The 2012 season will be the 125th season of Golden Gopher baseball and Gopher fans will have the opportunity to see the vast majority of Gopher games at home this year.

Typically the Gophers will embark on two warm-weather trips to face some of the talented sun belt and west coast teams. In between they host the DQ Classic which often features one or two nationally competitive teams. Last year the roof of the Metrodome collapsed and the Gophers had very few home games. And they also ran into some bad luck with weather and saw a number of their west coast games canceled as well. This year will be very different as the Gophers will make one short trip to Florida and then they will play 27 consecutive home games, 39 in total.

"I think all of us, players and coaches alike, are happy that we’ll be able to play at home this year," Anderson said. "It’s a significant home stand and I know it’s the longest consecutive home stand in the history of this program as we play 27 home games in a row. I’ve always felt that the first month or the first five weeks of the season is really critical to forming your team. This year, we get to play at home, we know we’re going to play every game and we’re going to get our work in every single day. We’re playing a competitive schedule that will give us a chance to develop our team and hopefully put us in a position to compete for a Big Ten Championship."

Before the 40 day homestand Minnesota will head down to Florida for the Big Ten / Big East Challenge. And this will be incredibly challenging for the Gopher as they will face three of the preaseason top four teams in the Big East.

• Louisville - Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's preseason #15 team and picked to finish 2nd in the Big East. I'm sure the Gophers will get to face Justin Amlung who is the preaseason BE Pitcher of the Year.
  
• St. John's - #11 and the Big East favorite. Outfielder Jeremy Baltz is also the preseason BE Player of the Year.
• South Florida - picked as the #4 team in the Big East.

Then we get to come home for over a month until the Big Ten games begin. In between we will host Nebraska, West Virginia and New Mexico State in the DQ Classic. And a week later we bring in Kansas and Stony Brook to town for the Metrodome Tournament. Stony Brook and Nebraska are both going to have very good squads this year and will be quality opponents. Stony Brook is the alma matter of Joe Nathan and they have two players listed in the College Baseball Daily top 100 players.

Outside of those opponents the Gophers will host Kansas State, Cal Poly, The Citadel and then a handful of regional schools like NDSU, SDSU, Augsburg, St. Thomas and Nebraska-Omaha. None of these teams really stand out in my opinion.

Then of course we get to the Big Ten season. Last year the Gophers were the preseason favorites and their homeless season was not a very good one. I found two things worth pointing out with the Gopher's Big Ten schedule. For the third year in a row the Gophers will be playing a series at Target Field as they host Penn State May 4-6. Then the team that spent nearly all season at home will have to travel for the final two weekends of the season. They will head to Nebraska and then Illinois for the final two Big Ten series before the conference tournament. Both of those squads should be in contention for the Big Ten title, along with Minnesota.

This year a traditionally good and nationally relevant program has been added to the conference in Nebraska, so there is another solid team for the Gophers to contend with as we work towards our 23rd Big Ten title.

I did a quick preview of the roster last June and after doing some research and listening/reading interviews that lineup appears to be pretty close to accurate. What I didn't know was that Michael Handel will be the starting SS. Billy Soule is the likely closer replacing the program's all-time leader in saves. And Bobby Juan (pronounced like June I think) might be starting in RF. Handel, Juan, Snelton and Windle are part of 2010 recruiting class that will be relied upon heavily this year.

Personally I am expecting big things from Gopher baseball 2012. We lost a few very good players but we also return the bulk of our lineup that will be sprinkled with some younger guys that coach John Anderson is pretty excited about. I think our pitching will be outstanding, anchored by T.J. Oakes at the top of the rotation and I think our lineup will be more balanced with your typical solid defense.

The 2011 Gopher baseball team had a rocky road to hoe, one that began long before their season ever got started.  The collapse of the Metrodome roof from an epic blizzard derailed the promising season starting in December.  This meant there were significant challenges to practicing and scheduling games for the Big Ten pre-season favorites.  The team spent the first 2 months of the season, 16 games, on the road.  And even when traveling to California the weather was uncooperative as games in Sacramento and Santa Clara were also canceled along the way.

The end result was a disappointing 3rd place finish in the Big Ten and an overall record of 25-24.  This was a team with some experienced hitters and a very veteran pitching staff.  The makings were there for another Big Ten Championship and another shot at making  Super Regional.  But things didn't work out in 2011 and the team recently took few blows to the make up of the 2012 roster, which also was showing some promise.  The team's top three hitters, all underclassmen, were drafted and signed major league contracts.  Add to that the fact the Big Ten's all-time leader in saves is graduating along with a few other very good, senior pitchers.  A lot was lost this year.

So let's take a look at what the 2012 roster will likely resemble.

Lineup - The good news is that we return 2/3 of our outfield and 3/5 of the infield.  The bad news is that gone is the team's top 3 hitters Nick O'Shea (.299, 7 HR), A.J. Petterson (.344) and Justin Gomninsky (.307).  Some solid veterans returning but who will step up to lead this team offensively?

1B -Dan Olinger - Anchored by O'Shea for the past couple seasons, this is a key position to be filled.  I'm taking a guess that the answer will be Olinger moving from DH to 1B.  The to-be-sophomore hit .265 and is the team's leading returning hitter, primarily in the DH as a redshirt freshman.

2B - Matt Puhl (.252) - Puhl started 48 out of the 49 games this year and he will be a lock at second.  As a freshman he started 54 games and hit .335, the Gophers will need his stats to be closer to his freshman season than his sophomore numbers.  It is conceivable that Puhl will move over to SS to fill the shoes of Petterson.

3B - Kyle Geason (.243, 1 HR) - PICTURED ABOVE, the senior has also been an infield fixture for John Anderson's Gophers.  The Gophers have played 170 games in the last three seasons and Geason has started every single one of those games.  He has only hit .229, .278 and .243 over those three seasons but that kind of stamina and experience is invaluable.  He will be a key to the success of the 2012 squad.

SS - ?? (.XXX) -Who will play SS next year?  Excellent question.  It is possible that Troy Larson will move back to SS from the OF, though that is unlikely.  It is possible that Matt Puhl will move from 2B over to SS, this seems more likely but then you have a hole at second.  The fact is an unknown will be playing in the middle of the infield (I'm sure the staff has a good idea but it is unknown to the rest of us).  Mu completely uneducated guess is that Puhl moves to short and rFR Kyle Crocker is given the chance to be the regular second baseman.

OF - Troy Larson (.250) - Larson came into the program as a SS and moved to outfield last year because SS was anchored by Petterson and because Gominsky went down in the first weekend of the year to a knee injury.  Larson started 57 games as a freshman and saw that reduced to 29 this year with the return of Gominsky.  Moving him back to short might be a stretch, as he may also be our everyday centerfielder.

OF - Andy Henkemeyer (.242) - Started 36 games as a freshman and 35 this year as a sophomore, he is one of the few returning regular starters.  As the Gophers battled in the Big Ten Tournament, Henkemeyer was batting second in the order.  His bat will be heavily relied upon next year.

OF - Trip Schultz (.220) - Schultz will likely start in the OF this year, just not sure exactly where.  He is also the only left-handed hitter in the current lineup.  Larson will probably be the regular CF, but if he does happen to move to short then Schultz is more than just capable of handling it.

C - Kurt Schlangen (.213) - The soon-to-be junior from Albany was a solid replacement for Kyle Knudson who had been a long-time regular backstop for the Gophs. Schlangen will be the starting catcher next year.

DH - Sam Ryan (.214) - The Junio was getting plenty of playing time early in the 2010 season before injuring his shoulder after just 13 games.  Ryan participated in 17 games this year and may be either the regular DH or a primary option off the bench next year in the outfield.

Bench - J.T. Canakes - JR - outfield

Bench - David Bettenberg - SO - outfield

Bench - Bobby Juan - SO - infield

Bench - Ryan Abrahamson - JR - infield

Pitching - The good news is that we are returning two of our three weekend starters including our #1.  The bad news is that we lose the Big Ten's all-time leader in saves, Scott Matyas; our #2 starter in Phil Isaksson; and two valuable bullpen guys who also occasionally started in Cullen Sexton and Luke Rasumussen.  Overall 33% of the Gopher innings have graduated.

SP - T.J. Oakes (5-5, 3.26 ERA) - The pitching coach's son quickly became the Gopher's ace this year.  Oakes was drafted and I don't know that it has been official whether or not he will return to the Gophers but considering he was a 41st round pick, my assumption is that he will return for another year to improve his draft status.  Oakes led the staff in innings pitched with 85.2.

SP - Austin Lubinsky (5-6, 4.36 ERA) - Assuming Lubinsky doesn't sign an MLB contract, he will be in our weekend rotation.  The stats do not show a dominant year but he was drafted in the 36th round of last week's draft.  His return will be an important one for the success of the 2012 Gophers.  Lubinsky led the team in strikeouts fanning 53 batters in 74.3 innings pitched.

SP - Tom Windle (6-2, 1.52 ERA) - Left-handed sophomore who had a very good freshman season, mostly out of the bullpen.  Windle threw 41.3 innings which was tops for non-starters and he struck out 35 opponents for a good rate of .847 K/inning.  Opponents hit just .227 against Windle, expect him to be one of the best Sunday starters in the Big Ten next year.

Bullpen - Billy Soule (3-2, 3.55 ERA) -Soule was second to Windle in bullpen innings pitched and he was very reliable.

Bullpen - D.J. Snelton (1-3, 5.22 ERA) -the left-handed freshman came on to pitch 29.1 innings this year and was a valued member of the bullpen.  His role should dramatically increase next year with the loss of a couple key bullpen guys.

Bullpen - Alex Tukey - threw just 12 innings this past year but those are the most returning innings of players not already mentioned.

Bullpen -Dustin Klabunde - has pitched in 24 games over his Gopher career.  As a freshman he appeared in 19 and even made 9 starts.  Now as a senior I would expect that he'll be asked to step up and give more innings out of the bullpen. 

The two biggest questions facing the Gophers next year will be who steps up in the bullpen and which guys step up offensively to replace the hitters who left for the minors.  Overall I think the Gophers are looking at another solid starting pitching staff and a solid defensive lineup. The outfield should be very fast that covers a lot of ground.

More significant question marks than we had a year ago but maybe this team will have a home and will get cooperation from mother nature so they can concentrate on baseball next year.  This program is one of the most underrated local sports products in the market.  They are always competitive and a lot of fun to watch.  First pitch is months away but I am looking forward to Gopher Baseball 2012.

Gopher Baseball had four players drafted over the last couple days.  While I'm pleased for the underclassmen drafted below, as a Gopher fan I'd love nothing more than to seem them return for their senior season to be a part of what could be a special Gopher team.

OF - Justin Gominsky - Houston Astros - 11th round

The junior from Mahtomedi, who missed most of his sophomore season due to injury, typically batted lead-off for the Gophers and finished 2nd on the team hitting .307.  This is the second year in a row Houston has drafted a Gopher.  Last year they selected Michael Kvasnicka with the 33rd overall selection. As a freshman Gominsky earned Collegiate Baseball Magazine's Freshman All-American team.  He was looking to be a key contributor as a sophomore before injuring his knee and missing virtually the entire season.  Gominsky has a nice 6-4 frame and has very good speed.

1B - Nick O'Shea - Cincinnati Reds - 24th round

O'Shea was the Gophers clean-up hitter this past year and led the Gophers in home runs and RBIs.  The junior from Blaine also played quite a few innings at catcher but I'd be surprised if he saw one pitch as a catcher in the majors.  With 31 career home runs under his belt, let's all hope that O'Shea turns down the Reds and returns for his senior season as a Golden Gopher.  O'Shea was a third team All-Big Ten selection, he could very easily be a first teamer in his senior season and improve his 2012 draft status.

SS - A.J. Petterson - Minnesota Twins - 25th round

Petterson led the Gophers in hitting and earned 1st team All-Big Ten honors.  The junior hit .344 but his bat may not even be his best attribute.  Petterson is widely recognized as a great defensive infielder.  He has been the Gophers starting SS for three years but could also end up playing 2B on his way to the big leagues.  Petterson also led the Gophers in runs scored and tied for the lead in stolen bases.  I hope that Petterson also returns to the Gophers but in my opinion this is a very nice late round selection for the Twins and if he heads to the minors I'll enjoy watching him progress through the organization.

CL - Scott Matyas - Detroit Tigers - 27th round

Matyas finished his Gopher career with 36 saves which makes him the Big Ten's all-time leader in saves.  He will very much be missed by the Gophers next season.  Matyas posted a 1.60 ERA on his way to earning 1st team All-Big Ten honors.  The North Prairie, Wisconsin native was a 3-time all-state selection in high school.

The draft continues today as it goes 50 rounds deep.  I would not be surprised to see LHP-Phil Isaksson (Sr), 3B-Kyle Geason (Jr), 2B-Matt Puhl (Soph) and maybe RHP-T.J. Oakes (Soph) drafted at some point.  After we learn the fate of the Gopher draftees I will put together a way too early preview of the 2012 Gopher baseball squad.

UPDATE

SP - Austin Lubinsky - San Francisco Giants -36th round

SP - T.J. Oakes - Minnesota Twins - 41st round

Oakes had a very good sophomore season and was the Gopher's ace.  I bet he'll be back next year and will be drafted much higher.

On the same day the Minnesota Twins are opening the 2011 MLB season on the road, the Golden Gopher Baseball team is opening their conference season at Target Field.  The Gophers have been playing this season without a home and while they get to play their first game within the borders of Minnesota they will be playing in their temporary home. 

We have played 16 games this year in Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and California.  The Dairy Queen Classic was moved to Arizona, the Metrodome Tournament didn't happen and several games were just canceled due to scheduling problems or rain in California.  A year ago the Gophers had played 25 games heading into the 25 game Big Ten schedule.  We are 9 games behind this year so hopefully the team is prepared to defend their conference regular season and tournament titles. 

Before you read any of my preview you should check out Hammer and Rails taking a look at this opening Big Ten series.

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Minnesota Record: 8-8
Purdue Record:  16-8

Pitching Matchups (Purdue pitcher listed first)

FRIDAY - Matt Morgan (2-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. T.J. Oakes (1-3, 3.54)

SATURDAY Game 1 - Jon Haase (2-1, 3.86) vs. Phil Isaksson (1-1, 2.55)

SATURDAY Game 2 - Brad Schreiber (4-0, 3.75) vs. Austin Lubinsky (2-3, 7.84)

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The Boilermakers return a trio of sophomores who were all voted by Big Ten coaches on the preseason Big Ten Players to Watch List.  Last year's 5th place Big Ten team (12-12) will be anchored by these three young men...

• Cameron Perkins, So., 3B, Purdue
• Kevin Plawecki, So., C, Purdue
• Brad Schreiber, So., SP/DH, Purdue

And to date these three are statistically leading their team.  Plawecki is batting cleanup and leading the team with a .402 batting average.  Perkins is hitting in the three-hole and is batting .337 with 2 HRs and 20 RBIs.  Schreiber is going to be the team's third starter this weekend but he leads the Big Ten in strikeouts and is the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. 

This weekend serious should be a good conference test for our pitching staff.  Purdue currently leads the Big Ten in hitting, doubles, runs scored and home runs.  Don't tell them that not Paul Bunyan or even Joe Mauer can hit home runs at Target Field.  But a team .326 average and returning staff ace Matt Morgan to the mound should make Purdue a formidable opponent.

The good news is that we kind of own Purdue lately winning 11 of the last 12 meetings.  The bad news is that the last 12 games are kind of irrelevant. 

The Gophers are who we thought they were.  The lineup consists of three guys who are carrying the offensive load, three more regulars who are going to start pretty much all of the games and three more who will play more often than not but their hold on a starting spot is written in penciled.  We are being led offensively by first baseman Nick O'Shea, a healthy center fielder Justin Gominsky and shortstop A.J. Petterson.  O'Shea bats cleanup, occasionally fills in at catcher and is hitting .405 with a home run.  Gominsky hits third in the lineup, is 6/8 in stolen base attempts and is hitting .355.  Petterson is great defensively at SS, bats lead-off, leads the team in runs scored and is hitting .353.

The other lineup regulars are Matt Puhl at 2B hitting just .196, Kyle Geason at 3B hitting .255 and left fielder Trip Schultz who is hitting .326 with a home run.  The other three starting spots rotate a bit more but I would expect to see Troy Larson at CF, Kurt Schlangen at C and Andy Henkemyer as a DH or outfielder. 

The pitching staff is pretty well set with the weekend starters you see above and is anchored by closer Scott Matyas who is having an outstanding season.  In 10 1/3 innings pitched this year Matyas is 1-0, has not allowed a run, has four saves, he's given up just one hit and has fanned 15 batters.  He is having an outstanding season and if the Gophers lead in the last inning, I'd put money on a Gopher win. 

Typically the Gophers win some nice games before the conference season and lose some they shouldn't.  But usually they are ready to go for Big Ten teams.  This year they have played several fewer games than most of their conference foes, but this is an experienced team with solid pitching from the starters to the back end.  8-8 is not ideally where we'd like to be but winning the Big Ten is most important.  It starts with a win this weekend over Purdue.

For a more detailed look at our roster here is the Gopher baseball season preview I put together last month.  The pitching staff and lineup turned out to be pretty much accurate so it is a good place to go and get more info on each of the guys expected to play this weekend.

A highlight on the Gopher baseball schedule every year is the Dairy Queen Classic.  Each year the Gophers bring in a few very good teams from around the country north to play in the Metrodome.  145 future MLB players have participated in the DQ Classic over the years.  Obviously playing in the dome this year would be a major challenge so the Gophers are "hosting" the 27th annual DQ Classic in Tuscon, AZ. 

Typically this is a great opportunity for baseball fans in Minnesota to get their fix while staying warm under Teflon sky of the HHH Metrodome.  If you haven't heard the roof collapsed on the Viking's season Dome and the vast majority of the Gopher schedule had to be moved.  This was also a great way for Gopher baseball to get to host some quality teams rather then spend the first couple months of the season on the road like many of the northern teams are forced to do.  But it happened and the Gophers have now become road warriors.

First pitch of the tourney will be at 2:05 this afternoon with Minnesota facing the South Alabama Jaguars.  T.J. Oakes will take the mound for game one.  Oakes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in seven innnings of work in this young season.  The Jaguars are predicted to be a middle of the pack Sun Belt team led offensively by senior 3B, Jake Overstreet.  The are currently 5-3 having defeated Alabama but also losing to the likes of Nicholls State and SE Louisiana.

The Jaguars are led by Jake Overstreet who leads the team in home runs (2), runs (8) and RBI (11). Logan Kirkland is batting .429 with six runs, while Nolan Earley is batting .367 with six runs and four doubles. The Gophers are set to face senior righthander Garrett Harris who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and nine strikeouts in 12.0 innings.

On Saturday the Gophers will take on Washington State.  Phil Isaksson will start for the Gophers on Saturday.  He has a 0.87 ERA with no decisions in 10.1 innings this season.  He will face a Cougars squad that is 4-1 this year and looking to make their third consecutive NCAA Tournament.  They are expected to finish middle of the pack in a tough and deep Pac 10.  Early on they are hitting the ball well, especially Matt Argyropoulos...

Washington State enters the tournament with a 4-1 record after defeating UC Santa Barbara 5-1 and 7-3 in a seven-inning game. Matt Argyropoulos enters the tournament batting .533 with five runs, two home runs and six RBI. Jason Monda is also batting .471 with two runs and four RBI, while Taylor Aar leads the team with six runs. Minnesota will face senior righthander James Wise who is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. The Gophers are 0-2 against Washington State, which includes a 6-5 loss on Mar. 5, 1999 in the Dairy Queen Classic.

Game three will be Austin Lubinsky taking the mound against Oklahoma State.  Lubinsky is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA.  The Cowboys are 6-2 thus far and beat the Gophers last year in the DQ Classic 16-9.  A year ago the Cowboys made the NCAA Tournament and return All-Big 12 second baseman Davis Duren.  Okie State was picked by the coaches to finish 6th in the Big 12 this year.

Oklahoma State is led by Dane Phillips who is batting .438 with eight RBI, four doubles, three triples and seven runs. Zach Johnson has a team-high nine runs, a home run, seven RBI and is batting .360. Luis Uribe also has a team-high eight RBI on the season. Minnesota will face freshman righthander Jason Hursh who is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 innings of work.

The Gophers offensively are led by Nick O'Shea who is hitting .478 this year with 1 HR and 7 RBI in six games.

O’Shea has five multi-hit games for Minnesota this season, collecting two hits in all of those contests. O’Shea had a home run and all seven RBI last week in three games at the Wake Forest Tournament. Junior shortstop AJ Pettersen is also batting .417 and is tied with a team-high five runs, while Justin Gominsky is coming off a week that saw him reach base 10 times, go 6-for-9, steal three bases and score five runs.

This is a solid field, one with a couple other solid teams but also teams the Gophers are certainly capable of beating.  Both Washington State and Oklahoma State are coming off Regional seasons and are expected to be in or near the field again this year.  In the most recent regional projections Washington State is the only team in the DQ Classic who is projected to make the NCAA Tournament.

Much of this preview will be taken directly from the U of MN release.

It is currently cold (though, not nearly as cold as last week) in the North Star State, but college baseball gets things started very early so while the ground is frozen and feet of snow are on the ground, Gopher baseball has been working hard as they prepare to defend their conference championship. Their season is going to be a challenging exercise of away game after away game due to the collapse of the Metrodome.  But arrangements have been made and the Big Ten doesn't feel sorry for the conference's most successful program.

But first a little Gopher baseball history lesson.  The Northern states are not known for their college baseball but Minnesota is the most successful Big Ten program in the...well Big Ten.

• 22 Conference Championships
• 9 Tournament Titles
• 3 National Championships (1956, 1960, 1964)
  
• 30 NCAA Tournament Bids (most in B10 and 13th most nationally)
  

Gopher baseball is the defending Big Ten regular season and tournament champions. They went on to the NCAA Regionals as a 4-seed (out of four teams) and quickly jumped out to 2 consecutive upsets.  All they needed was one more win in the double-elimination bracket, but Cal-State Fullerton flexed their muscle and beat Minnesota twice to advance.  The good news is that the Gophers return a good chunk of their roster to defend those titles as they look to get back to the NCAAs and advance to the SuperRegionals this year.

This year they are the preseason favorites to repeat mostly due to their pitching staff and solid young nucleus of position players.  If you are looking for a 1,000 ft overview and only want a few bullet points here are a few players to pay attention to.

Power Hitter - Nick O'Shea, 1B - 13 HR last year (4th in Big Ten), 60 RBI (3rd in B10)

Best Outfielder - Justin Gominsky, OF - Big Ten preseason player to watch

Best Defensive player - A.J. Petterson, SS - CollegeBaseballInsider.com named him best defensive player in B10

#1 Starter - T.J. Oakes, SP - Big Ten preseason player to watch

Closer - Scott Matyas, RP - Big Ten preseason player to watch

But it takes so much more than that to win another Big Ten title.  Gone is #1 starter Seth Rosin, 1st round draft pick Michael Kvasnicka and longtime starting catcher, Kyle Knutson.  Those are all three significant losses but the good news is we have the Gophers are returning 24 kids from last year's team so this team has great depth and balance. 

MUCH more detail after the break...

Continue reading this post »

The Gophers scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st and that was all Seth Rosin needed as he was spectacular as the Gophers upset the Titans 3-1.

Rosin pitched 8 innings giving up just 3 hits, 1 run and fanned 7.  It really was an impressive performance against the region's host and #1 seed.This from Gophersports.com

Rosin dominated from the start of the game, as he faced the minimum number of Titans through the first five innings. When he left after pitching eight innings he had only faced two batters above the minimum. At one point, Rosin retired 12 straight batters between the second and fifth innings. He did not walk a batter the entire game, and struck out seven batters in the game. With the win, Rosin moved to 9-4 on the season. He has now won his last five decisions.

Kyle Knudson was 3/4 and drove in the game's first run as he continues to swing a hot bat.

Freshman Dylan Floro pitched well for Fullerton giving up 3 runs (2 earned), striking out 8 but he also earned his first loss of the season.  The Titan's 4 errors throughout the game did not help.

Up next for the Gophers will be the #3 seed, New Mexico.  First pitch will be at 10:00 PM again and will be aired on ESPNU again.

Cal-State Fullerton must now do things the hard way if they want to win their regional.  They will face #2 seed Stanford in an elimination game, followed by another elimination game against the New Mexico/Minnesota loser and they then must beat the NM/Minn winner twice. 

Other Recaps...

FulertonTitans.com

Yahoo Sports

The Golden Gophers have put Cal State Fullerton in a hole it may not be able to climb out of against a decent Fullerton Regional field. The Gophers received a stellar pitching performance from Seth Rosin and defeated the Titans 3-1 in opening-round action. The Gophers entered the season on the cusp of our rankings. You’re finding out why so far this weekend.

San Jose Mercury News

The Gophers finished off the Big Ten with a 15-5 win over Iowa on Saturday night. Just days after winning the program's 22nd Big Ten regular season title the Gophers won their 9th Big Ten Tournament title.  Since 1995 this is only the fourth time a team has won both the regular season and tournament titles. 

Senior catcher, Kyle Knudson was the tournament's most outstanding player.  SP-Phil Isaksson, Closer Scott Matyas and infielder AJ Pederson were also named to the All-Tournament team.

Quite an amazing journey for this team who's record now stands at 30-28.

"For us it's been an interesting journey," said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. "The way it started and the obstacles we had, and for the guys to hang in there and not give in, I don't' think you could ask for more from this team. And then to finish it off in Columbus, Ohio with a Big Ten championship, I just have to give credit to our kids. I'm just really, really proud of our team."

The journey, however, isn't over as the Gophers head out West to the Fullerton Regional as the 4 seed.  They will face Cal State Fullerton (the 1 seed) on Friday as 10 pm CST.  Stanford and New Mexico will be the 2 and 3 seeds respectively.

Minnesota typically plays a very difficult schedule and this year was no different.  The Gophers faced Regional hosts UConn and Louisville.  They traveled to #2 seeded Alabama and they beat #3 seeded Kansas State.  Their record wasn't spectacular in those games but it prepared for this part of the season and hopefully they'll continue their hot streak through the NCAA Tournament.