May 17, 2002

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - UIC scored seven times in the top of the eighth inning en route to an 11-6 win over UWM in game one of a four-game series Friday night at Henry Aaron Field.

With the win, the Flames (34-13, 12-4 Horizon) moved to within two wins of securing the regular season Horizon League championship. UWM will have to win the next three games of the series to clinch the title, while two UWM wins will force UIC to complete a suspended game with Youngstown State on Tuesday.

The Panthers (31-16, 14-6 Horizon) scored twice in the sixth and twice in the seventh to grab a 6-3 lead. But, the Flames recorded eight hits off two Panther pitchers in the eighth inning, sending 12 batters to the plate.

Matt Freisleben (2-6), who entered the game ranked second in the nation in saves, worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the seventh. But, he gave up five hits and hit another batter without retiring a man in the eighth.

David Haehnel (2-0) worked 2 2/3 innings in relief to claim the win for UIC.

The Flames jumped to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings, but the Panthers tied the game with a two-run home run by Jeff Pitrof in the bottom of the second. UWM then took the lead with two runs in the sixth, one scoring on a David Michna RBI single and another one coming home on a Shane Davis ground ball.

UIC pulled within 4-3 with a run in the top of the seventh, but the Panthers appeared to add insurance with two runs in the seventh. John Vanden Berg drove in a run with a single while Steve Guden brought home the sixth run with another single.

But the Flames turned the game in the eighth. John Rosner started the inning with a single and Curtis Granderson drove him in with a double. Mike Lorenzo drove home Granderson with another double and Chuck Peters brought in the tying run with a triple. Mike Hughes was then hit by a pitch and Kevin Nelson drove in pinch-runner J.P. Carey with a single, giving UIC the lead and knocking Freisleben from the game. The Flames then added two more hits and brought in the final three runs against Cory Kleeba.

Granderson, who ranks third in the nation in batting, went 4-for-4 to lead UIC, which had 21 hits and left 15 runners on base. Rosner added three hits to extend his hitting streak to 28 games. Mike Bruszer also had three hits for UIC.

Adam Christ, Dave Pudlosky and Guden had two hits apiece for UWM, which lost for just the second time in 17 home games this season.

The series continues Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader and wraps up Sunday with a single game at noon.