2017 Gopher Baseball Season Thread

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Pettersen drills it but right at Iowa's SS to the 11th we go.
 


Stevenson with a 1, 2, 3 inning. Coffey, Hanson, and Smith up for the Gopher. Time to win this right now . Lets Go Gophers!
 


Gophers get out of a huge jam. With 1 out Iowa had runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out with the nations homerun leader Jake Adams at the plate. The runner on 2nd tried to advance on a pitch that bounced away from Wilson after he blocked it but Wilson gunned the runner out at 3rd. Gophers then intentionally walked Adams and got a hard hit ball right at Mezzenga to end the inning.
 



Good thing the championship game isn't at 9:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. Eastern). Northwestern and Maryland I'm sure are anxious to get going as well.
 





#2Gopher said:
Good thing the championship game isn't at 9:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. Eastern). Northwestern and Maryland I'm sure are anxious to get going as well.
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Northwestern-Maryland game has already been rescheduled for tomorrow morning.
 



With runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out the Gophers will give the ball to Jackson Rose.
 




ruppertflywheel said:
Hanging breaking ball at 72 mph. .....game over
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So you're behind by one...game over? This is exactly what Fleck is trying to get across. When you're down a bit, you need to dig in. Not be negative and give up.
 

Iowa scores another run with double steal. Good throw from Wilson that would have had the guy at 3rd but Coffey just missed it and it went into LF.
 


Groundball to 3rd Gophers get the runner at the plate, double, and a groundout to end the inning. 7-5 with Wilson, Kozicky, Pettersen, and hopefully Coffey, Hanson, and maybe even Smith up for the Gophers.
 

Iowa will go to the bullpen. Their closer threw 60+ pitches and he had already thrown a couple times in the tournament.
 

Wilson grounds out and Kozicky hits a warning track fly ball 2 quick outs.
 


Coffey grounds out to 3rd and that will end it. Gophers had plenty of opportunities leaving multiple runners on in the 5th, 6th, and 7th. The obvious big missed opportunity was bases loaded with 1 out in the 7th and not getting a run in but you also had the baserunning error that cost the Gophers a run and you can't forget the Estrada blast that would have been a 3 run homerun that the Iowa RF was able to get to and bring back. Bullpen and pitching staff did a fine job if you told me before the game that Iowa would only get 7 runs I would have took it and said fine we will score more runs than that but just too many missed opportunities. You could definitely see the emotion on the guys faces when they showed the little huddle at the end their. Would have liked some things to go different and a different result but can't fault this squads effort or how much they truly care at all.
 

The Gophers left a lot of runs out there , and then couldn't buy a hit off the soft throwing Iowan.
The reason I said " game over " was because the boys weren't swing the bats off a very hitable
pitcher. The homer was off a high, hanging slow curve. He was throwing a lot of those. It was just a matter of time before someone was going to jump on it. In summary, because of where we're located the Gopher Baseball team will never get beyond an occasional Big Ten Title, and or Tourney​ win, and maybe a first round NCAA stint I think John Anderson is a heck of a baseball coach and bleeds maroon and gold, but the bottom line is the recruiting base is pretty much in a 500 mile radius of the Twin Cities. To get to the NCAA College World Series you need to recruit at the national level. ( Cue up the softball team) Recruiting is not Anderson's forte.
I'm resigned with the fact that until John retires this is all we can expect.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
The Gophers left a lot of runs out there , and then couldn't buy a hit off the soft throwing Iowan.
The reason I said " game over " was because the boys weren't swing the bats off a very hitable
pitcher. The homer was off a high, hanging slow curve. He was throwing a lot of those. It was just a matter of time before someone was going to jump on it. In summary, because of where we're located the Gopher Baseball team will never get beyond an occasional Big Ten Title, and or Tourney​ win, and maybe a first round NCAA stint I think John Anderson is a heck of a baseball coach and bleeds maroon and gold, but the bottom line is the recruiting base is pretty much in a 500 mile radius of the Twin Cities. To get to the NCAA College World Series you need to recruit at the national level. ( Cue up the softball team) Recruiting is not Anderson's forte.
I'm resigned with the fact that until John retires this is all we can expect.
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Very much disagree with this. There is more than enough talent in Minnesota to build one of the top teams in the country with primarily Minnesota kids and mixing in some others. I don't know why so many people underrate the talent that is in Minnesota. You have schools like Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, and TCU recognizing the talent that John has known for years. Now because of the increased competition for guys it does get tougher to land them. The other positive is the amount of talent and level of talent continues to rise. There are times where you need to go somewhere else and get some guys to fill a need and that is fine and I think the Gopher's staff has done a pretty good job of that lately. The Gophers have done a much better job the past few years of recognizing and getting in on recruits earlier. This years incoming class they have 4 of the top 6 players in Minnesota and one that they didn't get is committed to Florida but pretty likely to be drafted high enough where he will sign. Putting together a Minnesota roster I could build a team capable of a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

3B-Angelo Altavilla-Nebraska-Lakeville North
2B-Terrin Vavra-Minnesota-Menomonie, WI-close enough to Minnesota plus no Wisconsin baseball.
RF-Matt Wallner-Southern Miss-Forest Lake
DH-Luke Becker-Kentucky-Fairmont
1B-Toby Hanson-Minnesota-Delano
LF-Jordan Kozicky-Minnesota-Minneapolis Southwest
CF-Jordan Smith-Minnesota-Eden Prairie
SS-Issac Collins-Creighton-Maple Grove
C-Cole McDevitt-Minnesota-Eastview
Bench
OF-Steve Serratore-Kansas State-Austin
OF-Matt Hopfner-Northwestern-Edina
OF-Alex Boxwell-Minnesota-Coon Rapids
OF-Eddie Estrada-Minnesota-Litchfield
OF-Nick Smith-SDSU-Chanhassen
INF-Luke Pettersen-Minnesota-Minnetonka
INF-Michael Busch-North Carolina-Simley
INF-Luke Roskam-Nebraska-Chaska
C-Luke Ringhofer-SDSU-East Ridge
UTIL-Matt Stemper-Minnesota-Burnsville
Pitchers
FRI-Sean Hjelle-Kentucky-Mahtomedi
SAT-Jake Irvin-Oklahoma-Bloomington Jefferson
SUN-Michael Baumann-Jacksonville-Mahtomedi
Midweek-Reggie Meyer-Minnesota-Totino-Grace
Midweek-Rollie Lacy-Creighton-Holy Family
RP-Ethan Decaster-Creighton-Mounds View
RP-Tyler Eckberg-Kansas State-Edina
RP-Tyler Hanson-Minnesota-Burnsville
RP-Robbie Palkert-Nebraska-Hopkins
RP-Tim Shannon-Minnesota-Hopkins
RP-Joey Gerber-Illinois-Wayzata
RP-Reed Pfannenstein-NDSU-Rocori
RP-Brett Schulze-Minnesota-Maple Grove
RP-Dalton Roach-Mankato-Eau Claire, WI-close enough
RP-Collin Lovell-Augustana-Windom
RP-Jeff Fasching-Minnesota-St. Cloud Cathedral
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Very much disagree with this. There is more than enough talent in Minnesota to build one of the top teams in the country with primarily Minnesota kids and mixing in some others. I don't know why so many people underrate the talent that is in Minnesota. You have schools like Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, and TCU recognizing the talent that John has known for years. Now because of the increased competition for guys it does get tougher to land them. The other positive is the amount of talent and level of talent continues to rise. There are times where you need to go somewhere else and get some guys to fill a need and that is fine and I think the Gopher's staff has done a pretty good job of that lately. The Gophers have done a much better job the past few years of recognizing and getting in on recruits earlier. This years incoming class they have 4 of the top 6 players in Minnesota and one that they didn't get is committed to Florida but pretty likely to be drafted high enough where he will sign. Putting together a Minnesota roster I could build a team capable of a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

3B-Angelo Altavilla-Nebraska-Lakeville North
2B-Terrin Vavra-Minnesota-Menomonie, WI-close enough to Minnesota plus no Wisconsin baseball.
RF-Matt Wallner-Southern Miss-Forest Lake
DH-Luke Becker-Kentucky-Fairmont
1B-Toby Hanson-Minnesota-Delano
LF-Jordan Kozicky-Minnesota-Minneapolis Southwest
CF-Jordan Smith-Minnesota-Eden Prairie
SS-Issac Collins-Creighton-Maple Grove
C-Cole McDevitt-Minnesota-Eastview
Bench
OF-Steve Serratore-Kansas State-Austin
OF-Matt Hopfner-Northwestern-Edina
OF-Alex Boxwell-Minnesota-Coon Rapids
OF-Eddie Estrada-Minnesota-Litchfield
OF-Nick Smith-SDSU-Chanhassen
INF-Luke Pettersen-Minnesota-Minnetonka
INF-Michael Busch-North Carolina-Simley
INF-Luke Roskam-Nebraska-Chaska
C-Luke Ringhofer-SDSU-East Ridge
UTIL-Matt Stemper-Minnesota-Burnsville
Pitchers
FRI-Sean Hjelle-Kentucky-Mahtomedi
SAT-Jake Irvin-Oklahoma-Bloomington Jefferson
SUN-Michael Baumann-Jacksonville-Mahtomedi
Midweek-Reggie Meyer-Minnesota-Totino-Grace
Midweek-Rollie Lacy-Creighton-Holy Family
RP-Ethan Decaster-Creighton-Mounds View
RP-Tyler Eckberg-Kansas State-Edina
RP-Tyler Hanson-Minnesota-Burnsville
RP-Robbie Palkert-Nebraska-Hopkins
RP-Tim Shannon-Minnesota-Hopkins
RP-Joey Gerber-Illinois-Wayzata
RP-Reed Pfannenstein-NDSU-Rocori
RP-Brett Schulze-Minnesota-Maple Grove
RP-Dalton Roach-Mankato-Eau Claire, WI-close enough
RP-Collin Lovell-Augustana-Windom
RP-Jeff Fasching-Minnesota-St. Cloud Cathedral
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Very good post, but I still don't see us rising above what I stated. Still, I'm sure a vast majority of fans are happy with winning the Big Ten, or Tourney. I think you have to look at the last time we made the College World Series. I think that is the bar you have to use when evaluating the program. The bar has been raised in Softball and Volleyball, two non revenue sports that have seen a great rise in game attendence. I believe the softball team added additional seats. They both recruit on a much broader scale.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Very good post, but I still don't see us rising above what I stated. Still, I'm sure a vast majority of fans are happy with winning the Big Ten, or Tourney. I think you have to look at the last time we made the College World Series. I think that is the bar you have to use when evaluating the program. The bar has been raised in Softball and Volleyball, two non revenue sports that have seen a great rise in game attendence. I believe the softball team added additional seats. They both recruit on a much broader scale.
Click to expand...
The baseball talent in Minnesota is at a level where you don't have to recruit on a much broader scale. You can get a good majority of your players from the home state and then expand to find some other pieces you aren't able to get in Minnesota. Softball has a roster of 18 players and breaks down to 7-MN, 3-IA, 1 each AZ, Canada, IL, MD, MI, OR, TX, and WI. The baseball roster has 35 players and breaks down to MN-21, IL-4, WI-3, CO, ID, MI, NE, OK, SD, and WA 1 each. So softball has 39% of their roster from Minnesota while baseball has 60% of their roster from Minnesota. Other thing you have to think about is baseball gets 11.7 scholarships and can split them between a maximum of 27 players but each player with an athletic scholarship must receive at least a 25% scholarship. So that means you have at least 8 walk-ons if you have a full roster. Guys can still get academic scholarships but obviously more times than not you are gonna have to get most of your walk-ons from the immediate are. While softball and volleyball each get 12 scholarships to use with much smaller rosters. It is time for the NCAA to finally increase the scholarship limits to at least 15 or so for baseball and also allow a 3rd full time assistant I know this is something that has been pushed a long time but seems to be gaining a little more traction especially the 3rd full time assistant with football getting to add another coach.
 

Why isn't the suicide squeeze used more in baseball? We had the go ahead run on 3rd with 1 out. Instead of bunting the run home we hit into a double play.
 

Livingat45north said:
Why isn't the suicide squeeze used more in baseball? We had the go ahead run on 3rd with 1 out. Instead of bunting the run home we hit into a double play.
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Harder to do it with the bases loaded. Squeeze play is more common with west coast teams and the Gophers rarely use it. They had been very good getting runners in in that situation all season.
 

Gophers season is officially over with the NCAA Tournament selections now announced. Thought a couple different writers said it best this week the Gophers have a NCAA Regional caliber team and could be very dangerous but some of the numbers like RPI just weren't in their favor. Probably would have been in if you could have flipped the NDSU, Georgia State, and a Purdue and Illinois loss to wins. B1G got 5 bids, I really thought Maryland would be out would have took the Gophers resume over theirs aside from the RPI ranking. Was very surprised to see Michigan a 3 seed and listed as one of the last teams in the committee is definitely wrong about that. Nebraska is a 2, Indiana a 2, Michigan a 3, Maryland a 3, and Iowa a 4.
 

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