May 20, 2001

CHICAGO -

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Aaron Bushong pitched seven strong innings and UWM's bullpen shut down Cleveland State in the late innings as the Panthers claimed the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship with a 4-1 victory Sunday afternoon at UIC.

The post-season title is the second in three years for the Panthers (39-16), who receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament pairings will be announced Monday at 2 p.m., and can be seen on ESPN. The team will gather to watch the pairings at The Gasthaus in the UWM Union, and the public is invited to attend.

Bushong, a surprise starter in place of the ailing Mike Oiler, allowed just five hits and one run while not walking a batter. The redshirt freshman, who was told only 10 minutes before the game that he would be the starter, had pitched a complete game in Thursday's tournament-opening win over Detroit.

"I was very much surprised," Bushong said of his second start in the tournament. "I thought maybe I'd have to throw a few innings. I felt OK, which made me feel a little better."

Cleveland State scored its only run of the day in the sixth on a two-out single by Keith Lillash. Jason Crawford pitched a perfect eighth before allowing a leadoff single in the ninth. Matt Freisleben then needed just six pitches to record the final three outs and the championship for UWM.

The Panthers, who had just seven hits on the day, broke onto the scoreboard in the fourth on an RBI single from Dave Pudlosky. Scott Gillitzer, who was named the tournament most valuable player, drove in a run in the fifth with an RBI single. UWM then added a pair of insurance runs in the late innings, with one run scoring on a ground out by John VandenBerg in the seventh, and the other scoring on a ground ball by Oiler in the eighth.

Gillitzer went 2-for-5 on the day, clinching MVP honors one day after beating UIC with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"It's a real honor," Gillitzer said of being named the MVP. "It could have gone to Aaron Bushong. He had a heck of a tournament. But it's a real honor to be recognized."

Gillitzer, a transfer from Madison Area Technical College, was not on the Panthers' 1999 squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament and knocked-off top-ranked Rice before being eliminated.

"This is my first time," Gillitzer said. "We've really been thinking about it all year. We said we wanted to win that conference tournament and shake some things up at the regionals."

Bushong, meanwhile, allowed just one earned run in 16 innings at the tournament after arriving at the park Thursday believing he may not even get a start in four days. Other than the inning when Cleveland State scored, he did not allow a runner past second base.

"I just wanted to hang in there and hit my spots," he said. "I knew I wouldn't have as much on the ball coming back on two days, so I had to hit my spots and let them put the ball in play."

UWM also wreaked havoc on the basepaths, recording five stolen bases in six attempts after stealing 16 of 18 against the Vikings during the regular season.