All Things 2016 Gophers Baseball Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole
Gophers fall to Seattle 4-1 in game 3 to lose the series. It was a pitchers duel for much of the game but Seattle was able to get on the board in the 6th with a 2 run homerun. Seattle would get a run in both the 7th and 8th both of those runs were a direct result of a couple errors and wild pitches. Gophers were able to get a run in the 9th and did have some hard hit balls throughout the game but Seattle made some nice defensive plays and had a little luck that a couple were hit right at guys. After a solid start to the season the Gophers are in danger of falling back to .500 and need to get a win and get back on track quick.
 

Gophers get back on track with the type of performance that often leads to going on a little win streak so lets hope that's the case. Austin Athmann led the offensive charge going 5/5 and finishing a triple short of the cycle. Connor Schaefbauer, Eddie Estrada, and Jordan Smith all also had multiple hit games. On the mound the Gophers got a good start from Toby Anderson going 5 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 5 and picking up the win.
 

The Freshmen position players are playing really well this year. Four of them batting 300 or higher. Vavra has worked his way into starting line-up and right now Estrada is not far behind. I hope Mezzenga and Smith also get more opportunities to play. Some of the upperclassmen are struggling and if they don't start playing better these freshmen could take their spots.
 




There was no video for game 1 @ Utah Valley. Not sure if game 2 will have video or not.
 

gophersfan said:
There was no video for game 1 @ Utah Valley. Not sure if game 2 will have video or not.
Click to expand...
There was video on Utah Valley's website I watched last night. Not sure if the link the Gophers have on their website is correct or not I just went directly to Utah Valley's website and clicked on their baseball schedule and then clicked the watch link.
Another solid performance last night. Fiedler had a little trouble in the 1st inning but then cruised through the next 5 innings for the win and he also added his 1st homerun of the season in the game.

 


Goldy Gopher said:
There was video on Utah Valley's website I watched last night. Not sure if the link the Gophers have on their website is correct or not I just went directly to Utah Valley's website and clicked on their baseball schedule and then clicked the watch link.
Another solid performance last night. Fiedler had a little trouble in the 1st inning but then cruised through the next 5 innings for the win and he also added his 1st homerun of the season in the game.

Click to expand...

Gophersports website then link the video to the Utah Valley youtube page.
 





Gophers fall 3-2 in game 2. Really tough loss as the Gophers had a number of hard hit line drives right at Utah Valley guys tonight including the final out with the tying run at 2nd. The big play of the game was in the 4th inning when it looked like Coffey had hit a 3 run homerun to tie the ballgame. The ball bounced off the top of Utah Valley's 2nd wall and it looked like on top of the yellow line they have to tell if it is a homerun or not but I guess the umpires didn't see it that way. Austin Athmann got hit with a pitch in the head in the 4th inning and left the game so hopefully he is alright as well. Gotta bounce back tomorrow and win the series.
 

Couple comments about rest of season.

1. Get healthy - Not having Hanson, Austin, and Gilbreath has made it tough on this team. I have no info if or when they are coming back but losing three players like that hurts. If all three are still going to be out a while, talk about bad luck.

2. 3rd starter - I think it's time to give Toby a shot at number three starter. I'd have Hanson pitch the mid-week, because I still think the potential is there. Toby's only two starts of the season, he pitched very well both outings.

3. Play the freshmen - Some of the upper classmen are struggling. Smith, Varvra, and Estrada are all hitting around 400. Get them at bats. We've got to get these guys in the everyday line-up. I know there is a worry about defense, especially when it comes to Estrada but these freshmen are hitting to good to be kept out of the line-up.

4. Season not over - I still think we could rebound and do very well. I'm not giving up on this season. Next weekend Missouri State could be the toughest team we play all season. Hopefully we play well and give them some tough games.
 



Disappointing loss where the Gophers just didn't execute well enough in any area to win and fall to 9-8. So far aside from Oregon State pretty much everyone we have played is right around .500 either at .500 or a couple games above or below and now facing Missouri State should give us a pretty good idea of just where this team is at heading into B1G play the following week. Missouri State is currently 17-2 fresh off a sweep of Iowa and was a Super Regional team last season. I did hear on the broadcast today the broadcaster say he checked in on Austin Athmann before the game and he was doing alright so hopefully that means he is back this week.
 

We played Oregon State tough earlier in the year, hopefully we play Missouri State tough. The key to betting Missouri state will be our starting pitching. Missouri State already has like 32 homers on the year. They have one of the best offenses in the nation. Fiedler, Saywer, and either Toby or Hanson will be tested. Hopefully our starters will be up to the challenge.
 



Lincoln gopher said:
I know it is last minute and getting mid week games is tough, but it is time to move on from playing the small colleges in Minnesota for mid week games.
Click to expand...
Think they have for the most part the only other one against a D3 scheduled is next week against Saint Mary's. Otherwise the midweek games are NDSU, SDSU, Northern Illinois, and Kansas.

 

Goldy Gopher said:
Think they have for the most part the only other one against a D3 scheduled is next week against Saint Mary's. Otherwise the midweek games are NDSU, SDSU, Northern Illinois, and Kansas.

Click to expand...

Your right, only one more D3 game left. I just think it's long over due cutting them out of the schedule all together.
 

I don't like those D3 games either but our location makes it tougher. We are the only division 1 baseball team in Minnesota, so mid-week games mean more travel compared to other DI teams.. I can think of a couple of other things that hurt us for mid-week games.

1. Northern Iowa dropped their baseball program like ten years ago. We played them couple times every year and some times more.

2. I'm sure we would have played North Dakota in a mid-week game since they went division one in baseball, but they are named the fighting Sioux and the U chooses not to play them unless in play-off game.

3. Not having the Metrodome hurts. I think teams are less likely to travel for one game considerable distance if there is a chance it could be cancelled due to weather. The Metrodome took away that possibility, teams knew if they travelled here, the game was going to be played. I think with the use of the Vikings Stadium that could help us. Hopefully they can get it worked out like the Metrodome and not only schedule games there, but if a game was scheduled at Siebert field and bad weather is coming, then switch it to Vikings Stadium.

I don't like those DIII games either but I'm hoping with the Vikings stadium that will help us eliminate those games or at most 1 or 2 a season.
 

Golden04 said:
I don't like those D3 games either but our location makes it tougher. We are the only division 1 baseball team in Minnesota, so mid-week games mean more travel compared to other DI teams.. I can think of a couple of other things that hurt us for mid-week games.

1. Northern Iowa dropped their baseball program like ten years ago. We played them couple times every year and some times more.

2. I'm sure we would have played North Dakota in a mid-week game since they went division one in baseball, but they are named the fighting Sioux and the U chooses not to play them unless in play-off game.

3. Not having the Metrodome hurts. I think teams are less likely to travel for one game considerable distance if there is a chance it could be cancelled due to weather. The Metrodome took away that possibility, teams knew if they travelled here, the game was going to be played. I think with the use of the Vikings Stadium that could help us. Hopefully they can get it worked out like the Metrodome and not only schedule games there, but if a game was scheduled at Siebert field and bad weather is coming, then switch it to Vikings Stadium.

I don't like those DIII games either but I'm hoping with the Vikings stadium that will help us eliminate those games or at most 1 or 2 a season.
Click to expand...

North Dakota hasn't been the Sioux for the last 3 seasons. In 2014 & 2015 they were just North Dakota, now they're the Fighting Hawks.
 

That's a good point, I wonder why we have not picked up North Dakota as a mid-week opponent. Obviously, they are better then playing DIII teams.
 

Golden04 said:
I don't like those D3 games either but our location makes it tougher. We are the only division 1 baseball team in Minnesota, so mid-week games mean more travel compared to other DI teams.. I can think of a couple of other things that hurt us for mid-week games.

1. Northern Iowa dropped their baseball program like ten years ago. We played them couple times every year and some times more.

2. I'm sure we would have played North Dakota in a mid-week game since they went division one in baseball, but they are named the fighting Sioux and the U chooses not to play them unless in play-off game.

3. Not having the Metrodome hurts. I think teams are less likely to travel for one game considerable distance if there is a chance it could be cancelled due to weather. The Metrodome took away that possibility, teams knew if they travelled here, the game was going to be played. I think with the use of the Vikings Stadium that could help us. Hopefully they can get it worked out like the Metrodome and not only schedule games there, but if a game was scheduled at Siebert field and bad weather is coming, then switch it to Vikings Stadium.

I don't like those DIII games either but I'm hoping with the Vikings stadium that will help us eliminate those games or at most 1 or 2 a season.
Click to expand...

NM
 


Top 5 B1G Teams in the RPI through 1/3 of Season

1. Michigan State (15-3, #21 RPI)
2. Michigan (12-5, #32 RPI)
3. Nebraska (13-7, #41 RPI)
4. Maryland (10-10, #54)
5. GOPHERS (9-8, #71)

Conference play starts today with:

Rutgers @ Michigan State
Maryland @ Iowa
Nebraska @ Purdue
Northwestern @ Ohio State
Penn State @ Illinois
 

Pretty solid played game. One of the differences was the Gopher pitchers struggled with control and fell behind in counts a little too often tonight. They also walked 5 compared to Missouri State walking just one. Some good news was Lucas Gilbreath made his first appearance of the season throwing 1.2 innings giving up 3 hits but only 1 was hit hard. He struck out 2, walked 1 and took the loss. Missouri St. got the winning run in the bottom of the 6th after the Gophers tied the game back up and left runners on 2nd and 3rd in the top of that inning. Gilbreath retired the first 2 hitters quickly but then gave up a walk and a blooper to set up 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Gilbreath got the hitter to hit a slow roller in front of the plate but he beat the throw to 1st and the throw bounced away far enough to allow the runner to score who had been at 2nd.
 




Great series, almost won game one, and that would have given us the sweep. Couple of things.

1. Getting healthy - Getting two guys back from the big three that were injured was great. I know Gilbreath was not a factor in the wins but he will be in the future. Glad to see Austin back and hopefully Toby is coming back soon but I have no idea how he is doing.

2. Freshmen continue to impress - Smith had a big grand slam off a very good pitcher. MN Daily even had an article last week on how well the Freshmen are doing.

3. Starting pitching was the key - Missouri state has one of the best offenses in the nation. Your not going to shut them out, but if your starting pitchers can hold Missouri to 3 or 4 runs thru 5 innings then you have a chance. We did and we won two of three.

4. Kendall Rogers - He knows a ton about college baseball and to give us respect is cool.

Go Gophers
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom