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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota starter Patrick Fredrickson tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings and three pitchers combined in a 3-0 shutout victory over the University of Iowa baseball team in game two Saturday afternoon at Target Field.
The Gophers clinched a series win, ending the Hawkeyes Big Ten series-winning streak at six. Iowa hadn’t lost a league series since last season when it dropped two of three games against Rutgers.
Fredrickson scattered six hits in his start as he improved to 5-0 this season. Reliever Jackson Rose struck out Robert Neustrom to end the eighth and closer Max Meyer got the final three outs to notch his 10th save.
The Hawkeyes out-hit the Gophers, 8-7, but Iowa grounded into three double plays in the game.
Minnesota grabbed the lead in the third against Iowa starter Brady Schanuel. The Gophers strung together four straight one-out hits, including a two-run single from Eli Wilson. Reliever Nick Nelsen limited the damage after relieving Schanuel and sophomore Grant Judkins was solid over the final five innings.
Judkins allowed one run on three hits and had three strikeouts. The five-inning appearance was a career-high.
QUOTING COACH HELLER
“Fredrickson did a nice job for Minnesota. He didn’t punch us out a lot, we put the ball in play, but anytime we had runners in scoring position we hit into double plays. We had the guys up that we needed up, they just didn’t get the hits. We knew it was going to be a low scoring game, and we didn’t take advantage of any opportunities that we had.
“We have to keep fighting and playing good baseball, which we are. We just aren’t getting hits. We’re better offensively than we’ve shown. A lot of it has to do with Minnesota pitching well, but we haven’t had the number of quality at-bats that we normally would have. We have to be better offensively, it’s as simple as that.
“Our pitchers have given a chance in both of these games, we just haven’t scored enough to win. Defensively, we have played great; we have just come up on the short end.”
OF NOTE…
- Six different Hawkeyes had at least one hit with senior Tyler Cropley and junior Tanner Wetrich posting multi-hit games. Both players finished 2-for-4.
- Schanuel’s 2 1/3 inning start was his second shortest of the season. He lasted two innings in a road loss at Illinois on March 31.
- The loss drops Iowa to 22-13 overall, 6-6 in Big Ten play. Minnesota is 25-10, 9-1.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes close out the series Sunday, facing Minnesota at 1 p.m. (CT) at Siebert Field on Minnesota’s campus. The game will be televised live on BTN. Junior Cole McDonald will take the mound for Iowa.
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Stay up-to-date on all the happenings with the Iowa baseball program on social media via Twitter (@UIBaseball), Instagram/UIBaseball, and Facebook/IowaBaseball.
