All Things Gopher Baseball

Gophers to play in Karbach Round Rock Classic, Feb 21-23, at Dell Diamond. Other teams include Virginia, Oklahoma, Oregon State.

@beavergopher
 









Ryerse coming to Minnesota might save the program. He's that good. Best hitter in the state since his sophomore year. If he keeps his arm healthy, he's top 3-5 pitcher in state. East Ridge doesn't win last 2 titles without him..
 





NCAA rule changes for 2025 announced. Nothing too earth-shattering - expanded communication devices, pitch/action clock tweaks, etc. One that sticks out to me is approval of optional safety base for all games including post-season (...though it isn't clear if both teams have to agree...).
 

From Andy Greder:
Coyle said the Gophers have reached an agreement for their baseball and softball teams to play part of their upcoming seasons at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2025. He said the U still needs to come to a solution for an early-season home field after next season.
 



Ethan Felling flips from TCU to the Gophers, so far the roster reduction is a plus for the Gophers
 

From Andy Greder:
Coyle said the Gophers have reached an agreement for their baseball and softball teams to play part of their upcoming seasons at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2025. He said the U still needs to come to a solution for an early-season home field after next season.

Are they permanently eliminating baseball at U.S. Bank stadium after 2025? I seem to recall that being a pretty big selling point during it's construction. It isn't just the Gophers that rely on it. Lots of D2, D3 and JUCO's all use it.
 

Ethan Felling flips from TCU to the Gophers, so far the roster reduction is a plus for the Gophers
Very nice get for the Gophers. Just speculation on my part, but Ryerse and Felling play on same club team.
 

Are they permanently eliminating baseball at U.S. Bank stadium after 2025? I seem to recall that being a pretty big selling point during it's construction. It isn't just the Gophers that rely on it. Lots of D2, D3 and JUCO's all use it.
That's frankly how they got the state to chip in. They have been trying to price everybody out from day one.
 

Added one more transfer in OF Parker Knoll who had been committed to Louisville.
 

Minnesota State posted their 2025 baseball roster and it appears they added quite bit of D1 transfers.

Hunter Day (Burnsville,MN/NIACC/Missouri St)
Ben Palmer (Fridley/Iowa Western CC/Southeast Missouri St)
Brady Jurgella (Menasha,WI/Madison CC/Minnesota)
Ike Mezzenga (Shoreview,MN/Minnesota)
Logan Milene (Rochester,MN/NIACC/Eastern Michigan)
Brandon Vlcko (Cedar Rapids,IA/South Dakota St/Southeastern(IA) CC)

They return INF Aiden Byne (Eagan,MN) & LHP Nathan Culley (Anoka,MN), who are two very high-end players.

Augustana (SD) added (that I know of):

INF Troy Berg (Dickinson,ND/Univ of Jamestown/Iowa Central CC)
RHP Harry Blum (Fridley, MN/Luther College)

They return the D2 National Player of the Year SS Jack Hines.
That Palmer Mankato added sure hit a bunch of home runs last year. 18 of them along with 11 doubles.
 


I wandered over to Mankato today to watch them scrimmage Dakota County Tech.

Palmer hit the first pitch he saw probably over 400 feet. Very impressive. Appears the best among their new transfers. Mezzenga, Vlcko, Byrne also homered.
Mavs can swing it. They’re gonna be a problem in Regions.
 



Miken Miller from Rogers High School and now at Johnson County CC is participating in the Jayhawk Conference showcase this weekend. Hit .380 for them this season.
 

Here is something you don't often see: Jackie Robinson Stadium at UCLA has been locked down by a district judge in regards to a land usage dispute involving the VA.
 




Any update on the 2025 schedule?
Here is what I have found on the Internet so far about the Big Ten Schedule for 2025
The BIG news is that the Big Ten baseball Schedule will increase from 24 to 30 games.
Normally that would mean 5 series at home and 5 series away starting Friday March 7.
However, that is not possible with our weather, so some series have been scheduled
to be played in neutral sites. For Instance, Michigan vs. Illinois will play their series at a neutral site
location in Vero Beach Florida 3/7-3/9
Minnesota has not released a schedule yet for 2025, but this is where the owners of the Skol-Dome could help us to keep the home games at home.
Here is a summary as of today 10/15/24 of Posted Scheduled (PS), Posted Not Scheduled (PNS), and Not Posted (NP) for Big Ten Teams vs. Minnesota
Illinois (PNS)
Indiana (NP)
Iowa (NP)
Maryland (PS) 5/9- 5/11 @ Siebert Field
Michigan (PNS)
Michigan State (PS) 5/15-5/17@ Michigan State
Nebraska (PS) 5/2-5/4 @ Nebraska
Northwestern (PNS)
Ohio State (PS) 4/11-4/13 @ Ohio State
Oregon (NP)
Penn State (PS) 4/4-4/6 @ Siebert Field
Purdue (NP)
Rutgers (NP)
UCLA (PNS)
USC (PS) 4/25-4/27 @ Siebert Field
Washington (PNS)
One non-conference scheduled tournament 2/21-23 @ Karbach Round Rock Tournament
in Round Rock Texas, suburban Austin Texas.
2/21 Gophers vs. Oklahoma 2:00pm
Oregon State vs. Virginia 6:00pm
2/22 Gophers vs. Virginia 12:00pm
Oklahoma vs. Oregon State 4:00pm
2/23 Gophers vs. Oregon State 12:00pm
Virginia vs. Oklahoma 4:00pm

In summary we have six big ten weekend scheduled and 4 weekends to schedule.
There are 5 teams that are NP (Not posted).
 

Off
I am helping a friend with a project and we are trying to collect names & info of all Minnesota native Division 1 coaches at schools outside of the state. Below is what we have gathered thus far. Any and all help would be appreciated.

Head Coaches
Dan Fitzgerald, University of Kansas
Edina, MN
Todd Oakes, North Dakota State University
Jordan, MN
Sean McDermott, University of Illinois-Chicago
Woodbury, MN

Assistant Coaches
Adam Christ, University of Illinois
Waseca, MN
Tanner Neale, North Dakota State University
Watertown, MN
Tommy Gleason, Southeast Missouri State University
Hopkins, MN
Jack Sievers, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Shakopee, MN
Off the top of my head, I believe both O'Lean and Kunick (sp?) on the Saint Thomas staff are native Minnesotans.
 




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