Minnesota has already played more home games this season than it did the entire 2011 season.

There are still 13 more on the docket for 2012, but the team’s 27-game early-season homestand will conclude Tuesday against cross-town counterpart Augsburg.

“I hoped through this homestand that we would get better,” Gophers head coach John Anderson said Sunday, “and we have gotten better.”

Minnesota (16-13) has averaged 5.4 runs per game in its last seven contests, all wins.

In their first 19 games at the Metrodome, the Gophers were scoring 3.9 runs a game on average. They were 8-11 in that span.

Augsburg is enjoying a nice 2012 season. They’re 15-5 and have won 10 of their past 12 games.

The Gophers beat Hamline, their lone Division III opponent thus far, 3-2 in a 16-inning marathon March 7.

Anderson said Sunday that he’s hoping the momentum generated by Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak carries through the week and into this weekend’s road series against Ohio State.

“We’re playing with some confidence,” he said.

“It’s a bit easier going on the road with some confidence than if you were struggling and wrestling a bit with the game.”