Hard to believe, but the Gophers are one win away from winning the Fullerton Regional.
They needed 3 hrs. and 30 minutes, but the U beat New Mexico 6-4 on Saturday night --- actually it was 1:36 a.m. Minneapolis time.
I told several people that I thought the Gophers had a chance in this regional, but I'm not sure anybody believed me. Coach John Anderson has never had one of his teams in 16 previous NCAAs win a regional. Now the Gophers are on the cusp.
New Mexico took a 3-0 lead on Saturday, but the Gophers battled back to tie the game at 3-3 and then at 4-4 and won on two runs in the top of the 10th inning. Minnesota started the inning with four singles in a row by Kyle Knudson, Nick O'Shea, Matt Puhl and Kyle Geason.
That scored two runs and that was more than enough for closer Scott Matyas. He pitched three innings, struck out eight in a row, including all three hitters in the bottom of the 10th.
Freshman T.J. Oakes started for the Gophers and kept the score close. Minnesota pecked away to tie the game at 3-3 on Knudson's homer, a sacrifice fly and Mike Kvasnicka's double.
Anderson will turn to junior lefthander Phil Isaksson (6-1, 3.29 ERA) to pitch tonight. And, the good thing is, except for Matyas who got a save Friday when Seth Rosin pitched a gem, and a win on Saturday, the bullpen is fresh.
The Gophers won three in a row to win the Big Ten tournament and land a spot in the NCAA tournament, and they have won two in a row in NCAA play. One more win either Sunday or Monday will advance them to a super regional, or the Sweet 16, for a best-of-three series against one team.
Cal State-Fullerton was the top seed in this regional, its at their ballpark, Goodwin Field. But the Gophers, despite their record which is still only 32-28, are looking pretty good for a fourth seed.
CSF beat Stanford, the second seed, 6-5 on Saturday to eliminate the Cardinals. One more team, either Cal State-Fullerton or New Mexico, will be eliminated before the well-rested Gophers take the field late Sunday night.
The Gophers' game tonight will be on ESPN2 and 1220-AM out of Stillwater. The Gophers web site, www.gophersports.com is also doing a live blog on the game. It had more than 900 followers last night from as far away as Iraq.
Great showing for U so far in Cali. There are 16 regionals across the country and Minnesota is the only fourth seed that is 2-0. Four fourth seeds are 1-1 -- Mercer, Oral Roberts, Stony Brook and Dartmouth -- and the other 13 are on their way home.
