The Gophers faced three Pac-12 conference opponents in their first weekend home series. They finished the weekend with a 1-2 DQ Classic record.
Minnesota (8-4) beat Arizona (5-6) in the first game by a score of 3-2 in 12 innings, lost to Washington (6-4) by a score of 6-4 in the 10th inning on Saturday night, and against No. 11 UCLA (9-2) the Gophers let the Bruins run away with the final game of the weekend, losing 6-1.
“I think when you play good competition you learn more about your team [and] get more information,” head coach John Anderson said. “We’re a little short right now, but I think we were able to learn some more about our team.”
Gophers fall to No. 11 UCLA
The Gophers got the first run of the game against the Bruins when Toby Hanson hit a single to right field to score infielder Terrin Vavra. However, the Gophers would allow six runs in four innings, going through five pitchers in the process, to finish with a 6-1 defeat.
“I think we just got to bounce back. I don’t think we had our best stuff as a staff,” pitcher Fred Manke said. “It’s a good learning experience for a young staff like ours.”
Anderson said outfielders Alex Boxwell and Riley Smith were injured and pitcher Ryan Duffy was out after he got his appendix removed. The coach does not know when any of them will return.
Washington defeats U
The Gophers gave up the first run in the second inning of the game against the Washington Huskies, but quickly got four runs in the bottom of the second and third, started by a Ben Mezzenga sacrifice fly in the second and a solo home run by Vavra in the bottom of the third to take the lead.
But Minnesota allowed Washington to tie up the game 4-4 in the eighth inning and then in the extra inning, Minnesota allowed two runs and didn’t answer with the bats in the bottom of the inning to take the first loss in six games.
“It’s tough to say. I feel like we had some momentum early on and in the later innings,” pitcher Nick Lackney said. “I would say it was just one of those games. It’s baseball. Sometimes you could have your best stuff out their and still come out with a loss.”
Minnesota earns victory over Arizona
The Gophers had a 12-inning game on the first night of the DQ Classic that kept them up passed midnight against their first Pac-12 matchup of the year against Arizona.
Minnesota allowed Arizona to score twice before getting any runs on the board, but in the eighth inning, Vavra hit a sacrifice ground ball when the bases were loaded and scored designated hitter Max Meyer. However, the Gophers still needed one run to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
That run came in dramatic fashion when infielder Micah Coffey hit his first home run of the season to tie the game at 2-2.
“Just an incredible, incredible day,” Coffey said after the win. “Huge win for us. Obviously, fun to get that first [home run] in a good spot.”
The Gophers won in the 12th inning after the bases were loaded and Cole McDevitt got walked to score Jordan Kozicky,
