University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
11-13, 0
Illinois
15-12, 0
Fitzgerald Stays Hot but Gophers Fall to Illinois
4/5/2024 7:32:00 PM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Minnesota got contributions from every part of their lineup, as all nine starters reached base safely, but the Golden Gophers fell to the Illinois Fighting Illini 11-2 Friday.
Junior Tucker Novotny (0-4) started and took the loss on the mound for Minnesota (11-13, ).
At the plate, the Golden Gophers were led by junior Josh Fitzgerald, who went 1-for-3 on the day with a home run and two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 4-0, Fitzgerald put Minnesota on the board with a leadoff home run in the second inning. After the Fighting Illini lead expanded, Fitzgerald drove in his second run of the day with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-2 after five in favor of Illinois. The Illini would go on to score two more unanswered runs to take game one 11-2.
GAME NOTES
» Every starter for the 'U' reached base safely in the loss.
» Ike Mezzenga extended his on-base streak to 23 games with two walks.
» Jake Perry extended his on-base streak to 10 games with a walk in the game.
» Nick Argento appeared in his first conference game, pitching 3.2 innings with four strikeouts, four hits and two runs.
» Freshman Jack Spanier collected his first career hit for the Gophers.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hutchings, Payton (3-1)
L: Novotny, Tucker (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Hejza, Cal 1 ; Janik, Camden 1 ; Quagliano, Coltin 1
HR: Harding, Brody 1
RBI: Westcott, Drake 4 ; Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Harding, Brody 4 ; Quagliano, Coltin 1
SF: Westcott, Drake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chee-Aloy, Cameron 1 ; Hejza, Cal 2 ; Janik, Camden 1 ; Westcott, Drake 1 ; Valincius, Vytas 2 ; Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Schroeder, Jacob 1 ; Harding, Brody 2
CS: Harding, Brody 1
HBP: Chee-Aloy, Cameron 1 ; Quagliano, Coltin 1
Batting:
HR: Fitzgerald, Josh 1
RBI: Fitzgerald, Josh 2
SF: Fitzgerald, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Perry, Jake 1 ; Fitzgerald, Josh 1
CS: Counsell, Brady 1
HBP: Counsell, Brady 1 ; Merila, Boston 1 ; Sutherland, Charlie 1
