Published Mar 10, 2021
Series Recap: Gophers lose three of four to Indiana, Rutgers
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Casey Warner  •  Gophers Nation
Staff Writer

Gopher Baseball came up short in their opening weekend of action losing both games to Indiana and one of two to Rutgers.

Friday Minnesota faced off against Indiana dropping their first battle against the Hoosiers 5-2. To follow up on Saturday, Minnesota then fell in a lopsided game to Rutgers 16-1.

On Sunday the Gophers would rebound with a win in their second contest against Rutgers 13-8, but would then fall in game two of their double-header to end the weekend 8-1 against Indiana.

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In the opening game of the 2021 season on Friday, Minnesota would not score until the ninth inning when infielder Zack Raabe blasted a two-run shot to give the Gophers life. However, a 5-0 lead to start the contest gave Indiana the advantage overall as Minnesota would lose the game 5-2.

On Saturday the Gophers would score one run in the first inning and then were shut out the rest of the game losing a one-sided contest 16-1 to Rutgers. Raabe again launched a homerun in this one although there were only seven total hits by Minnesota on the day.

Sunday's double-header saw Minnesota get a victory over Rutgers in their second matchup 13-8 as infielder Jack Wassel boosted the Gophers to victory with four RBI's in game one. In game two Minnesota went back to their struggling ways offensively, as Indiana prevailed 8-1 holding the Gophers to just four hits on the game.

Series Standouts
PlayerGames PlayedSeries StatsSeason Stats

Zack Raabe, INF

3

.444 AVG, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 4 runs

.444 AVG, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 4 runs

Ronald Sweeny, INF

4

.200 AVG, 6 RBI, 1 HR, 2 hits

.200 AVG, 6 RBI, 1 HR, 2 hits

Tom Skoro, LHP

1

3.00 ERA, 1 W, 6 IP, 8 SO

3.00 ERA, 1 W, 6 IP, 8 SO

After the weekend Minnesota has four players hitting over .300 on the season thus far although the team bats .241 overall. Pitching has been very suspect with a 9.25 team ERA and a .331 opponent batting average after the first four contests.

The Golden Gophers head into a four-game home series this weekend versus Illinois at 1-3 on the young season. The Fighting Illini are currently 1-3 on the season as well, dropping three of four to Ohio State this past weekend.

First pitch at US Bank Stadium is set for 7:00 PM CT on Friday in a battle of two squads searching for consistency, followed up by a double-header on Saturday beginning at 5:00 PM CT. Sunday the series will conclude with a first pitch set for 6:00 PM CT.