Wednesday night’s Minnesota baseball game versus St. Thomas at Siebert Field had just about everything – walks, hit batsmen, errors and runs. And almost every one went in the Gophers’ favor.
About the only thing lacking in the contest was brevity – the 8 1/2 inning affair lasted three hours and 25 minutes.
After all was said and done, the Gophers had a 20-3 blowout win over the Division III Tommies, littered with hits and manufactured runs.
St. Thomas (25-6) committed four errors and had five pitchers combine to walk nine Minnesota batters – including four straight in the bottom of the third inning.
The Gophers accumulated 20 hits and got everyone involved, including pinch runner Taylor VanderAarde with a hard cast on his right forearm.
“We played extremely well, to be perfectly honest,” Gophers coach John Anderson said. “We did a nice job at the plate by not chasing some off-speed pitchers that were close.
“We did a nice job of executing on offense.”
Left fielder Tony Leseman led the team offensively, going 4-for-5 with a walk, 3 RBIs and a run scored.
First baseman Andy Hunter reached base all six times he stepped to the plate, going 3-for-3 with three walks, three RBIs and four runs.
The Gophers scored runs in every inning except the second. The 20-run total was the most the team has scored since a 26-5 win over Hamline on April 30, 2002.
Ten Gophers recorded RBIs and 13 scored runs.
“It’s fun to come out and have a good day offensively,” Hunter said. “They walked us, but we were pretty patient.
“Overall, we had some pretty good at-bats.”
The Gophers’ biggest inning came in the fourth, when, after a Mike Mee single, a pair of Tommies pitchers walked Hunter, catcher Gary Dick, third baseman David Hrncirik and Leseman consecutively.
Minnesota’s pitching staff turned in another strong performance, combining six pitchers who allowed just one earned run. True freshman pitcher John Gaub pitched two scoreless innings for the win in his first career start.
Regular starters Josh Krogman and Matt Loberg pitched 2 innings and 1 inning, respectively, with Loberg allowing an earned run in the ninth.
But, in the end, the game turned out to be batting practice for Minnesota hitters. And, after going through the lineup six times, they can all say they got their evening’s worth.
“I don’t think we wanted the game to be over with,” Leseman said. “We all wanted to get some more at-bats and keep playing the game of baseball.
“It took awhile, but it was a fun game.”
