All Things Gopher Baseball

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With conference play starting for much of the conference this weekend, here is now things stand across the Big Ten. Still only 1 team ranked (#1 UCLA) but USC and Oregon are on the cusp. Seems silly that USC is unranked.

TeamRecordRPIRecap & Upcoming
USC12-08Still unranked…Unreal. Hosts Illinois this weekend
UCLA10-212Ranked #1. Dominating weekend by beating Tenn, TxAM and Miss State. Plays at Ohio State this weekend
Oregon10-231Unranked but inconsideration. Best win was Vandy on Sunday. Plays at Purdue this weekend
Minnesota9-362Winning the games they should. Hosting Cambria Classic this weekend. UNLV will be a test
Purdue8-3138Swept Marist (0-10) this weekend. Hosting Oregon this weekend
Maryland8-482Swept Wagner (0-9) this weekend. Plays at Troy this weekend
Illinois7-4107Won 3 non-conf games this weekend. Plays at USC this weekend
Nebraska7-541Took 1 of 3 from #7 Auburn. Hosting Michigan State this weekend
Iowa5-457Took 1 of 3 this weekend against a tough field. Hosting Lindenwood this weekend
Michigan6-530Started out strong. Went 2-2 against San Diego + CS Northridge. Plays at Pepperdine this weekend
Rutgers6-566Haven't played great teams but haven't played trash either. Hosting Bryant this weekend.
Northwestern5-585Got swept by #5 Gtech. Were not competitive. Playing in Cambria Classic this weekend.
Ohio State5-6131Got swept by UTSA, Ole Miss and Texas this weekend. Hosting #1 UCLA this weekend
Indiana5-759Split 2-2 against Western Kentucky. Hosting Washington this weekend
Penn State4-6197Lost 2 of 3 to Indiana State. Playing at Texas Tech this weekend
Michigan State3-875Had a bad weekend. Lost midweek games to Winthrop and #12 Clemson. Plays at Nebraska this weekend.
Washington3-9229Went 2-2 against San Diego State. Plays at Indiana this weekend.
WisconsinHaven't won in +35 yearsBottom of NCAAComplete losers
 

10-0 win in 7. Really shutdown the UNLV offense that was supposed to be their strength. Lot of hard hit balls in the early innings before a little bit of midgame lull but a run in the 6th and 7th finishes it early.
 

Didn't get to make it to USB tonight but the Gophers look dominant on BTN+. This is a very fun team to watch.
 

A lot to like from that game...a lot of well hit balls early, throwing out a runner trying to steal and turning a double play defensively, Selvig outstanding and Sperry did his thing, aggressive base running...team is playing good baseball right now.
 

Going to extra innings against Jackrabbits. If our loss to Kansas was one that got away, winning this game would be an absolute steal. The bats have been completely dead except for Hamilton. I think we've only hit it out of the infield like 3 or 4 times.

One of our 2 runs was on a balk.
 



Bullpen was lights out tonight after a tough start for Kruzan. Thought he got squeezed a little early and let that effect him. Hamilton came through with the big hit a clutch 2 out 2 RBI single, really need to get Martin on track.
 

Hamilton was a transfer i was really excited about. He got off to a slow start but he sure has shown his value lately. 9-19 with 3 doubles in last 7 games. His glove is good too.
 

Updated comparison of transfer portal players from last year.

Hitters
Outgoing
PlayerNew SchoolAVGABH2B3BHRRBIBB + HBPK
Drew BerklandNotre Dame0.29857174029813
Kris HokensonMurray State0.310581840210813
Landen LozierKansas0.20051000123
Preston LeonFlorida International0.200153000126
TOTAL0.28913539804212035

Incoming
PlayerNew SchoolAVGABH2B3BHRRBIBB + HBPK
Davis HamiltonNorth Dakota State0.30649153008146
Ty AllenBelmont0.298571733216814
Jack BelloButler0.227441040110816
Michael LippeLouisville0.22041910071418
Ethan ColeMN-Duluth0.25041100001
TOTAL0.267195521233414455

Pitchers
Outgoing
PlayerNew SchoolERAIPERHBBK
Kyle RemingtonIllinois
2.77​
1347411
Noah RooneyNotre Dame
4.05​
13.333613212
TOTAL
3.42​
26.3331020623

Incoming
PlayerNew SchoolERAIPERHBBK
Isaac MortonTexas A&M
2.79​
19.333618819
Marcus KruzmanSt Thomas
4.08​
17.667811718
Ben GregoryMaryville
3.77​
14.333612715
Brandon JaenkeViterbo
0.00​
6.3330427
Logan WinkelmanMissouri Western
13.50​
1.3332320
Josh KirchhoffIowa Central, Missouri
3.86​
2.3331512
TOTAL
3.38​
61.33223532761
 



Recap from the weekend for Big Ten

Conference games
Washington at Indiana - Huskies take 2 of 3 with convincing wins on Sat/Sun
Mich State at Nebraska - Huskers sweep
#1 UCLA at Ohio State - Bruins sweep, scoring 40 runs in 3 games!
Oregon at Purdue - Ducks take 2 of 3 with Boilers taking the Saturday tilt.
Illinois at USC - Trojans get the sweep and move to 15-0! They are now ranked #25

Non-Conf games
Gophers sweep Cambria Classic
Iowa takes 2 of 3 from Lindenwood
Northwestern goes 1 of 3 at Cambria Classic
Michigan takes 2 of 3 from Pepperdine
Rutgers takes 2 of 3 from Bryant
Maryland takes 2 of 3 from Troy
Penn State gets swept by TxTech, giving up 50 runs over the weekend!
 

Updated Standings
TeamConfOverallRPI
USC3-015-02
UCLA3-013-212
Nebraska3-010-543
Oregon2-112-330
Washington2-15-10202
Minnesota0-012-353
Maryland0-010-547
Iowa0-07-568
Michigan0-08-664
Rutgers0-08-694
Northwestern0-06-7102
Penn State0-04-9228
Purdue1-29-545
Indiana1-26-9141
Illinois0-37-754
Ohio State0-35-9104
Michigan State0-33-1195

Upcoming weekend
Michigan State (0-3) at Rutgers (0-0)
Purdue (1-2) at Maryland (0-0)
Minnesota (0-0) at Illinois (0-3)
Indiana (1-2) at Oregon (2-1)
Michigan (0-0) at UCLA (3-0)
Ohio State (0-3) at Washington (2-1)
USC (3-0) at Northwestern (0-0)
Iowa (0-0) at Penn State (0-0)

Maine at Nebraska
 

For Darren and others that follow and watch more closely than me: do we have something this year? Know its early and schedule has been pretty soft but seems like the talent level and execution are much better.
 

TNGophfan said:
For Darren and others that follow and watch more closely than me: do we have something this year? Know its early and schedule has been pretty soft but seems like the talent level and execution are much better.
Click to expand...
I really like the makeup of this team and you should be adding another big piece with Whelan coming out of the bullpen. I think this is a top 6ish Big Ten team.
 



The hitting lineup from top to bottom is pretty good. Our top 7 hitters have really produced and even Lippe, who would be considered the 8th or 9th best hitter makes up for it by walking a lot. I haven't dug into the strikeout stats but it seems like we're having better ABs and putting pressure on the defense.

Pitching seems to be the best staff since 2018, which of course was pretty special. The free passes is down, which lowers the WHIP. I don't know if we have an elite arm like Max Meyer but we seem to be getting pretty late into Sunday before we run out of arms.

To me the biggest notice is the fielding. The most frustrating thing about our losing seasons lately has been the way too frequent instances of awful fielding. This team has been solid thusfar. Fielding percentage is .987 and I'm never holding my breath on the routine plays.

They're fun to watch. I'm sure having so many juniors and seniors playing adds to it. Last year also had me optimistic in the first month so the proof will be in the pudding.
 



On the topic of free-passes by the pitching staff I think this table and image really shows how elite the current team has been through 15 games. Granted this is a small sample and it remains to be seen how it holds up through a full season but the results are promising.

The table shows the teams win pct and the amount of BB/HBP they and their opponent achieve per 9 innings by each season. The chart at the bottom shows the win percentage by columns and the line is the difference in BB/HBP compared to their opponents. You can see there is generally a strong correlation between win pct and BB/HBP (duh)

To put it mildly, we've never been on the positive side of free bases like this since 2016. It even blows away the 2018 team at the moment.

RecordWin PctIP/(BB+HBP)Opp IP/(BB+HBP)Diff
2016​
34-20
0.630​
0.512​
0.431​
-0.082​
2017​
26-21
0.553​
0.550​
0.495​
-0.054​
2018​
41-13
0.759​
0.462​
0.631​
0.169​
2019​
29-27
0.518​
0.683​
0.538​
-0.145​
2020​
8-10
0.444​
0.969​
0.622​
-0.347​
2021​
6-31
0.162​
0.953​
0.489​
-0.464​
2022​
16-36
0.308​
0.753​
0.590​
-0.163​
2023​
18-34
0.346​
0.711​
0.572​
-0.139​
2024​
25-23
0.521​
0.746​
0.729​
-0.016​
2025​
24-28
0.462​
0.641​
0.681​
0.040​
2026​
12-3
0.800​
0.538​
0.851​
0.314​

1773161699326.png
 

Gophers win 11-8. Not the prettiest game by any stretch. Gonzaga collected 3 more hits but thanks to a ridiculous 14 free bases the Gophers were able to plate 11.

I jinxed the team by talking about fielding. 2 errors and a couple other misplays that were called hits helped Gonzaga. Win is a win though and anytime you can win and get young arms experience is a good thing.
 



Gophers cruise to the win after 3 consecutive 2 out hits plate 5 early. More steady pitching including from the newcomers. Richter had a great night in center. Good to see Hunt with the big 2 run double to open the scoring, then just missed a long home run on the triple. I was surprised to see Akin play at shortstop (...looked comfortable in his debut..), as assumed he would probably be a redshirt at this point. I don't know if I have ever seen a pitcher throw a scoreless inning with 3 hit batters.

Let's keep it rolling in Champagne!
 



SomeGopherFan said:
Gopher baseball is the focus of the latest Sidearm Delivery podcast, with both an interview with Coach McDevitt and analysis from Patrick Ebert.

podcasts.apple.com

Minnesota's Ty McDevitt, D1Baseball's Patrick Ebert [Sidearm Delivery]

Podcast Episode · The D1Baseball Podcast · March 11 · 38m
podcasts.apple.com podcasts.apple.com
Click to expand...
Good listen. You can hear the optimism in his voice that he feels he might have something. At the very least we don't seem to be as susceptible to injuries derailing our season.
 

Weather for this weekend in Champaign, IL

Friday: 51 and wind advisory all day. Wind will die down by 6pm first pitch (advisory ends at 4pm) with temps in upper 40's and dropping to low 40's by 9pm.

Saturday: Cooler and cloudy. Highs in mid/upper 40's but will be dry.

Sunday: Warmer (low 60s) but rain moves in with T-Storms in afternoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if they try to get Sunday's game in early in the morning. Saturday might be too cool to play a DH but Sunday afternoon looks dicey.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Weather for this weekend in Champaign, IL

Friday: 51 and wind advisory all day. Wind will die down by 6pm first pitch (advisory ends at 4pm) with temps in upper 40's and dropping to low 40's by 9pm.

Saturday: Cooler and cloudy. Highs in mid/upper 40's but will be dry.

Sunday: Warmer (low 60s) but rain moves in with T-Storms in afternoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if they try to get Sunday's game in early in the morning. Saturday might be too cool to play a DH but Sunday afternoon looks dicey.
Click to expand...
Saturday changed to a double header starting at 1pm
 

Abysmal hitting tonight. 4 hits total. 1 for 13 from top 3 with 6 left on base. No hits after 5th inning. Ugh. Great pitching by Selvig and Sperry go to waste. Need to flush that and take 2 tomorrow.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Abysmal hitting tonight. 4 hits total. 1 for 13 from top 3 with 6 left on base. No hits after 5th inning. Ugh. Great pitching by Selvig and Sperry go to waste. Need to flush that and take 2 tomorrow.
Click to expand...
The biggest issue has been situational hitting and Illinois just did a better job with the limited opportunities than us. We had the leadoff double from Lippe moved to 3rd on wild pitch and Bello strikes out on the next pitch and then Mosh follows with a three pitch strikeout, you have to have better there. Illinois got a leadoff double moved to 3rd on flyout and laid down the safety squeeze to tie it at one.
The other one was Neels shot to the wall that I thought was back to back after Richter's homer, if he just gets that up in the air a little more it flies.
Also interesting to see Illinois basically load up with their three best relievers tonight including starting the one.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
The biggest issue has been situational hitting and Illinois just did a better job with the limited opportunities than us. We had the leadoff double from Lippe moved to 3rd on wild pitch and Bello strikes out on the next pitch and then Mosh follows with a three pitch strikeout, you have to have better there. Illinois got a leadoff double moved to 3rd on flyout and laid down the safety squeeze to tie it at one.
The other one was Neels shot to the wall that I thought was back to back after Richter's homer, if he just gets that up in the air a little more it flies.
Also interesting to see Illinois basically load up with their three best relievers tonight including starting the one.
Click to expand...
Illinois played to go all out to win this one. After going 0-3 last week and with a chance of only getting one more game in that was probably the smart move.

Really disappointed we had two leadoff doubles but failed to score each time.
 


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