Gophers End Baseball Season With a Win

Minneapolis, MN (Gophersports.com) - The Golden Gophers closed their season with a 2-1 win against Michigan State at Siebert Field. Minnesota finished 2015 with a 21-30 record and 9-15 mark in Big Ten play. The Gophers won the series 2-1 but missed a Big Ten Tournament berth by one game.

Dalton Sawyer (4-3) tied his career high with seven strikeouts as he allowed just one unearned run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings. Left fielder Tony Skjefte hit 2-for-3 while the team had just six hits. Catcher Matt Halloranand first baseman Austin Athmann drove in runs, and right fielder Matt Stemper and shortstop Michael Handel scored them.

The Spartans' only run on their four hits came in the first inning. Ryan Krill hit a single and got to second on a dropped throw while Mark Weist reached on a fielder's choice. Ryan Richardson drove in Krill with a single to right.

The Gophers countered in the second. Stemper hit a leadoff single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Connor Schaefbauer. A Skjefte single moved Stemper to third. Halloran hit a fly ball to left that was dropped by the left fielder, and Stemper scored. The play was scored as a sacrifice fly with an error.

Athmann's RBI double in the sixth broke the tie and put Minnesota ahead for good. Handel had legged out an infield single on a grounder to deep short, and scored from first on Athmann's hit. Both the Gophers' runs were off of starter Jeff Kinley (4-3).

Brian Glowicki struck out a pair of Spartans in two innings in relief, and Lance Thonvold recorded the final two outs for his first save of the season.