All Things Gopher Baseball

Schedule this week.
Midweek Games:
Tuesday
Delaware @ Rutgers
Nebraska @ Omaha - POSTPONED
St John’s @ Ohio State
N Kentucky
@ Indiana
Purdue @ Indiana State
E Illinois @ Illinois - POSTPONED
Portland @ Washington
Milwaukee @ Minnesota
Utah Tech @ Oregon
Michigan @ UCLA (non-conf)
UC Santa Barbara @ USC
James Madison @ Maryland
Farleigh Dickinson @ Penn State

Wednesday
South Dakota State @ Nebraska - POSTPONED
St Thomas @ Iowa - POSTPONED
Michigan State @ W Carolina
Michigan @ UC Riverside - POSTPONED
 
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Schedule next weekend:
Conference (all 3-game series)
Washington @ Nebraska
Iowa @ Rutgers (Rutgers leads series 1-0)
UCLA @ Maryland (UCLA leads series 1-0)
Indiana @ Penn State (Penn State leads series 1-0)
Purdue @ Minnesota (Purdue leads series 1-0)
Oregon @ USC (Oregon leads series 1-0)
Michigan @ Illinois (Michigan leads series 1-0)

Non-Conference

Michigan State vs Cornell, UAB x2, Winthrop (MSU beat Cornell, UAB)
Valpo @ Ohio State x 3 (Valpo leads series 1-0)
Northwestern vs Citadel x4 (Citadel leads series 1-0)
 
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Schedule next weekend:
Conference (all 3-game series)
Washington @ Nebraska
Iowa @ Rutgers
UCLA @ Maryland
Indiana @ Penn State
Purdue @ Minnesota
Oregon @ USC
Michigan @ Illinois

Non-Conference
Michigan State vs Cornell, UAB x2, Winthrop
Valpo @ Ohio State x 3
Northwestern vs Citadel x4
Will be some chilly weather for some of those games.
 

Will be some chilly weather for some of those games.
Lincoln will be cold and snow on Friday morning. Saturday & Sunday look pleasant.
Piscataway will be 50's on Friday and Saturday. Colder on Sunday.
State College will be low 40's all weekend . Brr
Champaign will be mid/upper 40's all weekend. Some chances of showers.
Los Angeles will be 60's and low 70's.
It will be 68 degrees inside USB Stadium.
 



Lincoln will be cold and snow on Friday morning. Saturday & Sunday look pleasant.
Piscataway will be 50's on Friday and Saturday. Colder on Sunday.
State College will be low 40's all weekend . Brr
Champaign will be mid/upper 40's all weekend. Some chances of showers.
Los Angeles will be 60's and low 70's.
It will be 68 degrees inside USB Stadium.
The Michigan/Illinois series will be played in Vero Beach, Florida.
 

Team hitting stats through the first 9 games compared to past seasons. Apples/Oranges comparison at this point since we haven't hit conference play but just fun to look at anyway.

Year
Games
Avg
OBP
H/Game
XBH/Game
HR/Game
K/Game
2025​
9​
0.255​
0.346​
9.000​
3.333​
1.889​
12.333​
2024​
48​
0.283​
0.390​
9.938​
3.729​
1.417​
7.646​
2023​
52​
0.255​
0.352​
8.538​
2.635​
0.673​
8.808​
2022​
52​
0.251​
0.349​
8.327​
2.962​
0.923​
8.135​
2021​
37​
0.236​
0.323​
7.811​
2.270​
0.838​
8.595​
2020​
18​
0.284​
0.381​
9.500​
2.500​
0.500​
9.389​
2019​
56​
0.256​
0.346​
8.804​
2.893​
0.732​
9.107​
2018​
59​
0.300​
0.390​
10.271​
2.847​
0.780​
6.678​
 





Does Arizona State play in a smallish yard or are a much more powerful team this year?
I wouldn't call it a small yard by any means but the ball usually goes pretty well there. I think we will put up some solid power numbers this season, lot more ways our offense can beat you.
 






Team hitting stats through the first 9 games compared to past seasons. Apples/Oranges comparison at this point since we haven't hit conference play but just fun to look at anyway.

Year
Games
Avg
OBP
H/Game
XBH/Game
HR/Game
K/Game
2025​
9​
0.255​
0.346​
9.000​
3.333​
1.889​
12.333​
2024​
48​
0.283​
0.390​
9.938​
3.729​
1.417​
7.646​
2023​
52​
0.255​
0.352​
8.538​
2.635​
0.673​
8.808​
2022​
52​
0.251​
0.349​
8.327​
2.962​
0.923​
8.135​
2021​
37​
0.236​
0.323​
7.811​
2.270​
0.838​
8.595​
2020​
18​
0.284​
0.381​
9.500​
2.500​
0.500​
9.389​
2019​
56​
0.256​
0.346​
8.804​
2.893​
0.732​
9.107​
2018​
59​
0.300​
0.390​
10.271​
2.847​
0.780​
6.678​
Strikeouts are up a lot but so are home runs.
I haven't paid close enough attention...certainly some tough non conference opposition...is the non schedule overall easier or more difficult than the conference schedule?
 

Strikeouts are up a lot but so are home runs.
I haven't paid close enough attention...certainly some tough non conference opposition...is the non schedule overall easier or more difficult than the conference schedule?

That's a good question and hard to answer at this point. I would lean "NO" on the non-conf schedule being easier. Arizona State was expected to finish in middle of Big12....which would usually equate to upper quarter of B1G . Houston was expected to finish in bottom half of Big12 which usually translates to middle of B1G. With the exception of the mid-week games against smaller midwest schools, there aren't any easy non-conference games. However; with the addition of the 4 west coast teams it's hard to know for certain if those comparisons are still valid. Oregon & USC look really good. Purdue and Michigan State have gaudy records, albeit against weak competition.

It should be a pretty fun conference season.
 

For anyone who has attended a game at US Bank stadium, how does it work at as a ballpark? Distances, layout, funky angles or fences?
 

For anyone who has attended a game at US Bank stadium, how does it work at as a ballpark? Distances, layout, funky angles or fences?
Not the best place to watch a game but it's better than nothing for this time of year. Nearly all seating is on first-base side.

Deepest spot is slightly right of dead-center. That's a little over 400 if I recall. Left-Center power alley is also pretty deep but the LF/RF lines are manageable.

Right-field corner doesn't have much foul territory so if a ball goes down there it's also hard to see.

Right-field wall is huge. Very similar to Metrodome baggie. For some reason there is also a line in the middle of the wall which causes confusion because people think you just need to hit it over that line for a HR but you actually need to hit it over the wall. The rest of the wall is probably around 8 feet...except for the very edge of the LF corner. That seems to be around 4-5 feet.

There is also no warning track so players need to be careful not to run into the wall.

The turf is fast. Just last night alone we saw 2 players overslide a base. Players need to adjust knowing that their momentum is going to carry them through the bases.
 

Not the best place to watch a game but it's better than nothing for this time of year. Nearly all seating is on first-base side.

Deepest spot is slightly right of dead-center. That's a little over 400 if I recall. Left-Center power alley is also pretty deep but the LF/RF lines are manageable.

Right-field corner doesn't have much foul territory so if a ball goes down there it's also hard to see.

Right-field wall is huge. Very similar to Metrodome baggie. For some reason there is also a line in the middle of the wall which causes confusion because people think you just need to hit it over that line for a HR but you actually need to hit it over the wall. The rest of the wall is probably around 8 feet...except for the very edge of the LF corner. That seems to be around 4-5 feet.

There is also no warning track so players need to be careful not to run into the wall.

The turf is fast. Just last night alone we saw 2 players overslide a base. Players need to adjust knowing that their momentum is going to carry them through the bases.
Thank you.
 

For anyone who has attended a game at US Bank stadium, how does it work at as a ballpark? Distances, layout, funky angles or fences?
I would say it definitely looks like a football stadium that has baseball retrofitted into it, but it's serviceable. The dugouts look like cut out shipping containers with chain link fencing. The 3rd base bullpen mound is fairly close to the left field line. The left field foul pole isn't the straightest thing ever. etc.

The layout is roughly similar to the HHH Metrodome, with the right field seats retracted with a high tarp wall, so pretty short to right but with a high wall. From my memory from last night, I think it said 328 down left field line, but it curves out from line quickly. Center field is where it is a bit odd - there is flat stretch of wall from left of center to right of center that deepens diagonally from left to right. There is one dimension that appears near straightaway center and then another just a bit right that is like 30 feet deeper (something like 377 to 408).

The seating is also a bit odd, with only seats from about home plate to the right side open.

One last thing I will add: where at the Metrodome the entrance was near home plate, at US Bank Stadium you walk quite a ways to get to home plate, and it is noticable how bigger US Bank Stadium is than the Metrodome (you get your steps in if sitting near the first few rows).
 

> For some reason there is also a line in the middle of the wall which causes confusion because people think you just need to hit it over that line for a HR but you actually need to hit it over the wall.

I think the horizontal line in middle of wall is home run line for lower division games that are played there.
 

Not the best place to watch a game but it's better than nothing for this time of year. Nearly all seating is on first-base side.

Deepest spot is slightly right of dead-center. That's a little over 400 if I recall. Left-Center power alley is also pretty deep but the LF/RF lines are manageable.

Right-field corner doesn't have much foul territory so if a ball goes down there it's also hard to see.

Right-field wall is huge. Very similar to Metrodome baggie. For some reason there is also a line in the middle of the wall which causes confusion because people think you just need to hit it over that line for a HR but you actually need to hit it over the wall. The rest of the wall is probably around 8 feet...except for the very edge of the LF corner. That seems to be around 4-5 feet.

There is also no warning track so players need to be careful not to run into the wall.

The turf is fast. Just last night alone we saw 2 players overslide a base. Players need to adjust knowing that their momentum is going to carry them through the bases.
I believe (and I could be wrong) that line actually was the home run line when they started playing there (or at least it was for several games I attended). I'm guessing they realized it played kinda small so they changed the rule to hitting it over the wall, and the line remains either for high school/smaller college games or because they didn't want to pay for a new one with no line on it. It was extremely confusing the first time they hit one above the line that wasn't ruled a home run.
 






Tonights lineup: (Avg, HR, RBI)
1. P. Knoll, CF (.324, 1, 5)
2. B. Hellum, RF (.375, 0, 3)
3. D. Berkland, LF (.341, 6, 16)
4. E. Richter, 2B (.297, 3, 10)
5. W. Neels, C (.171, 1, 5)
6. J. Perry, 3B (.500, 1, 5)
7. C. Sutherland, DH (.231, 2, 4)
8. J. Elbeery, 1B (.273, 0, 0)
9. J. Spanier, SS (.294, 1, 8)
C. Selvig, P (1-1, 3.45ERA, 15.2 IP, 15H, 7 BB, 15 K)
 

As possible evidence of the state of Minnesota churning out more and more baseball talent, the Boilermakers have four players from MN on their roster and another from St. Croix Falls.
 

Trailing 1-5 after 4. Purdue has robbed us of 2 extra base hits (including a HR). Selvig had a rough outing. Shocked they are bringing him out for the 5th. Berkland had a couple rough ABs and Sutherlands strike out to end 4th was brutal. Swung at a pitch in the dirt with a 2-0 count and then let 2 go by him that were right down the middle. Also runners seem to be stealing at will against Neels right now. Still time left.
 





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