The Gophers’ potent offense waited until the seventh inning, but it came to life on Tuesday after sputtering early at Siebert Field.
No. 25 Minnesota was held to four hits through the first six innings of its midweek game against North Dakota State, but the team scored seven runs in the seventh to achieve a 10-0 victory.
The victory preserved the Gophers’ perfect 5-0 record in midweek games this season.
“We didn’t have good plans and approaches the first half of the game; I think we kind of free-lanced it and weren’t locked in,” Gophers head coach John Anderson said. “But I think we picked up in our plan and approach and focus there as we went along in the game. It’s something we’ll learn from.”
Minnesota broke the game open with its seventh inning, which had a fitting theme. The team scored seven runs off of seven hits in the inning to take a seven-run lead.
The Gophers scored three more runs in the eighth to extend their lead to 10-0. Freshman catcher Cole McDevitt hit his second home run of the season, and senior Connor Schaefbauer and sophomore Alex Boxwell each drove in a run.
Schaefbauer finished the day with three hits and two RBIs, while McDevitt added three hits and two RBIs of his own.
“At the plate, sometimes you have those days where you’re just seeing the ball really well, and today was one of those days for me,” McDevitt said.
The Gophers pitching staff also held the Bison scoreless and gave their lineup plenty of time to warm up.
Six pitchers combined for the shutout, the team’s second of the season.
“After the game, I congratulated them. I thought they did a real nice job,” Anderson said. “They threw strikes for the most part all night long.”
Freshman pitcher Jake Stevenson started the second game of his collegiate career and gave up two hits in three innings.
Sophomore Fred Manke pitched the next two innings and allowed just one hit.
Freshman Nick Lackney took the mound for the sixth and maintained his perfect ERA.
Redshirt senior Ty McDevitt got the seventh and pitched to his younger brother Cole McDevitt, catching his third college game.
Ty McDevitt struck out two batters looking, recorded a fly out in his one inning of work and was rewarded with his second victory of the season.
Juniors Tyler Hanson and Brian Glowicki finished the game out with a hitless inning each to secure the victory.
The Gophers’ pitchers combined to walk just two batters in the game, and Ty McDevitt said the staff’s command was critical.
“All of us went out there and threw the ball over the plate. That starts it off. … That’s No. 1,” Ty McDevitt said. “It kind of starts and ends with not giving guys free passes, and honestly, we’ve done that a little bit lately, so it was nice to see today guys come out and make sure they were ready to throw the ball over the plate.”
