Things may be looking up for the Minnesota baseball team.
The Gophers continued to roll over the weekend, sweeping a three-game series against South Dakota State at the Metrodome by scores of 3-1, 5-4 and 3-2.
The Gophers were in need of solid pitching over the weekend, and received just that, as junior pitchers Tom Buske and Kyle Carr each struck out 10 batters in consecutive starts Friday and Saturday, leading to a pair of wins to start the series. Senior pitcher Dustin Brabender finished the series Sunday with a seven-strikeout performance, finishing the sweep.
Buske went seven and one third innings to win 3-1, while Carr finished six and two thirds innings, leaving while trailing 2-1. Brabender gave up one run over seven innings, leaving with a 1-1 tie.
South Dakota State received some extra outs against Minnesota in Carr’s outing, as the Gophers committed three errors with the lefty on the mound. But Carr said he had been working on not letting the little things bother him recently, and worked through the trouble spots.
“It’s tough, and in games before this I probably would have let that bother me,” Carr said. “But I’ve been trying to stay in the present moment and realize those things happen in baseball, and you can’t control them.”
Minnesota more than made up for the miscues, as the Gophers hitters showed the ability to claw back into the game Saturday, fighting off a 2-0 deficit with runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Minnesota made a comeback in the tenth inning as well after the Jackrabbits had tied the game.
Sophomore outfielder Eric Decker produced from the bottom half of the lineup, singling home the tying run in the seventh inning and using his speed on the base-paths to score the go-ahead run. Decker stole third and advanced home on a wild throw.
But the top half of the lineup came through as well, as junior third baseman Nate Hanson collected a pair of doubles and senior catcher Jeff DeSmidt drove home a pair, including the game winner on a single in the bottom of the tenth.
“He’s doing a much better job of not trying to do too much,” coach John Anderson said. “He’s a senior, I think he’s figured it out, he’s giving us stability behind the plate and a spark on offense right now.”
Offensive sparks are something Anderson said might be few and far between right now for the Gophers, as pitching and defense have been what the club has relied on so far this season.
“We got strong outings this weekend, and we’re going to need a lot of them,” Anderson said. “Right now we’re just an average offensive team. We lost a lot of hitting from last year, and we’ve had to adjust.”
Despite being just an offensive team, Minnesota proved this weekend that it could score late in games, an important part to success with any team. The Gophers scored at least one run after the seventh inning in all three games, including a come-from-behind win Sunday in the ninth.
Down two, the Gophers tied the game on an RBI double from Decker, who came around to score the game-winner on senior infielder Jeremy Chlan’s single.
With yet another person stepping up for Minnesota, Hanson said that the development of the Gophers has been impressive so far this season.
“We’re starting to get some good at bats late in the game, and it’s starting to show,” he said. “It’s tough having lost so many guys and having a young team, but I think we’re coming around.”
