Gophers top starter Matt Fiedler also team's top hitter

The lead pitcher in the starting rotation of a major league team was referred to as the "ace" for decades. In more recent times, those pitchers are referred to as No. 1 starters.

There are fewer than 20 pitchers that seem to receive this distinction, causing other rotations — such as the Twins — to be derided as a collection of "3s [or worse.]"

There is a different term in major college baseball: The pitcher at the top is the "Friday starter."

Righthander Matt Fiedler has gained that role for the Gophers in his junior season. He has become the starting pitcher in the series opener. He's also the No. 3 hitter as the pitcher, and then the designated hitter or right fielder in the rest of a weekend series.

John Anderson has been associated with the Gophers since the mid-70s, as the head coach since 1981. He has had relief pitchers that also were a presence in the batting order, including junior Tyler Hanson over the previous two seasons.

"To find a starting pitcher that was a big part of the lineup when he wasn't pitching … I'd say we have to go back to Dave Winfield," Anderson said. "Brian Denman did some of that, too, so it's the '70s, before I was the coach, that we had a player like Matt."

Dave Winfield was the pitching and hitting star of the 1973 Gophers that reached the final three of the College World Series. He was drafted fourth overall by San Diego and went directly to Padres as an outfielder. He never played in the minors on his way to the Hall of Fame.

Winfield — and also Denman. That's good company.

"I wouldn't put myself in that company," Fiedler said. "I just enjoy doing both, pitching and hitting, and appreciate '14' giving me the chance."

That would be Anderson — "14'' (as in his number) to the current Gophers and to the generations that he has coached previously.

On March 18, in Orem, Utah, in the shadow of magnificent mountains, Fiedler went six innings and allowed two runs in a 13-5 victory over Utah Valley. He also hit his first home run of the season and had a stolen base.

The Gophers declared this had to be the first time that a player was the winning starter, hit a home run and stole a base in a game since Winfield.

He didn't find a Winfield hat trick: winning as a starter, hitting a home run and stealing a base.

That's an interesting single-game achievement for Fiedler, although his feats last weekend were considerably more crucial for the Gophers.

They were opening the Big Ten season against Iowa at Siebert Field. A year ago, the Gophers didn't make the top eight in the 13-team Big Ten and thus missed the conference tournament.

"It was at Target Field," Fiedler said. "Not being there was embarrassing to us as players."

Fiedler was the winner with seven strong innings vs. Iowa on Friday. After a Saturday rainout, the Gophers and the Hawkeyes split two on Sunday, with Fiedler homering in both games as the DH.

Fiedler originally committed to Notre Dame for baseball. When the staff there said he would be a pitcher only, Fiedler talked with assistant Rob Fornasiere and switched to the Gophers.

"I wasn't ready to give up hitting," he said.

More surprising than his ability to be a Friday starter and a No. 3 hitter in the Big Ten is that Fiedler was able to escape the soccer clutches of his family.

His parents, Anne and Charles, met as varsity soccer players at Middlebury College in Vermont. His younger sister Molly was a freshman standout in Gophers soccer last fall.

Matt played both soccer and baseball at St. Paul Academy.

"I had a neighbor in Eagan … Garrison Draves," Fiedler said. "He became like an older brother. He got me started. I loved hitting, from the time he was throwing a whiffle ball in the yard."

For this, Mr. Draves has the gratitude of "14."