All Things Gopher Baseball Season 2014

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SelectionSunday said:
Lincoln, I'll be out of town that weekend, but by any chance are you going to the Big Ten tourney in Omaha? Assuming Michigan State makes it, my dad & I plan on going to Omaha for the tournament.
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I am going to the tournament, we will stay in touch.
 



Gophers end up taking 2 out of 3 at Michigan and also added a midweek game beating Augsburg. They move to 17-10 overall and 5-4 in the B1G and will play at South Dakota State on Wednesday and then host Nebraska for a 3 game weekend set.
 

Took 2 of 3 from Michigan this weekend too. Not a bad start to the conference season. Sitting at 5-4 right now. Need to keep winning series and sneak out a sweep or two.
 


Big Ten tourney bracket (through April 6)

Double-elimination, with the two bracket winners meeting in the championship game.

Bracket 1
#1 Indiana (7-1) vs. #8 Iowa (35)
#4 Nebraska (4-2) vs. #5 GOPHERS (5-4)

Bracket 2
#2 Illinois (5-1) vs. #7 Michigan (4-5)
#3 Penn State (4-1) vs. #6 Michigan State (3-3)

Outside Looking In: #9 Purdue (2-4), #10 Ohio State (2-7), #11 Northwestern (1-7)

In a perfect world probably best to be in the opposite bracket of Indiana.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Double-elimination, with the two bracket winners meeting in the championship game.

Bracket 1
#1 Indiana (7-1) vs. #8 Iowa (35)
#4 Nebraska (4-2) vs. #5 GOPHERS (5-4)

Bracket 2
#2 Illinois (5-1) vs. #7 Michigan (4-5)
#3 Penn State (4-1) vs. #6 Michigan State (3-3)

Outside Looking In: #9 Purdue (2-4), #10 Ohio State (2-7), #11 Northwestern (1-7)

In a perfect world probably best to be in the opposite bracket of Indiana.
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Agree want to stay away from Indiana as long as you can, also not too sure I like the matchup with Nebraska but we will be able to see where the Gophers stack up with them this weekend.
 

Gophers lose a tough one 8-6 to Nebraska. Fell behind early on 5-0 but battled back to tie it 6-6 heading to the 9th. Nebraska would score two runs in the 9th including the winning run on a wild pitch during an intentional walk. Gophers got 2 guys on in the bottom of the 9th but couldn't push either across.
 

Gophers lose 5-2 to Nebraska today only managing 4 hits and 2 of those came in the 9th a day after maybe their best offensive performance of the season. Starting pitcher Jordan Jess got the loss and I believe is winless on the year, another outing where Jess struggled as he gave up 3 earned runs in only 3.2 innings, the problem inning was the 4th for him where he walked 3 batters and Nebraska scored 3 runs. A couple bright spots for the Gophers were Bobby Juan who homered in the 2nd to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead, Dan Olinger who had 2 of the 4 hits, and walk-on relief pitcher Neal Kunik who pitched 5 innings giving up 2 earned runs both in the 9th inning, walking 1, and striking out 3. Gophers will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow at 2p.m. and the game is on BTN.
 



Gophers lose another tough game 3-2 in 10 innings. I watched the game on BTN and it was a pretty good game aside from the home plate ump having a horrible strike zone and being quite inconsistent. Gophers came close to winning it in the bottom of the 9th when Connor Schaefbauer hit a ground ball to the right side with a man on 2nd but Pat Kelly made a diving stop and got Schaefbauer at 1st to end the threat. Gophers fall to 17-14 overall and 5-7 in the B1G and will host NDSU on Tuesday and travel to Iowa for a weekend series where they probably need at minimum to take 2 out of 3 games.
 

I'm taking a road trip to Iowa this weekend. Stopping on the way at the SPAM Museum, then going to catch a minor league baseball game in Cedar Rapids. Saturday, I'll head down to see the Gophers play Iowa in the afternoon and go to see the Bemidji Axemen play the Cedar Rapids Titans in an Indoor Football League game. Beer, steak and no family for a weekend.
 

Gophers beat NDSU today, good to see freshman Austin Athmann return at catcher from injury and get 3 hits today.
 




SelectionSunday said:
Is Halloran hurt or did he just get beat out?
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Only played like 1 game and was hurt, sounded like they expected him, Lashomb, and McDevitt(although he isn't a senior anyway) to all get medical redshirts and be back next season which would really make next year a decent chance for a tournament run.
 

Gophers get a 4-3 win in the opener at Iowa. Gophers scored the winning run on an error in the top of the 9th after Dalton Sawyer came in for Alec Crawford and was able to escape a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 8th with 2 strikeouts. Michael Handel had a 2 run homerun and Connor Schaefbauer had 2 hits for the Gophers.
 

Iowa takes game #2 11-5. Gophers jumped out to an early 5-1 lead after 3 innings scoring 4 in the 1st and 1 in the 2nd but Iowa kept coming back and finally took the lead in the 6th inning. Gophers did have a 11 hits including 3 doubles and 3 RBI from Michael Handel and at least 1 hit from everyone except one of their starters but 4 errors,4 walks, 2 hit by pitches, and Iowa's 14 hits were too much today.
 

Real disappointing weekend for the Gophers as Iowa takes the series and game #3 7-6 despite 15 Gopher hits. Gophers got a good start from Neal Kunik going 6 innings giving up 3 hits and not giving up a run. The Gophers took a 3-0 lead to bottom of the 7th but the bullpen would implode and give Iowa 6 hits and 6 runs in the inning. Gophers did rally in the 9th scoring 3 runs and had the tying run on 2nd when the game ended. Gophers really had a good chance for a sweep this weekend but blew golden chances for wins in games 2 and 3.
 

Big Ten tourney if it were held today

Bracket 1
#1 Indiana (11-1) vs. #8 Gophers (6-9)
# 4 Michigan (8-7) vs. #5 Iowa (7-8)

Bracket 2
#2 Illinois (9-3) vs. #7 Michigan State (5-7)
#3 Nebraska (8-4) vs. #6 Penn State (5-6)

Outside Looking In: Ohio State (4-8), Purdue (4-8), Northwestern (4-10)
 

Gophers win 2-1 over Penn State in their first game under the lights. Alec Crawford went 8 innings and had a career high 9 strikeouts and got the win for the Gophers while Dalton Sawyer pitched the 9th to earn the save. Austin Athmann got the Gophers on the board first with a solo homerun and Connor Schaefbauer added 2 hits again tonight picking up another multi-hit game.
 

Updated Big Ten tourney seedings (through April 25)

Bracket 1
#1 Indiana (12-1) vs. #8 Penn State (5-7)
# 4 Michigan (8-8) vs. #5 Iowa (7-8)

Bracket 2
#2 Nebraska (9-4) vs. #7 GOPHERS (7-9)
#3 Illinois (9-4) vs. #6 Michigan State (6-7)

Outside Looking In: Purdue (5-8), Ohio State (4-9), Northwestern (4-11)

Saturday Slate
Northwestern @ Michigan State, 11:05 a.m.
Nebraska @ Michigan, 1 p.m.
Ohio State @ Purdue, 1 p.m.
Indiana @ Illinois, 3 p.m.
Penn State @ GOPHERS, 6 p.m.
 

Gophers sweep Penn State with 2 more wins today after the 3rd game of the series was moved to today because of weather projections. The Gophers won the 1st today 4-0 behind good pitching from Ben Meyer who went 8 innings and set a new career high with 8 strikeouts. The Gophers offense showed up in a big way in game 2 winning 12-0 behind a 7 run 1st inning and pounding out 19 hits for the game led by Bobby Juan who had 3 hits including a homerun. Neal Kunik also pitched very well in his 2nd career start going 7 innings giving up 2 hits and striking out 9 which was a career high for him as well. Lance Thonvold pitched the final 2 innings for the Gophers and struck out 3 Penn State hitters. The Gophers will have a huge test next weekend as they travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State.
 

Big Ten tourney pairings (through May 1)

Looking really bleak for Purdue and Northwestern to make the Big Ten Tournament. That would leave only one of the other nine getting left out of the field, probably Penn State, which has a daunting remaining schedule (@ Nebraska, Indiana, Michigan State).

Bracket 1
#1 Indiana (13-2) vs. #8 Ohio State (6-9)
# 4 Michigan State (8-7) vs. #5 GOPHERS (9-9)

Bracket 2
#2 Illinois (10-5) vs. #7 Iowa (7-8)
#3 Nebraska (10-5) vs. #6 Michigan (9-9)

Outside Looking In: Penn State (5-9), Purdue (5-10), Northwestern (4-13)

May 2-4
Purdue @ Indiana
Michigan State @ Illinois
Penn State @ Nebraska
Michigan @ Northwestern

May 3-5
Iowa @ Ohio State

bye = GOPHERS
 


Gophers lose the first game of a doubleheader today to Florida State 5-4. Gophers got on the board first in the top of the 1st with a run, Florida State would tie it with a run in the 4th and took a 3-1 lead with 2 runs in the 6th. The Gophers scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th off of FSU's closer but Florida State answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th that started with a lead off hit by pitch for the win. Game 2 should start at about 5pm and will be on ESPN3 again.
 

Florida State gets another close win in the 2nd game of the doubleheader 3-2. FSU got 1 in the 1st and 2 in the 4th while the Gophers scored 1 in the 7th and 8th each. The Gophers made some noise in the 9th with a leadoff double by Juan followed by a couple missed bunt attempts finishing in a strikeout from Tatera, then Athmann would get a bloop single and the Gophers had 1st and 3rd with only 1 out. After a series of moves by each coach countering each other with a pinch hitter with a pitching change following with a different pinch hitter Bettenburg would strike out after almost tying the game up on a shallow hit down the line that would have at worst served as a sac fly fell but was just foul, Motl would then be called out on strikes to end the games. The Gophers outhit the Seminoles in game 2 9-7 and have really played pretty well against the #4 team in the nation but have come up just short in both games so far. The series will finish up tomorrow at noon and is on ESPN3 again.
 

We should have won the first game. The HBP to start the 9th was a killer.
 

beavergopher said:
We should have won the first game. The HBP to start the 9th was a killer.
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Agreed when that first guy got on I figured it probably wasn't gonna end well. I also thought they would put Stewart on with 1st base open instead of giving him a chance to tie it up with a hit which he did, the middle of that Florida State order is what really carries their team.
 

4th ranked FSU finishes off the sweep with a 7-1 win. The Gophers got on the board first with a run in the 3rd but missed on some golden opportunities for more in the first 3 innings including leaving the bases loaded in the 3rd. FSU responded with 3 in the bottom of the 3rd and would tack on 1 in the 6th and 3 in the 7th to finish the scoring. Couple of close games but nothing to show for this weekend for the Gophers. Gophers will have a couple midweek games and then host Purdue next weekend in a series that they will need to take advantage of and try to create some separation from the rest of the teams in the middle of the conference before a tough close to the season at Indiana in the final weekend.
 

Attended both Gopher games in Tallahassee yesterday. Was impressed by the Gopher's pitching staff. The difference in both games was the Gophers hitting and mental mistakes/errors. If they want to compete with the big boys they're going to need better hitting. FSU's superior base running and lack or errors (none in the series) were the difference in this series. Even though FSU has an impressive record they are not as good as the teams they have had in prior years. I suspect that Indiana could defeat them again in a super regional like they did last year.
 

Big Ten looking like a 2-bid league

If Nebraska can finish strong vs. Michigan State and Illinois over the final 2 weekends, the Huskers (#44 in the RPI) should be in pretty good shape to join Indiana (#4 RPI) as worthy at-large selections in the event they don't win the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois (#68 RPI) could sneak into the at-large conversation as well, but the Illini probably need to sweep Nebraska on the road.

Best-case scenario for the Big Ten is someone other than Indiana or to a lesser extent Nebraska wins the tourney, likely ensuring 3 bids.
 

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