University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
16-17, 0
Indiana
21-18, 0
Gophers Split Sunday Doubleheader with Hoosiers
4/21/2024 6:08:00 PM | Baseball
Minnesota took game one, Indiana won game two.
GAME 1 | Minnesota 13, Indiana 2
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Sophomore Weber Neels put together a stellar showing at the plate Sunday, hitting two homers to help propel the Minnesota Golden Gophers past the Indiana Hoosiers 13-2.
Neels went 2-for-2 at the plate, supplementing his two home runs with three RBIs. Junior Jake Perry added to Neels' power-hitting performance by going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Junior Ike Mezzenga also helped out for the Golden Gophers, going 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Junior southpaw Connor Wietgrefe pitched a complete game for Minnesota, tallying seven strikeouts while allowing two runs and one walk.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gophers got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot by Neels.
The Maroon and Gold held the Hoosiers scoreless before expanding their lead in the third inning with Neels' two-run homer, which brought the Golden Gophers lead to 3-0.
The Golden Gopher offense got back to work in the next two innings, scoring five in the fourth and four in the fifth, bringing the score to 12-0 in favor of Minnesota.
Indiana got within 12-2 until the Golden Gophers scored again in the sixth inning to stretch its lead to 13-2 with an RBI groundout by Brady Counsell. Wietgrefe shut down the Hoosiers in the seventh to complete the run rule win.
GAME NOTES
» Neels became the second Gopher this season to hit two home runs in one game.
» Wietgrefe became the first Gopher to pitch a seven-inning complete game since Kyle Carr at Ohio State did on April 5, 2008.
» Every Minnesota starter reached base safely in the win.
» Minnesota went 5-for-16 (.313) with runners in scoring position.
» Minnesota pitchers limited Indiana to just 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position.
GAME 2 | Indiana 18, Minnesota 8
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Ike Mezzenga and Brady Counsell each racked up three hits, but the Minnesota Golden Gophers fell to the Indiana Hoosiers 18-8 in game two on Sunday.
Junior Tucker Novotny (0-5) started and took the loss on the mound for Minnesota (16-18, ). Junior Seth Clausen was a bright spot out of the bullpen, going 1.1 shutout innings without allowing a hit, walking one and striking out one.
In addition to his three hits, Counsell had a home run and two RBI to lead the Golden Gophers. Mezzenga added a walk to his three-hit performance as well.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 4-0, Kris Hokenson got the Gophers offense on the board in the second with a solo home run. Counsell slugged his ninth home run of the season in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 5-3 in favor of Indiana.
However, the Hoosiers came out swinging, scoring eight runs over the next three innings to take a 13-3 lead in the seventh. Fitzgerald then injected some life back into the Gophers with a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it 13-7 before Bork hit a solo shot in the eighth to make it 13-8.
The Golden Gophers were unable to get any closer, as Indiana added five runs to their tally on the way to an 18-8 final.
GAME NOTES
» The Golden Gophers got three-hit games from both Counsell and Mezzenga.
» The Golden Gophers took Indiana pitchers deep four times on Sunday.
» Minnesota left 10 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Minnesota went 3-for-7 (.429) with runners in scoring position.
UP NEXT
The Minnesota Gophers will host the St. Thomas Tommies for two mid-week games before heading to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions over the weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wietgrefe, Connor (5-2)
L: Rybarczyk, Ty (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Mathison, Carter 1 ; Brenczewski, Joey 1
RBI: Brenczewski, Joey 1 ; Sefcik, Cal 1
SF: Sefcik, Cal 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor, Devin 1 ; Brenczewski, Joey 1
Batting:
2B: Perry, Jake 1 ; Mezzenga, Ike 1 ; Jurgella, Brady 1
HR: Neels, Weber 2
RBI: Counsell, Brady 1 ; Perry, Jake 2 ; Neels, Weber 3 ; Mezzenga, Ike 1 ; Fitzgerald, Josh 1 ; Spanier, Jack 2
SH: Jurgella, Brady 1 ; Spanier, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Counsell, Brady 1 ; Perry, Jake 2 ; Neels, Weber 4 ; Hokenson, Kris 1 ; Hunt, Sam 3 ; Spanier, Jack 2
