The Minnesota baseball team (9-3) used a three-run eighth inning to rally from a 4-3 deficit to defeat No. 11 TCU (10-3) 6-4 at Lupton Stadium on Saturday, Mar. 14 in the series opener.
Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and led 3-1, before TCU tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Horned Frogs took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth, and held that lead until the bottom of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) got things started when he reached on a bunt single with one out. Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) followed by drawing a walk to make it first and second. Junior Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) greeted TCU reliever Eric Marshall by crushing a two-run double to left center field to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead. Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) followed with an RBI single down the left field line to put the Golden Gophers ahead 6-4.
Sophomore Cullen Sexton (Plover, Wis.) pitched to the minimum over his first two innings and struck out four batters in that stretch. In the bottom of the ninth, Ben Carruthers and Matt Carpenter drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Chris Ellington flew out to center field for the first out of the inning. After Matt Curry drew a walk to load the bases, Minnesota brought in Scott Matyas (North Prairie, Wis.) to close out the game. Matyas struck out Jason Coats and got Taylor Featherston to ground out to give the Golden Gophers the 6-4 victory.
Sexton picked up the win to move to 3-0 on the season, as he went 2.1 shutout innings, walked three and struck out four. Matyas picked up first save of the year after retiring the final two batters. Minnesota starter Chauncy Handran (Scobey, Mont.) pitched six innings, gave up six hits, four unearned runs (no earned runs), walked two and struck out four to get the no-decision.
TCU starter Tyler Lockwood gave up six hits, three runs, walked two and struck out four in 6.1 innings to get a no-decision. Walker Kelly took the loss after giving up both baserunners that scored on Knudson's double off Marshall.
Knudson led the way offensively, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double and a run. Kvasnicka was also 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI on the day. With the two hits, Kvasnicka extended his hitting streak to 17 games dating back to 2008.
Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also went 1-for-4 with two RBI, a run and a double, while Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) reached base three times, and was 1-for-3 with a run and a stolen base. AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) went 1-for-3 with a run, and O'Shea was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Minnesota got on the board early with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Nohelty led off with an infield single, and stole second base. Geason brought him home with an RBI double to left centerfield to make it 1-0. McCallum grounded out to move Geason to third, and Kvasnicka delivered an RBI ground out to plate Geason to move the score to 2-0.
TCU threatened in the bottom of the second inning when Coats reached on an infield single, and moved to second on a throwing error on the same play. Handran retired the next batter on a ground out back to the pitcher. Both runners moved up on a balk, but Geason threw out Coates trying to score for the second out of the inning. Handran retired Corey Steglich on a ground out to the first baseman to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Golden Gophers added a single run in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. Pettersen led off with a triple to center field, and came home to score on an RBI ground out by Geason to put Minnesota up by three runs.
TCU got on the board in the bottom of the third with a single run to make it 3-1. Ben Carruthers led off the inning with a single, and moved to second on a passed ball. Carruthers moved to third on a ground out by Carpenter, and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Chris Ellington to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 3-1.
The Horned Frogs scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie it at 3-3. Featherston got things started by reaching on an error by the third baseman, and moving to second on a sacrifice bunt. Bryan Holaday delivered an RBI double to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 3-2. Corey Steglich single to make it first and third. Steglich stole second, and Holaday scored the tying run on the throw that sailed into center field. Handran retired the final two batters to keep it tied at 3-3.
TCU took the lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth when Featherston singled home Matt Curry to give the Horned Frogs the one-run lead.
Minnesota finished with four errors on the day, despite the fact that they also made several crucial defensive plays in the field.
TCU was led by Carruthers who reached base three times, and was 2-for-4 with a run. Holaday was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Featherston was 1-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
Minnesota will also face TCU on Sunday, Mar. 15 at 1 p.m. and Monday, Mar. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Courtesy: University of Minnesota
