University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Georgia State
Fiedler Stifles Georgia State in Shutout Win
3/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score: Minnesota 3, Georgia State 0 
Minnesota got a dominating performance on the mound from Matt Fiedler to shut out Georgia State on Friday, 3-0. The Gophers (6-2) were aided by a pair of solo homers from Austin Athmann and Dan Motl en route to their third straight win.
Fiedler went the distance and limited the Panthers (5-4) to just two hits, while striking out six. The junior from Eagan, Minn. faced only 29 batters in the complete game shutout and moved his record to 2-1 through three starts this season.
Athmann and Motl paced the offense with four of the team's five hits on the afternoon. Both starters contributed two hits and solo homers in the series-opening victory.
Micah Coffey picked up the other hit by beating out a slow roller to third that got Minnesota on the board in the first inning.
In that frame, Terrin Vavra and Fiedler reached base by way of a walk and an error to occupy the corner bases with two outs. Coffey stepped to the plate and delivered by legging out an RBI single and give the Gophers what would be the only run support needed.
Fiedler worked through the first frame flawless, but surrendered a walk in the second. He then induced a double play that featured the trio of Luke Pettersen, Connor Schaefbauer and Vavra to cap the inning.
Motl opened the third stanza with a blast over the center-field wall with two strikes in the count for his first round-tripper of the season.
After Georgia State drew a leadoff walk, Fiedler again forced a double play to the Pettersen-Schaefbauer-Vavra combination that stopped any potential damage and kept Minnesota ahead, 2-0.
Fiedler kept the Panthers at bay by mixing his pitches for the next two innings before getting his final run support in the sixth. Athmann followed Motl's lead by beginning the frame with a leadoff homer with two strikes in the count. The junior cleared the left-center wall for his second career home run and gave the Gophers a 3-0 margin.
The Panthers posed their most dangerous threat in the home half of the sixth when they had a runner on second base with two outs. Fiedler buckled down and got the final out of the inning with a swinging strikeout.
Minnesota was unable to manage to tally a hit in the final three stanzas, despite making contact and putting together quality at-bats, but it didn't matter because Fiedler kept the opposition off the basepaths and put Georgia State down in order for the final nine outs, including a pair of strikeouts.
The Gophers and Panthers resume their series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. showdown at the GSU Baseball Complex at 1 p.m.
