Gophers Blast ND State

Minneapolis, MN ( gophersports.com) -  The Golden Gophers beat North Dakota State 13-5 with 16 hits on Tuesday. Minnesota (13-19) had two innings in which it scored at least five runs off of Bison (8-22) pitching at Siebert Field. The 13 runs and 16 hits matched Minnesota's season highs.

Second baseman Connor Schaefbauer hit 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs, a double and two stolen bases. Left fielder Tony Skjefte went 3-for-4 with a run, an RBI and a double. Center fielder Jordan Smith hit 1-for-2 and scored three runs. Ben Petersen hit 3-for-4 with a home run for NDSU.

Minnesota's first barrage of offense came in the third inning. Blake Stockert struck out his first batter in relief of Sean Terres, but then allowed seven consecutive hits to put Minnesota ahead 6-1. Smith, Schaefbauer, third baseman Micah Coffey, right fielder Matt Fiedler and shortstop Michael Handel all hit singles. After a two-run double by Toby Hanson and RBI single by Skjefte, Brian VanderWoude relieved Stockert and induced a double play groundball.

Catcher Matt Halloran's second home run of the year made it 7-1 in the fourth before the Bison scored four times in the fifth. Starter Reggie Meyer allowed one run on four hits in four innings. Jeff Fasching pitched the fourth, allowing a pair of home runs to Petersen and John Skrbec.

Minnesota took control with six more runs, including five in the seventh. The Gophers batted 11 in the inning with four hits and four walks. Fred Manke, Lucas Gilbreath and Ty McDevitt kept NDSU scoreless for the last four innings of the ballgame.

UP NEXT

The Gophers will host a Big Ten series against Penn State April 17-19 at Siebert Field. Friday's game starts at 6:05 p.m. CT, Saturday's at 2:05 p.m. and Sunday's at 1:05 p.m.