April 11, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS -
No. 30 Minnesota got single insurance runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to distance itself from Northwestern and take the second game of the weekend series between the teams by a 5-1 margin Saturday afternoon at the Metrodome.
After the Wildcats stranded a leadoff double in the top of the first, the Golden Gophers tallied a pair of two-out runs off of Zach Morton in the bottom half of the frame. A.J. Pettersen alertly scooted home from third on a wild pitch before Kyle Knudson contributed an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Northwestern (7-22, 1-6 Big Ten) finally got to Minnesota starter Tom Buske for a run in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit in half. Paul Snieder started the inning with a double to right-center. He moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Tony Vercelli and came in to score on a run-scoring groundout by Kenneth Avila.
Minnesota (19-10, 5-2) increased its lead back to two in its half of the sixth when Knudson drove in his second run of the game by plating Derek McCallum from second with a single to right. A two-out hit by Pettersen off David Jensen in the seventh put the Golden Gophers ahead 4-1.
The hosts got one final run in the eighth when Eric Decker scored from first on a double by Justin Gominsky.
NU's pitching staff kept Minnesota's Matt Nohelty off base in five plate appearances, snapping his hitting streak at 17 games and his stretch of reaching base safely at 44 contests.
Morton (0-4) took the loss, surrendering seven hits, three earned runs and three walks while striking out four in 5 2/3 innings of work. Buske improved to 5-2 on the season, working eight innings while allowing three hits, one run and a walk to go along with six strikeouts.
The teams conclude their weekend series with an Easter Sunday contest beginning at 1:05 p.m.