University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Utah Valley
Gophers Take Down Utah Valley, 8-2
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score: Minnesota 8, Utah Valley 2 
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The University of Minnesota continued its hot start to the season by beating Utah Valley, 8-2, in Surprise, Ariz. The Gophers (2-0) tallied 11 total hits from nine different players, including two from Dan Motl and Matt Fiedler each.
Dalton Sawyer got the nod on the mound and kept the Wolverines (1-1) off-balance in his first start of the season. The Waconia, Minn. native got the win after tossing 4.2 innings and scattering three hits, while contributing five strikeouts.
In the first inning, Utah Valley threatened with back-to-back singles with two outs, but Sawyer gathered himself to get the final out of the inning by way of a strikeout.
Minnesota got on the board in its first chance at the plate. After a Motl walk, Fiedler smacked a single that moved Motl to third on the play. Micah Coffey then hit a rocket off of the opposing pitcher and beat out the throw, which scored Motl.
The Gophers kept the momentum going in the second frame as Jordan Smith laced a triple in the left-center gap and scored the next at-bat when Luke Pettersen beat out an infield single.
Meanwhile, Sawyer was doing his part on the bump as he retired eight straight Wolverine batters from the second through the fourth inning.
Minnesota broke the game open in the fifth after scoring four runs on four hits and extended its lead 6-0. Motl got things started with a leadoff double and was brought home with a Fiedler RBI single through the left side of the infield. After Fiedler stole second and Toby Hanson and Coffey walked, Matt Stemper plated two with a single. Alex Boxwell pushed across the final run of the frame with a single up the middle.
Tim Shannon came on in relief of Sawyer and worked the next 2.1 innings and gave up just one earned run in the eighth and touted a pair of strikeouts. The Wolverines added another run in the eighth to bring the advantage down to 6-2.
That was short-lived, however, as the Gophers responded with some new faces impacting the score line. Terrin Vavra and Eddie Estrada each got their first at-bat of their careers, with Vavra reaching on a single up the middle and Estrada contributing with an RBI groundout. Also in the inning, Motl drilled an RBI single and capped Minnesota's offensive efforts.
Ty McDevitt closed out the win in the final two innings with two strikeouts and a slew of groundouts.
Minnesota opened the season with consecutive victories for second campaign in the last three seasons.
The Gophers close out the weekend with a doubleheader tomorrow, involving Utah and No. 5 Oregon State. The first game is slated for a 10 a.m. start at Surprise Stadium.
