Baseball

Sophomore shortstop Michael Handel drove in three runs as the Gophers defeated North Dakota State 5-3 at Siebert Field on Wednesday for their sixth straight win.

Minnesota (24-13) overcame a slow offensive start to sweep its season series with North Dakota State. The Gophers beat the Bison 4-2 at the Metrodome on Feb. 27.

Minnesota is now 4-1 at the new Siebert Field.

Head coach John Anderson said he was impressed with the pitching staff’s performance Tuesday after a week of no games.

Sophomore utility player Mark Tatera is used to doing all the little things.

So when the Gophers called on him to pinch-hit with the game on the line, he was quite comfortable.

Tatera’s pinch-hit, two-run-single in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie and helped the Gophers beat Augsburg 4-1 on Tuesday at Siebert Field.

“My freshman year, that’s pretty much the role I was in as a bench player,” Tatera said. “As time goes on, you get more and more comfortable with the chances you get.”

Gophers head coach John Anderson envisioned a starting rotation of juniors Tom Windle, Alec Crawford and DJ Snelten before the season.

After seeing it in action for the first time, it’s easy to see why.

Minnesota, behind strong starting pitching and outstanding work by the bullpen, swept Northwestern during the weekend to improve to 7-2 in the Big Ten.

All three of the Gophers’ starters pitched well. Crawford and Snelten both earned victories, and Windle threw five innings of one-run ball Friday en route to a no-decision.

Go to a Gophers baseball game, and you might see senior Kurt Schlangen behind the plate.

On another day, he might be patrolling right field.

“We’ve always been believers in teaching people to play more than one position,” head coach John Anderson said. “Especially if you’re an athlete. Kurt is an athlete.”

Schlangen, a former high school football star at Albany High School in central Minnesota, is one of the most versatile players on the team.

Brutal weather in the upper Midwest has thrown a wrench in many people’s daily routines this spring.

The Gophers’ baseball and softball teams have found success amid the bad conditions, which have caused several games to be postponed or canceled.

Both teams won two of three games at home last weekend, when snow and rain hit the University of Minnesota campus.