All Things Gopher Baseball

[Lincoln gopher]

There wouldn’t be an ear of corn anywhere near the playing field in late May. It would be surrounded by dirt for as far as the eye could see, and there’s not much romance in that unless you work for Monsanto or Case/IH.

That is true and also no place for everyone to stay. By the way, Monsanto doesn't exist anymore, they were bought by Bayer a few years ago.

 

[Good KNight]

And John Deere rules that roost. Hotels at 50 miles away and bring lunch!

 

[SomeGopherFan]

Little late on this, but tourney selection committee didn't seem to show a lot of love for B10 this year. Maryland with a much lower seed than expected, and Rutgers getting snubbed.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Little late on this, but tourney selection committee didn't seem to show a lot of love for B10 this year. Maryland with a much lower seed than expected, and Rutgers getting snubbed.

The baseball teams of the Big Ten need to schedule harder opponents early and then win more of those games. It sounds simple, but they actually got to do that so as to get better NCAA tournament seeds.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Sam Ireland and JP Massey now officially in the portal as well.

 

[SomeGopherFan]

This team is going to have a lot of holes to fill in 2023.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

This team is going to have a lot of holes to fill in 2023.

Not necessarily a bad thing to see a lot of new faces. Massey never lived up to the hype after his freshman year and Ireland was decent to solid but much better out of conference and then kinda struggled through conference season. Think both think they will be drafted especially JP and I don't believe either will be.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Man feel for Michigan, they got that game taken away from them a couple ways.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Wow does the Big Ten need to get it’s act together on the baseball diamond! There is no reason for the teams in the conference to perform THAT poorly this year. I admit I didn’t know that only two B1G teams even got into the NCAA tournament until today. Neither will make the supers. That is not good.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Wow does the Big Ten need to get it’s act together on the baseball diamond! There is no reason for the teams in the conference to perform THAT poorly this year. I admit I didn’t know that only two B1G teams even got into the NCAA tournament until today. Neither will make the supers. That is not good.

You can look at it another way. Michigan only got in because they won the conference tournament. Rutgers absolutely deserved to but got snubbed. Despite the Big Ten being snubbed and having less than 3 teams for the first time in ~10 years, BOTH teams were in game 7's of their regionals. BOTH teams had terrible, mind-boggling calls go against them in the late innings of those games.

I think the Big Ten can make a case they are absolutely better than what the committee said. Especially when teams like Dallas Baptist finished 11-9-1 in the Missouri Valley and went 0-2 in regions.

Also keep in mind that the Big Ten doesn't usually get represented in the supers. Since 2000:
2000: Penn State
2003: Ohio State
2007: MIchigan
2013: Indiana
2015: Illinois, Maryland
2018: Minnesota
2019: Michigan

All in all I think the Big Ten showed they are better than the committee thought this year.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Not necessarily a bad thing to see a lot of new faces. Massey never lived up to the hype after his freshman year and Ireland was decent to solid but much better out of conference and then kinda struggled through conference season. Think both think they will be drafted especially JP and I don't believe either will be.

When you are 12-49 against your conference peers in the last two seasons it isn't a bad thing if you have to start over. There's nowhere to go but up.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Is Bertrand in the portal?

 

[Good KNight]

YES

 

[Lincoln gopher]

The Gophers will have a new team next year. Bertrand looking at Nebraska I think.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Frustrating to watch Super Regionals when it seems like every other team, I watch has a Minnesota kid or 2 on their roster.

 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

Frustrating to watch Super Regionals when it seems like every other team, I watch has a Minnesota kid or 2 on their roster.

I was about to say the same thing. It's not rocket science......if the Gophers want to field a NCAA contender they have to find a way to keep the in-state studs home. Frustrating watching UNC trot out Carlson as their starting pitcher with Horvath starting at 3B....

 

[ecoperson]

I was about to say the same thing. It's not rocket science......if the Gophers want to field a NCAA contender they have to find a way to keep the in-state studs home. Frustrating watching UNC trot out Carlson as their starting pitcher with Horvath starting at 3B....

Unlike basketball and football, it DOES matter where you go to college if you hope to make it to MLB. The southern and western teams have a huge advantage due to the timing of the season. It is not insurmountable but the best players typically want to play with and against the best players.

I would love to require the SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12 teams to come north and play Big 10 teams in spring!

 

[Good KNight]

Wow take a look at the transfer portal:

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Wow take a look at the transfer portal:

Wow is right.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Unlike basketball and football, it DOES matter where you go to college if you hope to make it to MLB. The southern and western teams have a huge advantage due to the timing of the season. It is not insurmountable but the best players typically want to play with and against the best players.

I would love to require the SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12 teams to come north and play Big 10 teams in spring!

I understand and agree with you. It doesn't help that the B1G could care less about baseball.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Have had my eye on this one for a while and thought he'd be the next commit for the last couple months. Ultra athletic outfielder with good arm and some power at the plate.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Michigan steals a bid winning the B1G tournament over Rutgers.
Maryland will officially host.
Someone on the committee does not like Notre Dame. Last year they should've easily been top 8 and instead had to go to Starkville for supers and this year they were probably in the 7-12 range and instead will be on the road for regionals.

Committee screwed Notre Dame and it ends up screwing Tennessee. I'm not a Irish fan most of the time but definitely found myself rooting for them the last couple tournaments with how the committee treated them these last two years. Good to see them overcome it and get to Omaha, now they'll have to find the $$$$$ to keep their coach away from Florida State.

 

[nitramnaed]

Controversial B1G season endings are harsh reminder of baseball's cruelty​

Controversial B1G season endings are harsh reminder of baseball's cruelty

Big Ten baseball teams experienced uniquely heartbreaking endings to their 2022 seasons due to several controversial decisions.

saturdaytradition.com

 

[Goldy Gopher]

We have 5 tickets punched to Omaha and so far 4 of the 5 were 2 or 3 seeds in their regionals with Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Texas got a great start against East Carolina but are in a weather delay
Stanford has jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st needing a win against UConn.
Oregon State is win or it is over against Auburn later.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

LHP JC addition from NIACC

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

I understand and agree with you. It doesn't help that the B1G could care less about baseball.

It's a joke how seldom the Big Ten Network shows baseball each spring. Look at the SEC and ACC networks and they have baseball on every day of the weekend. Full in-depth coverage.

 

[Goldy Gopher 2000]

I was about to say the same thing. It's not rocket science......if the Gophers want to field a NCAA contender they have to find a way to keep the in-state studs home. Frustrating watching UNC trot out Carlson as their starting pitcher with Horvath starting at 3B....

The issue is you are not competing with the North Carolina's, Arizona States, and Oregon's They are a destination baseball power and the U is not. You need to get more of the right MN kid (more Bateman's) and not miss on many of the wrongs ones that have great club numbers but can't handle failure when they run up against it in college. The U has always counted on kids taking the home town discount to stay and play at MN but the U has not got a great reputation for winning.
They used to get 2-3 kids from a Barrington or several other areas and they would be contributing players on a decent team. That has went away in the last 4-5 years. Seems like they target the top 2-3 LHP arms in the class and then go from there.
We are not recruiting against the top of the top 25 we are fighting Creighton, Xavier, Bradley, NDSU and South Dakota State for the same players. The last 4-5 years the top kids are leaving and going to much better programs than the U and doing well. Its good for MN baseball but not great for the U of MN.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Juco outfielder from D2 National Runner Up Madison College. Solid numbers and some athleticism.