University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Wake Forest
Gophers Advance to Regional Final
6/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score: Minnesota 8, Wake Forest 3 
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Facing elimination for the second game in a row, Minnesota rattled off 15 hits en route to an 8-3 triumph over Wake Forest. The Gophers (36-21) secured eight hits with two outs in the opening victory on Sunday to set up a matchup with Texas A&M in the nightcap.
Austin Athmann led the way at the plate by reaching base in all five at-bats. Athmann went 4-for-4 with a double and was hit by a pitch for the 10th time this season. Toby Hanson added three hits and added a pair of RBI.
Alex Boxwell, Matt Fiedler and Terrin Vavra each chimed in with multi-hit games and combined to score five of the eight runs.
On the mound, Lucas Gilbreath earned the first start of his career and hurled 4.2 innings, allowing just one run and totaling four strikeouts. Brian Glowicki got the win after throwing 2.1 frames without giving up an earned run and striking out four. Jordan Jess closed it out by keeping the lead intact in the eighth and ninth innings, aided by two strikeouts.
Minnesota raced out to an early 2-0 lead after scoring a run in both the first and third innings. Hanson drilled an RBI single that scored Vavra in the opening stanza, while Fiedler slid across the plate on a wild pitch in the third.
The Gophers doubled their lead in the top of the fifth. After the first two leadoff men were retired, the Maroon and Gold strung together three consecutive hits to plate two. Athmann opened with a single to center and was scored on a double down the line in right by Hanson. The ensuing at-bat, Jordan Smith smacked another RBI double over the left fielder to make it 4-0.
The Demon Deacons (35-27) got on the board on a sacrifice fly to deep left field to cut the margin down to three.
Wake Forest then tallied its second run of the game on a run-scoring ground out in the home half of the seventh.
Minnesota put together its biggest inning in its next chance at the dish by scoring four runs on five hits. Boxwell and Fiedler began with a double and single, respectively. Coffey then brought them in on a double down the chalk in left field. Athmann followed with an RBI single and was later scored on a sac fly from Connor Schaefbauer to make it 8-2.
The Demon Deacons added a run in the ninth, but it was too little, too late. The Gophers took the result and advanced to the Regional Final against No. 1 seed Texas A&M.
