Baseball Briefly

* The Gophers Baseball team lost its opener in the NCAA tournament 7-1 to Cal. State Fullerton. That means our fearsome rodents will move to the losers bracket and play either Fresno State or San Diego at Tony Gwynn Stadium tomorrow evening. The Star Tribune has a little more information here.

* Minnesota Twins rookie Kevin Slowey, making his Major League debut, pitched 6 innings, allowing just one one on an Eric Chavez homerun. The 23-year old right hander, who demonstrated excellent control, lived up to or surpassed expectations for his first start. He has been described as a new version of Brad Radke. Slowey topped out at 90-91 mph, but showed excellent accuracy, walking two hitters while striking out three. The Twins beat Oakland in 10 innings 3-2.

PJS doesn't plan to weigh in on the Twins nightly, considering the Minnesota Twins blogosphere isn't lacking for distinct voices.