All Things Gopher Baseball

Donate To GopherHole
Good
On a weekend where it was a struggle to get much going offensively there were a few bright spots:
Spanier 4-12 with a double
Hellum 5-13 with 2 doubles
Elbeery 4-11 with a double
Martin 1-2 with a HR on Sunday

The starting pitching was fantastic. All 3 guys did great despite bad weather, delays, cold and facing a tough lineup.
Selvig/Remington/Rooney combined for 16 innings and only 4 earned run. Only 15 hits given up. If we can get this every weekend we’re going to be tough to beat down the stretch.

Bad
Berkland carried us for several weeks but he’s struggling at the moment. Just 1-11 at the plate and the one hit was an infield single. We need our big slugger to come back.

1-11 with runners in scoring position on Friday.

8 backwards K’s on Friday. Strikeouts continue to be a problem for the offense.

Ugly
Weather. Ish
The errors. We might have had a chance on Friday if we were a little more clean.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
Good
On a weekend where it was a struggle to get much going offensively there were a few bright spots:
Spanier 4-12 with a double
Hellum 5-13 with 2 doubles
Elbeery 4-11 with a double
Martin 1-2 with a HR on Sunday

The starting pitching was fantastic. All 3 guys did great despite bad weather, delays, cold and facing a tough lineup.
Selvig/Remington/Rooney combined for 16 innings and only 4 earned run. Only 15 hits given up. If we can get this every weekend we’re going to be tough to beat down the stretch.

Bad
Berkland carried us for several weeks but he’s struggling at the moment. Just 1-11 at the plate and the one hit was an infield single. We need our big slugger to come back.

1-11 with runners in scoring position on Friday.

8 backwards K’s on Friday. Strikeouts continue to be a problem for the offense.

Ugly
Weather. Ish
The errors. We might have had a chance on Friday if we were a little more clean.
Click to expand...
Thank you, DtG, for diligently and painstakingly providing curated Gopher baseball news. The mathematical cushion provided by the low RPI road win opponents will begin to dissipate if we don’t start winning series or sweeping against high RPI Big Ten teams. If, hypothetically, we finish 4th or 5th in the conference with a similar Big Ten tourney performance, could we make the NCAA field if we have a higher RPI than teams finishing ahead of us in the standings? (Again, I don’t know if the RPI math wouid allow for such a result.)
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Had to catch a plane home. Poor guys will get home around 5-6 am.

Great win though. So important to avoid a sweep. They definitely have things to clean up but there is a lot to like about this team.

Doesn't get much easier next weekend. High Point is legit
Click to expand...
Hopefully get a little healthier before getting back into conference play in a couple weeks.
 

Married@SiebertField said:
If, hypothetically, we finish 4th or 5th in the conference with a similar Big Ten tourney performance, could we make the NCAA field if we have a higher RPI than teams finishing ahead of us in the standings?
Click to expand...
It has happened but it has been awhile.

In 2024 there were 3 teams from B1G and they were the highest 3 in conference standings. They had RPI’s of 29, 43, 55. Maryland didn’t make it and they had an RPI of 48…but since they were 8 games back it was a no-brainer to keep them out.

In 2023 again, there were 3 teams from B1G and they had the highest 3 conference standings and lowest RPI so a no brainer

You’d have to go back to 2018 to find an example where a lower team in the standings jumped someone higher for an at-large spot. That year B1G got 4 bids but the 3rd and 4th place teams in the conference were passed over in favor of 5th and 6th due to RPI. MN (12), Purdue (40), Michigan (63), Illinois (50), Indiana (34) and Ohio State (46). Michigan and Illinois were snubbed.

So to answer your question, it IS possible for Gophers to leap teams ahead of us in the standings if we have a better RPI. Seeing as how the conference schedules are not balanced, that might be more likely IMHO. For example, not every team is going to play Oregon.

But in your question you asked about if the Gophers finished 4th or 5th in conference. I happen to think this year the B1G will get 5 bids. Historically we’ve gotten 3…with as little as 2 and as high as 5. But with the Pac12 dissolving and the conference being better in non-conference this year compared to history, I think 5 is an attainable goal. If the Gophers can get to 4th or 5th in conference standings they would have a great chance IMHO.
 


Fun fact: Both starting catchers tonight were teammates at East Ridge.
 

Game is flying. End 4th and no score. UST has 1 hit, Gophers none.
 
Last edited:

Sundquist escapes a big time jam with back to back k's to end the inning and strand runners on 2nd and 3rd. Gophers lead 4-2 at the stretch.
 

Really quiet game for the bats but they came alive late. Solid job on the mound by a number of guys, know the competition wasn't great for St. Thomas so far but lot of their guys had solid numbers.
 



Goldy Gopher said:
Really quiet game for the bats but they came alive late. Solid job on the mound by a number of guys, know the competition wasn't great for St. Thomas so far but lot of their guys had solid numbers.
Click to expand...
UST is a sneaky team. Much tougher game than Milwaukee. I'm glad we got it together in the end. Thorsteinson only went 2 but had a good bounce back performance. Expect him to pitch again this weekend in some role.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Sundquist escapes a big time jam with back to back k's to end the inning and strand runners on 2nd and 3rd. Gophers lead 4-2 at the stretch.
Click to expand...
Do you attend all these games? If so, I'm very envious. Just curious.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Conference Records and RPI rankings through 3/16. Top 12 teams qualify for Big Ten Tournament.

RankTeamConf RecordOverall RecordRPI
1Oregon5-117-441
1UCLA5-116-413
3Penn State4-214-488
3Indiana4-211-9126
3Iowa4-28-8160
3Purdue2-117-289
3Washington2-18-12173
8Michigan3-311-860
9Michigan State1-213-6134
9Illinois1-29-7141
9Maryland1-210-1098
9Rutgers1-29-11166
9Northwestern1-28-10183
9USC2-411-867
9Minnesota2-48-1017
16Nebraska1-57-11161
17Ohio State0-35-12189
18Wisconsin
Click to expand...
After midweek games RPI is:
Oregon 39 (-2)
UCLA 10 (-3)
Penn State 118 (+30 ouch!)
Indiana 136 (+10)
Iowa 150 (-10)
Purdue 78 (-11)
Washington 162 (-11)
Michigan 77 (+17)
Michigan State 132 (-2)
Illinois 154 (+13)
Maryland 90 (-8)
Northwestern 178 (+5)
Rutgers 149 (-17)
USC 51 (-16)
Minnesota 18 (+1)
Ohio State 171 (-18)
Nebraska 140 (-21)
 





GopherPoke said:
That's great. How's the quality of the broadcast? Sorry if this has been discussed.
Click to expand...
It's on par with AggieVision, if you remember that infamous football game from awhile ago. It's amateurish. For games at USB Stadium they pretty much just have a CF camera and then one behind the backstop way up in the stands. Camera man often loses track of the ball. Announcers are very green as well so don't expect too much insight. But it's good enough considering there is no radio or alternative way to follow live except online.

I do think the production is better at various sites. The Oregon announcers were more polished and I think being in actual baseball stadiums improves the camera angles, etc.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
It's on par with AggieVision, if you remember that infamous football game from awhile ago. It's amateurish. For games at USB Stadium they pretty much just have a CF camera and then one behind the backstop way up in the stands. Camera man often loses track of the ball. Announcers are very green as well so don't expect too much insight. But it's good enough considering there is no radio or alternative way to follow live except online.

I do think the production is better at various sites. The Oregon announcers were more polished and I think being in actual baseball stadiums improves the camera angles, etc.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the info. Outdoor bball soon.
 

Bats are alive tonight. 6 hits thru 2, including two doubles and a much needed HR by Berkland. Good guys lead 6-0
 

Dominating 12-1 win. Berkland added another HR, team had 4 in total. Selvig and Whelan combined for a nice 1 run outing.

Nice to win on Friday
 

Yesterday not a good day. Our pitching got roughed up and not only did we lose but our past opponents all struggled too. Houston is tanking, ASU is middling, Oregon got beat by Rutgers and Purdue is getting beat by Michigan. Thus our RPI went from borderline t10 to 28. Yikes.

We absolutely need to win this series.
 

Thorsteinson with 8k thru 3 innings. Scoreless in mid3. Gophers still looking for their first hit as well.
 


Lincoln gopher said:
Gophers win game 8-2 and series, good weekend. I assume Spanier got hurt in Friday's game, he didn't play yesterday or today.
Click to expand...
Didn't notice anything Friday night, my guess would be sickness but just based on what they were dealing with last weekend.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Weekend schedule for 3/21-3/23 (Games will be updated in green upon completion)

Conference
Illinois (2-4) @ Northwestern (3-3) - Northwestern wins series 2-1
Michigan (5-4) @ Purdue (3-3) - Michigan wins series 2-1
Ohio State (0-6) @ Iowa (7-2) - Iowa wins series 3-0
Michigan State (3-3) @ Penn State (5-4) - Michigan State wins series 2-1
Rutgers (2-4) @ Oregon (7-2) - Oregon wins series 2-1
Indiana (5-4) @ UCLA (7-2) -  UCLA wins series 2-1
Nebraska (2-7) @ USC (4-5) - USC wins series 2-1
Maryland (2-3) @ Washington (3-2) - Series tied 1-1

Non-Conference
High Point @ Minnesota - Minnesota wins series 2-1
Click to expand...
Interesting results. Iowa comes to Siebert on a roll. We really need to start winning these and cl8mb the conference standings.

Ohio State and Nebraska really struggling.
 

Conference Records and RPI rankings through 3/23. Top 12 teams qualify for Big Ten Tournament.
RankTeamConf RecordOverall RecordRPI
1Oregon7-219-539
1UCLA7-218-513
1Iowa7-212-8122
4Washington4-210-13154
5Penn State5-416-7104
5Michigan5-413-1046
5Indiana5-413-11100
8Purdue3-319-4110
8Michigan State3-316-781
8Northwestern3-310-11143
11USC4-514-950
12Illinois2-411-9144
12Maryland2-412-12112
12Minnesota2-411-1123
12Rutgers2-410-1485
16Nebraska2-710-13119
17Ohio State0-66-15197
18Wisconsin
 

Good
Hitting….guys were pounding the ball all weekend. 15 hits on Friday, 10 on Saturday, 11 on Sunday. For the weekend, 11 doubles (among 8 players), 7 HR (among 6 players). At this point there really isn’t a glaring weak spot in the batting order as every spot is a threat in some capacity.

Selvig had another great start on Friday. 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Whelan as been spotty this year but he was great in relief. 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4K
….really good stuff for these guys on Friday.

Thorsteinson….wow, 11 K in 5 innings. Only 1 hit allowed. His stuff was fantastic. Much needed on Sunday to deliver the series win

Only 1 error this weekend. Credit where credit is due, the fielding was much better. I have given Berkland some flak for his outfield fielding but he made some REALLY difficult catches over the weekend. Good to see them clean up this area.

Bad
Not sure what happened to the pitching on Saturday but it was a mess. Remington, Sperry and Hemmesch all struggled, giving up more runs than innings pitched. As a staff we walked 7 batters and gave up 13 hits.



Ugly
The weather for the Siebert opening series next week looks spotty.
Friday: 66 and PM Showers
Saturday: 55 and drizzly most of the day
Sunday: 45 and Showers in the morning.
Be on the lookout for changes in the start times.
 

Midweek schedule for Big Ten (winners will be in green upon completion of game)

Tuesday
George Mason @ Maryland
Western Michigan @ Northwestern
Eastern Michigan @ Michigan
Valpo @ Purdue
Pitt @ Penn State
Bellarmine @ Indiana
Iowa @ Illinois State
Nebraska @ K-State
Washington @ Oregon State
UC Irvine @ USC
Loyola-Marymount @ UCLA
Mizzou @ Illinois

Wednesday
Princeton @ Rutgers
Michigan State @ Notre Dame
 
Last edited:

Weekend schedule for 3/28-3/30 (Games will be updated in green upon completion)

Conference
Iowa (10-2) @ Minnesota (2-7) - Iowa sweeps series 3-0
Illinois (4-5) @ Michigan State (4-5) - Illinois wins series 2-1
Penn State (6-6) @ Michigan (7-5) - Michigan wins series 2-1
UCLA (10-2) @ Purdue (3-6) - UCLA sweeps series 3-0
Oregon (8-4) @ Ohio State (2-7) - Ohio State wins series 2-1
Northwestern (5-4) @ Maryland (3-6) - Northwestern wins series 2-1
Washington (5-4) @ Rutgers (4-5) - Rutgers wins series 2-1
USC (6-6) @ Indiana (6-6) - USC wins series 2-1

Non-Conference
Oregon State @ Nebraska - Nebraska wins series 2-1
 
Last edited:

Schedule change for Iowa series
Game 1: Thursday at 3pm
Game 2: Friday at 12pm
Game 3: Immediately following Game 2

I fully understand but it's very unfortunate. Was likely able to make Saturdays game but now it will be a challenge.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Didn't notice anything Friday night, my guess would be sickness but just based on what they were dealing with last weekend.
Click to expand...
He's still not in the lineup today. Makes me nervous. Hope it isn't anything serious. Today's lineup:
1. P Knoll, CF
2. E Richter, 2B
3. D Berkland, LF
4. J Elbeery, 1B
5. J Fitzgerald, RF
6. K Hokenson, DH
7. W Neels, C
8. J Perry, 3B
9. J Martin, SS
C Selvig, P
 

One of the saddest broadcasts I have ever seen. No counts. No lineups. No announcers. No outfield camera. And they look like ants.

You cannot even follow along with live stats because of the delay.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom