There was no southern hospitality this weekend for the Minnesota baseball team.
The Gophers traveled to No. 4 Mississippi to begin the season with a three-game set that resulted in Minnesota getting swept.
TCU DAiry Queen Classic
what: Baseball
when: 6:35 p.m., Friday
where: Metrodome
The Rebels (3-0 overall, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) feature one of the premier rotations in all of college baseball and their prowess showed on the mound Friday night.
Right-hander Lance Lynn pitched five full innings and tied a career high with 12 strikeouts. Lynn allowed only two hits and did not give up a run as Ole Miss grabbed an 8-1 victory.
Junior Tom Buske pitched opposite Lynn and went three and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
The Gophers (0-3 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) had a tough time at the plate as Rebels’ pitchers collected 21 strikeouts on the night, which tied a single game record for Ole Miss.
“We faced a great pitcher,” junior third baseman Nate Hanson said. “I think we made him look a little better than he is, but we took a few too many pitches.”
On Saturday the Rebels displayed the power of their hitters as they exploded for 22 runs in the 22-5 victory.
Already leading 11-2 Ole Miss added 10 in the fifth inning behind a grand slam by catcher Brett Basham.
The series finale didn’t give Minnesota any relief as the Rebels continued to pound out runs, banging out a 15-4 win.
First baseman Cody Overbeck guided Mississippi most of the series as he went six-for-eleven with three homeruns and eight RBI.
“They’ve got one of the better lineups I’ve seen top to bottom,” Hanson said. “Not too many lineups are that good.”
Minnesota was outscored 45-10 over the weekend.
The Gophers dealt with power pitching throughout the course of the weekend and had to adjust to different styles with each starter.
“Their pitchers gave us a lot of different looks,” junior Matt Nohelty said. “We didn’t have a lot of productive at-bats.”
“It’s a long season and we’ve got work to do,” head coach John Anderson said. “We’ve been through this before.”
Anderson did see encouraging signs in his young bullpen that saw action over the weekend as freshmen pitchers Phil Isaksson, Seth Rosin, Tim Ryan, Scott Matyas, Luke Rasmussen and Cullen Sexton took the mound for the Gophers.
The main thing for Anderson and the rest of Minnesota is that the entire season is a process where every team member is learning and adjusting every step of the way.
“We know what we need to do next,” Hanson said.
Up next for the Gophers is the Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome where they once again will face some of the nation’s finest programs with No. 22 Tulane, Pepperdine and Texas Christian University coming to town.
“We’re hoping we can improve and get better,” Anderson said.
