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Tonight, we have a baseball game to watch on our televisions. At 5:05 central time, the Minnesota Twins will take on the Minnesota Gophers. Sure, it’s “Just” an exhibition game, but it’s a baseball game. As noted earlier, the Twins lineup will be filled with non-roster invites and minor leaguers, but that’s OK. Today, I thought it would be fun to get to know some of the Gophers players so that as you’re watching you know a little about the Twins opponent.Those that have listened to my Twins On Deck podcast know that I try to chat with a Gophers player each episode. Consistently, those guests have said that this Gophers team could have a real strong offense with several veteran players. The pitching has a lot of talent, but they’re quite young. In their first weekend of games, five Gophers pitchers made their college debut. Here are some quick notes on some of the players you’ll likely see tonight. Luke Pettersen - (Episode 1, Episode 7) - It’s a last name that is familiar to Gophers and Twins fans. Pettersen is a college senior from Minnetonka High School. Last year, the second baseman led the Gophers with a .354 batting average. He hit .400 (8-20) in the Gophers season opener with a couple of doubles. You remember Luke’s older brother AJ Pettersen who was a starting infielder for the Gophers and reached AA after being drafted by the Twins. Micah Coffey - (Episode 6) - Coffey has mostly played first base so far this season. The senior from Illinois hit .340 last year for the Gophers and .370 in Big 10 play. He was named second-team All Big Ten. When the Twins and Gophers played in 2015, Coffey pinch hit and went 0-1. He played last summer in the Cape Cod League. Jordan Kozicky - In the Gophers season opener on Friday at Georgia Tech, sophomore Kozicky homered in his first two at-bats. And it was his 21st birthday. He was a freshman All Big 10 a year ago and hit .325 with four homers. The Minneapolis Southwest grad redshirted his first year, so he is draft-eligible this year. Toby Hanson - (Episode 2) - Hanson was a third-team All Big Ten selection a year ago and led the team with 57 RBI. He hit .319 with 23 extra base hits. The Delano grad played a lot of right field in the team’s opening weekend in Georgia. He started the exhibition against the Twins his freshman season and went 0-2. Cole McDevitt - McDevitt was a first-team All Big Ten performer last year when he hit .296 (.314 in Big 10 play). The catcher is a junior who went to high school at Eastview. His brother, Ty, is the Gophers pitching coach. When he hasn’t caught, he’s had time at first base and DH already this year. Terrin Vavra - Twins fans are aware of the Vavra name. Terrin’s father Joe was a long-time coach for the Twins, serving in several roles. His older brothers, Tanner and Trey, were both drafted by the Twins in recent years. Terrin may be the best of the group. He’s been the Gophers starting shortstop since his freshman season. A junior now, Vavra hit .308 in 2017 for the Gophers, but he turned it on in Big 10 play, hitting .395. Last summer, he played in the Cape Cod League. Eduardo Estrada - Estrada was Mr. Baseball his senior season at Litchfield High School. Estrada played in the infield in high school and he’s moved around a bit in college. He’s now in the outfield, though he’s probably best at DH. Alex Boxwell - (Episode 3) Boxwell is a senior from Coon Rapids. He missed a lot of time last year with injury. He returned but wasn’t at 100 percent. In fact, he was supposed to go to the Cape Cod League but didn’t because of the injury. Boxwell led the Gophers in home runs (6) and stolen bases in 2017. Ben Mezzenga - A junior from Totino-Grace, Mezzenga got an opportunity to play 50 games last year and hit .296, but he got on base at a .415 clip. A good outfielder, Mezzenga is a speed guy Eli Wilson - Wilson is back for his sophomore season. A year ago, he hit .319 in 24 games for the Gophers. His father, Dan Wilson, was an All American catcher for the Gophers who had a great career and still works in the Mariners organization. Riley Smith - Riley Smith is in his junior season. He Oklahoma native played in just 23 games last year after playing 36 games as a freshman. As for pitching, it’s hard to know who the Gophers will have pitch against the Twins. They likely won’t have their top pitchers pitch as they’ll pitch in their weekend series in Port Charlotte where they’ll play Boston College, Chicago State and Mount St. Mary. Nick Lackney, a junior left-hander, threw six shutout innings against Kennesaw State in his first start. Brett Schulze threw four innings of shutout ball against Georgia Tech in his season debut. He is a sophomore. As I mentioned, five freshman pitchers debuted over the weekend. Josh Cullver, from Omaha, recorded a three-inning save in the first win. Woodbury’s Max Meyer, who the Twins drafted in 2017, made his debut on the mound and the next day at the plate. He’ll pitch and hit for the Gophers. Ryan Duffy is a lefty from South St. Paul. Patrick Fredrickson is a 6-6 freshman from Washington. Sam Thoresen is a right-hander from Minnetonka. Reggie Meyer was a freshman when these two teams played. He gave up a home run to Jorge Polanco in that game. The Twins and Gophers will play an exhibition game. It’ll be a good opportunity for both teams. It’ll be a memory that will last a lifetime for the Gophers players. Twins Lineup: Zack Granite - CF Gregorio Petit - 2B Nick Gordon - SS Chris Heisey - DH Brock Stassi - 1B Nick Buss - LF Ryan LaMarre - RF Jordan Pacheco - C Taylor Featherston - 3B Stephen Gonsalves - SP Gophers Lineup: Luke Pettersen - 2B Micah Coffey - 1B Jordan Kozicky - 3B Toby Hanson - RF Cole McDevitt - C Terrin Vavra - SS Riley Smith - LF Alex Boxwell - CF Gabe Knowles - DH Jeff Fasching - SP Click here to view the article

So, first of all, I'm testing out a name for the podcast. I really feel that because my podcast will primarily be chatting with minor leaguers, the phrase On Deck makes a lot of sense. It is obviously a baseball term for the next batter up. Next up. That's a phrase we often hear players in the upper levels use when saying they need to be ready because if someone gets hurt or another transaction occurs, they could be the next player called up. It's a work-in-progress, but it's much better than Seth's Twins Talk, right? Anyway, we've got five new guests on tonight's podcast. Tune in live at 8:00 central time, and we'll likely go just shy of 90 minutes again this week.Tonight, I am joined by another solid group of Twins minor league prospects as well as another senior of the Minnesota Gophers baseball team. I'll be joined by two more members of the 2017 draft class, a prospect acquired by the Twins at the trade deadline, and a toolsy prospect with a ton of upside. Here are the guests, starting with the Golden Gopher. Alex Boxwell is a senior outfielder for the University of Minnesota. The Coon Rapids native hit .253/.329/.438 (.767) with a double, four triples and six home runs. LHP Bryan Sammons was the Twins 10th round pick in 2017 out of Western Carolina University. After seven games with Elizabethton, he moved up to Cedar Rapids where he made five starts and a relief appearance before the end of his pro debut season. Another left-hander from the 2017 draft class is Hawaiian Ryley Widell who the Twins took with their 7th round pick out of Central Arizona. He debuted with Elizabethton where he struck out 41 batters in 29.2 innings. The Twins received RHP Zack Littell along with LHP Dietrich Enns in exchange for LHP Jaime Garcia before the July trade deadline. He was an impressive 20-1 (counting a playoff win for Chattanooga) in 2017 and was Minor League Baseball's Starting Pitcher of the Year. After the season, he was added to the Twins 40-man roster. He attended Twins Fest this past weekend. Travis Blankenhorn was another Twins Fest participant this week. He spent the 2017 season in Cedar Rapids where he hit .251/.343/.441 (.784) with 22 doubles, 11 triples and 13 home runs. He also stole 13 bases, including a dramatic steal of home! Tune in live at 8 tonight. For each guest, I'll be sure to ask questions that you submit down below, or via twitter, so feel free to participate by asking questions. If you can't listen live, it will be available here right after the completion of the podcast. To find it on iTunes, search "Minnesota Sports Weekly" and find this podcast. Click here to view the article

The Gopher baseball team completed their 13-game, US Bank Stadium home stand on Sunday afternoon with a loss to Missouri State. In fact, the Gophers lost two of the three games this weekend. They will now play four games this coming week in California before starting Big Ten games the following week at Ohio State. Today we get to know another Gophers senior contributor. Troy Traxler grew up in LaCrescent, Minnesota, a small town across the Mississippi River from LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He grew up a Twins fan, often going to games at Metrodome and Target Field. He won a state championship in high school, and has played in the Northwoods League. Let's get to know outfielder Troy Traxler. Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in LaCrescent, were you a big Twins fan? Troy Traxler (TT): I was a huge Twins fan. When I was real young, I would wear my Eric Milton jersey everywhere. I also imitated everything Jacque Jones did. I still do his pre-pitch routine, swinging the bat around until the pitcher throws the ball. SS: Did you get to many games? Who were some of your favorite ballplayers? TT: Since I lived a ways away from the Metrodome and Target Field, I usually got to one or two games a year. I loved Jacque Jones because he was a smaller guy who could do a little bit of everything. He's the type of player I always tried to emulate. SS: What were some of the highlights of your high school career? TT: Some highlights from my high school career including playing in the state tournament and winning it all in 2009. I loved playing high school baseball as I got to play a little bit of every position and our team was always competitive in the conference and in the state tournament. High school baseball was a blast that I will always miss. SS: What was it about the University of Minnesota that made you decide to play for the Gophers? TT: I chose the U of M because both my parents went here and I would come on campus all the time for football games when I was younger and always dreamed of playing for the Gophers. As soon as Rob called me on the first day he could call recruits, I knew I was going to be a Gopher. It was a dream come true. SS: Have you played summer ball through your college years? TT: Guys joke that I am a Northwoods League lifer. I played in the NWL each summer during my collegiate career. I loved the Northwoods League and would play in it for the rest of my life if I could. I played for the La Crosse Loggers, the Wisconsin Woodchucks, the Rochester Honkers and the Rockford Rivets, all in the Northwoods League. Living the professional baseball lifestyle was a blast, and I will always remember my summers in the NWL. SS: What have been some of the highlights of your time with the Gophers? TT: Some highlights throughout my collegiate career include winning the Big Ten title and playing in the NCAA tournament. It always was a goal of mine to play for a nationally-ranked team, and I accomplished that last year. SS: What are your goals for the 2017 season? TT: Some goals for the 2017 season is to defend our B1G title. I hope to help the team defend our title in any fashion, whether that be as a role player, as a starter or even just as a leader that younger players can talk to. I hope to exceed our accomplishments from last year, but realize that this is a process and not just something that talent can take care of. It will be a fun ride this year, and I look forward to the ups and downs the season brings. SS: What is your major, and what are your career goals going forward? (How does baseball fit into that equation?) TT: My major is business and marketing education with a minor in communications. I plan on using my major through the corporate world as I will pursue a career in sales where I can use my competitive background. Once baseball is over, I will need something to work for and sales is a good fit for my skill set as I can always strive to be better, making and maintaining relationships along the way. GOPHERS NOTES On Friday night, the Gophers won 5-2. It was a tight game until the bottom of the 8th when Matt Stemper delivered a bases-clearing double to secure the win. Alex Boxwell was 2-3 with a triple. Lucas Gilbreath started. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out six. Tyler Hanson got the win. He threw three scoreless innings. Brian Glowicki recorded his fifth save with a perfect ninth. Saturday, freshman Brett Schulze was on the mound. He gave up five runs on four hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. He struck out five. Nick Lackney walked four of the five batters he faced and got just one out. Tim Shannon worked 2.1 innings of one-run ball before Jackson Rose pitched a scoreless inning. The Gophers had just four hits though three of them went for extra bases. Matt Stemper and Micah Coffey each knocked home runs. Alex Boxwell added a double. The Gophers lost 7-2. On Sunday afternoon, the Gophers lost 12-3. Toby Anderson was knocked out in the fourth inning. Troy Traxler was the lone Gopher with more than one hit. He went 2-3 with a walk. COMING NEXT The Gophers play against California-Berkeley on Tuesday night. The Bears have become a program that the Twins have drafted and signed several players out of. In fact, no other college program has more players currently in the organization. Trevor Hildenberger, Michael Theofanopoulos, Chris Paul, Mitchell Kranson, Ryan Mason and Alex Schik all come from the school. Then the team will play three games against Sacramento State. 2016 draft pick Tyler Beardsley, a right-hander, is from the school. If you would like to discuss Troy Traxler, the Gophers weekend or anything, please feel free to ask questions. Click here to view the article

The Twins played their first spring training game Friday, but baseball-starved Minnesotans didn't have to make the 1,700-mile trek to Fort Myers to catch a live game. The Gophers played their first baseball game in U.S. Bank Stadium history, beating Seattle University 13-4. In terms of how the venue transformed to accommodate baseball, it was clear a lot of inspiration was taken from the building that formerly stood at the corner of 4th Street & Chicago Ave.Indeed, it seemed the more things change the more they stay the same, as the field shares some striking similarities to the Metrodome. It's got the baggy out in right field, the awkwardly folded up football seats in center, foul "poles" ascending down from the roof -- it's almost like they've created an homage to the old dome sweet dome. And while there will always be something unnatural about baseball being played indoors (let alone in a stadium designed for football), it's still February baseball in Minnesota. A few of the things that looked out of place ranged from the visually unpleasing (industrial looking temporary dugouts, lack of dirt around the bases) to legit safety concerns: an awkward mound that's part turf and part dirt, no warning tracks, and not as much netting to protect fans as you'd see at an MLB stadium. And there's also the issue that the tickets ($10, all are general admission) and concessions all cost about the same as what I typically paid at Target Field last season. This was my first time inside U.S. Bank Stadium, and while I enjoyed exploring around some, it was a bit disappointing that seating was limited to the sections along the first base line and behind home plate. But even with those negatives I just listed, I'd go back to another game. Again, this is baseball being forced indoors, so it's never going to be perfect. But the most important thing is this configuration works, and it's going to give hundreds of Minnesota kids a chance to play real games in a pretty cool venue during late winter/early spring. As far as the game went, things didn't get off to a great start for the Gophers, as they fell behind 3-0. But once the bats got rolling it was big inning after big inning, as they scored 13 unanswered runs. Senior catcher Matt Stemper hit the first home run in the stadium's history, and finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs. Toby Hanson was another bright spot, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Lucas Gilbreath, who is trying to transition from the bullpen to the starting rotation this season, showed some positive signs, striking out five batters, but he also walked six over his three innings of work. Tyler Hanson came out of the pen to provide the Gophers 3 2/3 shutout innings. Friday' Gopher victory was the opener of a three-game series against Seattle U. The two teams square off again Saturday at 6 p.m., then close things out Sunday at 1 p.m.. Between now and late April around 140 baseball games will be played at the Metrodo ... er, U.S. Bank Stadium. Along with the Gophers, some other local college team's from the NSIC and MIAC will make appearances, as well as a number of high schools. Entry to non-Gopher games will be $5. Here is a full list of baseball games scheduled form the stadium's official website. Click here to view the article