Minnesota wasn’t shocked to see its name called as one of the 64 teams in the NCAA baseball tournament on Monday.
The Golden Gophers team was picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten in the preseason. A young Minnesota team finished a half-game out of the conference championship and worked its way to a 38-17 record, a No. 21 ranking in the Baseball America poll and the No. 2 seed in this weekend’s LSU regional at Alex Box Stadium.
“I’m just happy to be on board and still playing,” said Minnesota coach John Anderson. “We thought we were good enough to host, but our facility wasn’t good enough and that’s unfortunate. But we are happy to be in the NCAA and we are happy to face the challenges we’ll be facing.”
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for a Gophers team with four freshmen position starters. Instead, it rounded nicely into a pitching-and-defense team with a lineup hitting a hefty .316.
Two of the three Minnesota starting pitchers, Tim Buske (9-3, 3.36 earned run average) and Seth Rosin (7-1, 4.08) strike out three times as many as they walk. The same is true of closer Scott Matyas, who has 14 saves, a 2.49 earned run average and only seven walks and 40 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings.
The pitchers can throw strikes with confidence because their defense runs the ball down. Center fielder Eric Decker, an All-Big 10 wide receiver who was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award after catching 84 passes in the fall, helps create the defensive identity with the same speed in center field that makes him a football star.—-Contact The Daily Reveille sports staff at [email protected]