Estrada’s pinch homer lifts Minnesota over Indiana in tourney

Published 10:33 pm Friday, May 26, 2017

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Pinch-hitter Eduardo Estrada’s three-run homer gave Minnesota the lead in the eighth inning, and the third-seeded Gophers overcame a six-run deficit to beat Indiana 9-8 in a Big Ten Tournament elimination game Friday night.

After Ben Mezzenga’s two-run double pulled the Gophers within 8-6, Estrada drilled a 2-1 pitch from Kade Kryzsko (1-1) over the right-field fence for his second homer of the season.

The sixth-seeded Hoosiers (33-22-1) had gone up 6-0 in the sixth on Jeremy Houston’s solo homer.

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The Gophers (35-20) had two runners on with no outs in the ninth, but Luke Miller was tagged out in a rundown between first and second after Craig Dedelow flied out, and Fred Manke struck out Logan Sowers for his second save. Tim Shannon (3-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win.

Minnesota advanced to play Iowa on Saturday.