The Gophers started their season 7-3, the team’s best record through 10 games since 2009.
Since then, Minnesota has started to fall off. The Gophers lost their second series in a row over the weekend, winning just one game on the road at Utah Valley.
Minnesota (9-8) won the series opener 13-5 on Friday but lost 3-2 on Saturday and 15-6 on Sunday in Orem, Utah.
The Gophers recorded 18 hits on Friday, which tied a season high, and the team had eight different bats in a run.
On the mound, junior Matt Fiedler picked up his third victory of the season after pitching six innings and allowing two runs. He gave up six hits and three walks while striking out five.
Fiedler also contributed at the plate by hitting his first home run of the season and batting in three runs.
“It was awesome. They’ve been giving me a hard time for a couple weeks now for not having one,” Fiedler told Gophersports.com after the game. “So finally to be able to quiet them down about that was nice.”
Twelve different Minnesota batters recorded a hit in the offensive outburst, and the Gophers scored more than 10 runs for the second game in a row.
“I think we were kind of frustrated [our last series] in Seattle, and I think that we worked hard this week in the off-time, just working hard and getting our swings down again, and I think that showed tonight,” redshirt junior outfielder Jordan Smith told Gophersports.com after the game.
The team’s bats were quieter on Saturday in a 3-2 loss, as the Gophers were unable to overcome a three-run deficit.
Senior pitcher Dalton Sawyer allowed all three of the Wolverines runs in five-and-two-thirds innings but also issued a career-high nine strikeouts. He gave up seven hits and two walks as well in the loss and moved to 2-2 on the year.
Minnesota scored one run in the fourth inning and another in the top of the ninth but couldn’t complete a comeback.
In the final game on Sunday, the Gophers scored four runs in the fourth inning to tie the game 6-6, but Utah Valley kept on hitting.
The Wolverines recorded 16 hits in the game, and Minnesota allowed a season-high 15 runs in the loss.
Junior pitcher Tyler Hanson threw for only three innings and allowed seven runs on nine hits while striking out two.
Fiedler recorded three hits and an RBI in the loss, while redshirt junior outfielder Troy Traxler hit a two-run home run.
