Gophers Throw Combined No-Hitter

Omaha, NE (GopherSports.com) -- Led by Dalton Sawyer's seven-inning start, the University of Minnesota baseball team threw a combined no-hitter at Creighton. The Golden Gophers (5-7) beat the Blue Jays (5-5) 9-0 with the first nine-inning no-hitter in TD Ameritrade Park history.

Sawyer walked four and hit five batters with pitches, but only allowed one runner to reach third. He struck out five in a career-long outing. Tyler Hanson and Lance Thonvold each pitched one inning to preserve the no-hitter.

Minnesota scored its runs on 12 hits. Right fielder Matt Fiedler went 3-for-5 with two runs. Left fielder Jordan Smith, shortstop Michael Handel and cather Matt Halloran each had a pair of hits, and Halloran had three RBIs. The Gophers stole three bases.

The Gophers first got on the board when center fielder Alex Boxwell singled with one out in the third, and second baseman Connor Schaefbauer doubled to left to put Minnesota ahead 1-0. Third baseman Tony Skjefte led off the fifth with a triple, and designated hitter Jake Bergren drove him in with a groundball out to make it 2-0.

The Gophers batted around in the sixth to pour on five more runs. Fiedler and Halloran had a double each, and Smith and Handel a single each, during the inning. Skjefte walked, Boxwell drove one in on a squeeze bunt and pinch hitter Troy Traxler hit an RBI grounder and reached on an error.

Two more runs came across in the seventh, with Handel and Halloran driving in Fiedler and first baseman Toby Hanson.

NOTABLES
*The last Gophers no-hitter came exactly two years ago, on March 8, 2013. Tom Windle held Western Illinois hitless at the Metrodome.

*Fiedler has four multi-hit games this season after four-hit and three-hit games at Creighton this weekend. Handel also have four multi-hit games.

UP NEXT
The Gophers begin their spring break road trip with VCU's PK5 Classic in Richmond, Va. Minnesota will face James Madison (March 13), Monmouth (March 14) and VCU (March 15).