MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota baseball team dropped both ends of their Saturday doubleheader against Nebraska, falling by scores of 6-4 and 17-5.
Game One | Nebraska 6, Minnesota 4 (7 Innings)
In game one of Saturday's doubleheader, Minnesota led as late as the bottom of the sixth inning, but were ultimately unable to secure the victory.
Minnesota fell behind in the first, as Cam Chick of Nebraska brought the first run of the game home on a sacrifice fly to right field.
The game remained in a 1-0 score for three innings to follow, until the Gophers responded in the fourth. With two outs, Gabe Knowles delivered a clutch RBI single to right field, plating Zack Raabe from third base to knot the game at 1-1.
In the fifth inning, Minnesota jumped out in front. Ronald Sweeny led off the frame with a double off the right-centerfield wall and came in to score one batter later on a throwing error committed on an Easton Bertrand sacrifice bunt attempt.
With a newly-minted 2-1 advantage, Sweeny picked up right where he left off in the sixth inning. Batting with runners on first and second, the Gopher first baseman delivered a long RBI double to right-center, scoring Andrew Wilhite and advancing Boston Merila to third. Merila then came in to score on a Bertrand sacrifice fly to center to extend the Gopher lead to 4-1.
In the end, the Gopher lead proved to not be enough as Nebraska pulled ahead in the bottom of the sixth. The Huskers used a series of bases loaded walks, as well as a fielding error and hit-by-pitch to steal the game by a 6-4 final score.
Minnesota starting pitcher Jack Liffrig was excellent in the loss, although he did not factor into the decision. Liffrig tied his career high with 5 2/3 innings pitched in the game, allowing just one run on five hits and three walks, striking out three.
Gopher reliever Ryan Duffy was saddled with the loss, allowing two unearned runs on three walks.
Nebraska relief pitcher Cam Wynne earned the victory, tossing two-thirds of an inning and allowing one hit. Spencer Schwellenbach was credited with the save after pitching a shutout ninth inning with one hit allowed and one strikeout.
Game Two | Nebraska 17, Minnesota 5 (7 Innings)
Minnesota fell to Nebraska in game two by a score of 17-5.
Nebraska jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, as Luke Roskam hit a grand slam to put the Huskers ahead, 4-0. The Huskers then extended their advantage to 12-0 in the third, highlighted by a Cam Chick two-run home run to right-center.
In the fifth, the Gophers broke into the scoring column as Kyle Bork crossed home on a fielder's choice off the bat of Wilhite, bringing the score to 12-1.
From there, Nebraska plated four more runs in the fifth inning, two of which came via Roskam's second home run of the game. The Huskers finished off their scoring for the day in the sixth, as Leighton Banjoff homered to extend the Nebraska lead to 17-1.
Minnesota did not go quietly, however, showing life late in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, Sweeny mashed a grand slam over the right field wall, plating four runs to bring the score to 17-5.
Gopher starting pitcher Patrick Fredrickson received the loss, pitching 2 1/3 frames with eight runs allowed on five hits and four walks while striking out three.
Nebraska starter Jake Bunz earned the win, finishing with four shutout innings of work and allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out five.
Quotable
"This is not Gopher Baseball and it starts with me," head coach John Anderson said. "It's never one thing when you don't play the game at a high level. We will look at all our processes to see what changes need to be made. I am proud of Jack Liffrig and his performance on the mound in game one."
Notable
Sweeny was a bright spot for the Gophers on Saturday, finishing 3-for-6 with one home run, two doubles, five RBI, two runs scored and one walk across the two games.
Liffrig matched his career high with 5 2/3 innings pitched in game one, allowing just one run on five hits and three walks while striking out three.
Raabe collected hits in both games, finishing 2-for-5 on the day with one run scored and one walk.
Up Next
Minnesota wraps up their four-game series at Nebraska on Sunday, March 28, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
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Minnesota Drops Saturday Doubleheader to Nebraska - GopherSports.com
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