The No. 25-ranked Gopher baseball team would settle for 2-of-3 in its Big Ten weekend series against Iowa as the Hawkeyes took game three, 5-3, in the Maroon & Gold’s return to Siebert Field on Sunday afternoon.

Pitching dominated throughout three tightly-contested match-ups on the weekend, but No. 25 Minnesota (25-11, 9-2 Big Ten) did see senior infielder Micah Coffey reach a career milestone with his 200th hit on Sunday afternoon, a single in the fifth inning.

“You don’t get 200 hits unless you play a lot and consistently at a high level,” said head coach John Anderson after the game. “[Micah Coffey] has been a four-year starter here. He’s worked extremely hard at his game. Good for him. He deserves every one of them.”

Iowa (23-13, 7-6 Big Ten) got 7.0 innings from right-hander Cole McDonald, who scattered four Gopher hits while striking out seven on the day. Sam Thoresen worked around six hits to last a season-high 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out four.

The Hawkeyes took advantage of a dropped fly ball by the Minnesota outfield to score a run in the fourth. Iowa had back-to-back singles leading off the fifth, moved both runners up on a balk call, and then scored runs on a pair of groundouts late in the inning. The Maroon & Gold cut the lead to 3-1 with singles by Cole McDevitt and Coffey in the fifth, a walk by Jordan Kozicky, and sacrifice fly off the bat of Alex Boxwell.

Iowa extended the lead when Tyler Cropley came around to score after a double leading off the sixth and Chris Whelan hooked a home run around the left field foul pole in the seventh.

Jordan Kozicky seemed to have the Gophers on the board in the bottom of the inning, but his hit bounced out of play and Micah Coffey was forced to return to third base on the ground rule double.

Luke Pettersen led off the eighth with a single, scoring on a double by Ben Mezzenga, who eventually came in to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Eli Wilson as Minnesota pulled within 5-3. Zach Daniels tossed the final two innings for Iowa, allowing two runs on one hit, but doing enough to close out the victory.

“We took a big step with freshman pitcher Sam Thoresen. He controlled his emotions out there from the first inning,” Anderson said. “He settled in and pitched really well. The way his body language was, the way he handled himself, the way he competed today — that’s the best part of the day for me. If we’re going to keep climbing the ladder, that third starter is critical.”

Up next

Minnesota will not have to wait long before returning to Siebert Field as the team welcomes South Dakota State to Minneapolis on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.