SURPRISE, Ariz. —The Minnesota Golden Gophers broke through a 3-3 tie heading to the eighth inning to secure an 8-7 win against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in 12 innings Friday.
Senior Thomas Gross (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Minnesota (1-0). The right-hander went two shutout innings without giving up a hit, allowing no walks and striking out two. Junior Connor Wietgrefe also made an impact on the mound for the Golden Gophers, starting the ballgame and throwing six innings, giving up three runs, all earned, on seven hits, with no walks and four strikeouts.
Junior Jake Perry led the way offensively for the Golden Gophers, going 2-for-6 in the ballgame with two doubles, a walk and an RBI. Sophomore Kris Hokenson furnished a standout effort as well, going 3-for-7 with a triple. Sophomore Weber Neels also helped out, going 1-for-5 for Minnesota with two walks and two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gophers got on the board early, scoring two runs on three straight hits to lead off the game. Boston Merila and Jake Perry slugged back-to-back doubles to drive in the game’s first two runs. Sophomore Kris Hokenson got things going again in the top of the second, leading off the inning with a triple. He came around to score on a single past the second baseman by Drew Berkland. The Roadrunner pitching staff held the Gophers hitless after the second inning until back-to-back singles by Hokenson and Josh Fitzgerald gave the Gophers a 3-2 lead in the eighth. After picking up a run on a bases-loaded walk by Kyle Bork in the top of the ninth, CSU Bakersfield scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras. The Golden Gophers scored in six different innings on the way to the win. After holding the lead three different times earlier in the ballgame, Minnesota broke a 7-7 tie and took the lead for good at 8-7 in the twelfth inning on bases-loaded walk by junior Jake Perry that scored Boston Merila.
GAME NOTES » Hokenson picked up three base hits in the game for Minnesota. » The Golden Gophers power output was led by Perry, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame. » Every Minnesota starter reached base safely in the win. » Minnesota’s highest scoring inning was the tenth, when it pushed two runs across. » Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first and didn’t surrender that lead for the remainder of the game. » Freshman Kyle Remington made his debut on the mound for the Gophers, picking up two strikeouts in 2.1 innings. » The Golden Gophers drew 13 walks from CSU Bakersfield pitching. » Josh Fitzgerald played in his first game since August of 2022, going 1-4 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored. » CSU Bakersfield was led offensively by junior Kobe Silva, who went 1-for-1 with a triple and two RBI.
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