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Around SBN: Beyond The Boxscore's Week 17 MLB Power Rankings

Gopher Baseball Weekend preview - BigEast/BigTen Challenge

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Gopher baseball is in just it's second weekend and as far as out of conference games, this is a huge weekend.  The Gophers are scheduled to face St. John's (4-0), #11 Louisville (3-0) and Connecticut (0-0).  All three are considered among the top 5 teams in the Big East this year so this should be an excellent challenge for the Gophers. 

Webcasts may be available HERE.

Friday vs. St. John's

The Red Storm took on New Orleans last week and dominated.  Game three was actually a 31-6 win.  That looks more than impressive but keep in mind that New Orleans is transitioning to Division III next season so the level of competition is dramatically lower than even the Gopher's first opponent in Akron.  It should be noted that 1B-Paul Karmas did have a monster game in that 31 run outburst.  Karmas knocked in 10 RBIs and hit 3 HRs from the clean-up spot.  That is about 2 seasons of production for Nick Punto.

St. John's returns 5 regular position players who made at least 34 starts and hit .331 or better.  4 starting pitchers who accounted for 44 of the team's 52 starts.  And their primary closer from a 30-win team in 2009.  Their 2010 statistics are hard to read because of the near DIII competition but one should keep an eye on Karmas, OF-Jimmy Parque and 3B-Greg Hopkins.

RHP - Seth Rosin should take the mound for the Gophers in game 1 and he'll likely face RHP - Bruce Kern who is 1-0 this year and finished 5-4 in 2009.

Saturday vs. Connecticut

The Huskies have not played a game yet this season. They have a solid and experienced lineup as they return eight regulars.  Where they may struggle is on the mound.  The Huskies lost three key relief pitchers and their #1 starter.

Since they have yet to play a game it is hard to gauge what to expect here.  This should be a solid test but probably the most winable of the three.  Sophomore OF-Greg Springer and Michael Olt are the position players to watch.

The anticipated pitching matchup will be LHP - Luke Rasmussen for the Gophers vs. LHP - Greg Napo for the Huskies.

Sunday vs. #11 Louisville

This is the key game for the Gophers as the Cardinals are the odds on favorite to win the Big East.  They return seven of eight everyday players from a team that made it to a Super Regional last season.   All-American, Phil Wunderlich is the player to watch here. They return most of their pitching staff, though they lose last year's ace, Justin Marks.

They opened the season last weekend sweeping Bowling Green and then taking down Moorehead State on Tuesday.  The good news for the Gophers is that Louisville has to face Michigan on Friday so we will get the benefit of not facing their "ace" and Michigan is also a very good team who should push the Cardinals.

RHP - Allen Bechstein vs. RHP - Tony Zych (0-0, 99.0 ERA)

This weekend of games will be valuable for the Gophers who seem to notch at least a couple upset wins throughout the non-conference season.  Hopefully our pitching depth and defense will carry us to a 3-0 weekend and get us back into the top 30.

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UCONN lost to NU today

That definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. UCONN is a dark horse BigEast contender, had a lead on the absolute worst team in the BigTen, and blew it.

Louisville has the toughest weekend out of any of the 20 teams. Their game against Michigan State should be a good one too. MSU has a solid starting pitching staff and some decent bats. If Minnesota has enough pitching left this weekend for game 3, you guys could pull out a big upset.

by formerlyanonymous on Feb 26, 2010 1:51 PM CST reply actions  

RP depth is a clear strength of this team

so hopefully we can get to Louisville early and hold a lead.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Feb 26, 2010 2:00 PM CST up reply actions  

Watched the live stream yesterday.

I really thought when O’Shea ripped the laser off the wall with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th against St. John’s, you guys would pull it out. Had the tying run on third and winning run on second, just couldn’t get that last hit. Tough loss. Still time to make up for it.

Good luck today, if the rain holds off.

by formerlyanonymous on Feb 27, 2010 9:37 AM CST reply actions  

Well this tournament has surely tempered my expectations.

Not a lot went the Gopher’s way this weekend, and they sure didn’t look like they deserved the pre-season pub’ that put them in the top 30. A couple of balls bounce their way though and they would have won both the UConn and Louisville game and would have been back in the polls again. They just missed what would have been a walkoff homer by a few inches against U-Conn, and stranded way too many runners against Louisville.

Now the sterile confines of the Metrodome await…. ah, baseball at its finest! Neither the ‘dome nor the team’s flailing can deter my urge for regular season baseball to arrive though, and the sooner the better, even if your average northerner wouldn’t even know that colleges field teams.

Another disapointment this weekend in Gopher Baseball was the quashing of my dreams of sitting behind home plate at Target Field during it’s first ball game. Now with all the mainstream coverage thousands of cheapskate Twinsfans who are now made privy to the stadium preview oppurtunities, will camp out for tickets and prevent those of us who have a job from realistically getting a decent seat. Those 25 of us who regularly attend Gopher baseball and aren’t the player’s family/ members of the staff ought to have VIP status at the LA Tech game. :- /

by ulf on Mar 1, 2010 12:23 AM CST reply actions  

Don't fret too much.

I wouldn’t expect a full house at Target Field even if the Twins fans know. It could definitely be 30k, but I doubt they completely sell out.

by formerlyanonymous on Mar 1, 2010 9:03 AM CST up reply actions  

No

you are wrong, I’m sure like stated before, people will be camped out. They camp out for bobble-heads for cripes sake.

"they're calling insane hogs???"

by CrowTrobot on Mar 1, 2010 10:32 AM CST up reply actions  

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