @Michigan State
4.Maryland 15-9
5.Iowa 13-8 @Illinois(3)
6.Indiana 12-8-1 @Ohio State(3)
7.Northwestern 10-11 Rutgers(3)
8.Purdue 10-11 @Minnesota(3)
9.Michigan State 9-12 Michigan, @Michigan, Michigan
10.Rutgers 7-11 @Minnesota(2), @Northwestern(3)
11.Illinois 8-13 Iowa(3)
12.Ohio State 7-14 Indiana(3)
13.Penn State 3-18 Nebraska(3)
So without any help from anyone else this week the Gophers could make it back-to-back regular season B1G championships with a 5-0 week.
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Will they play today?
 


Gophers take game 1. Good start from Tyler Hanson giving the Gophers 5.1 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. Reggie Meyer took over for Hanson with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out but got out of the jam quickly with a double play ball. Meyer would go 3.2 innings allowing no runs, no hits, and no walks while striking out 1. Offensively Jordan Kozicky led the way with 2 hits a solo homerun and 2 run homerun, Jordan Smith also had a solo homerun as well as a great diving catch in centerfield. Terrin Vavra had 3 hits and Matt Stemper had 2 hits for the Gophers.

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Gophers take game 2 and move back into 1st place in the B1G. Toby Anderson worked around a little trouble in the first couple innings and produced probably his best start of the season going 6.1 innings and not allowing a run on 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 6. Fred Manke pitched 2/3 of an inning and didn't allow anything. Alex Farley went 2/3 of an inning and walked 1 and struck out 1. Tim Shannon went the final 1.1 innings and walked 1 but did not allow any hits. Offensively Micah Coffey had 3 hits scored 3 runs and drove in 2 while hitting a double and a homerun. Matt Stemper also had a multi hit game and Toby Hanson drove in 2 runs. Gophers are back in action Thursday night at Siebert against Purdue.

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Gophers trail Purdue 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th and the game will be continued at Noon tomorrow. Game was delayed due to a power outage at Siebert. Following the end of game 1 they will play game 2 of the series and then tomorrow night they will play game 3 with Saturdays forecast looking very wet. Gophers really didn't look like the same team we have seen most of this season tonight. Lot of errors and mistakes I believe 5 Purdue runs were unearned. Hopefully with the suspension of tonights game they can get refocused and make a comeback in game 1 and go for a 3 game sweep in 1 day tomorrow.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Gophers trail Purdue 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th and the game will be continued at Noon tomorrow. Game was delayed due to a power outage at Siebert. Following the end of game 1 they will play game 2 of the series and then tomorrow night they will play game 3 with Saturdays forecast looking very wet. Gophers really didn't look like the same team we have seen most of this season tonight. Lot of errors and mistakes I believe 5 Purdue runs were unearned. Hopefully with the suspension of tonights game they can get refocused and make a comeback in game 1 and go for a 3 game sweep in 1 day tomorrow.
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That was some bad baseball. Looked like they never practiced bunt coverage.
 

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