June 1, 2002

Box Score

LINCOLN, Neb. - UWM could not solve the stellar starting pitching of Southwest Missouri State right-hander Matt Palmer Saturday afternoon, falling to the Bears, 6-1, in a loser's bracket contest at the Lincoln Regional.

The loss eliminates the Panthers (36-20) from the tournament, while SMS (42-20) will face the loser of this afternoon's Nebraska/Marist contest in an elimination game at 8:05 p.m. this evening.

Palmer (5-3) allowed just one run on six hits in keeping the Bears alive in the tournament. UWM finally knocked Palmer from the game with two singles in the eighth inning. But reliever Bob Zimmermann enduced John Vanden Berg into a popup to second before Dave Pudlosky lined out to left to end the threat. Zimmerman then retired the side in order in the ninth to record his fifth save.

Geoff Lefeber (6-1) worked 8 1/3 innings for the Panthers, allowing six runs and nine hits while suffering his first loss in a Panther uniform.

Brooks Colvin had three hits while Greg Mathis had two hits for the Bears. Vanden Berg had two hits for UWM.

"We're pretty disappointed," UWM head coach Jerry Augustine said. "It seems like the last two years we haven't played very well at this point. But we're going to work hard and get better and hopefully someday we'll come back here and win it all."

Lefeber pitched out of a minor jam in the third. Shaun Marcum led off with a double and advanced to third on a ground ball. But, Lefeber enduced Tony Piazza and Rick Wilson into groundball outs, stranding Marcum at third.

The Bears scored their first run in the fourth inning. Dant'e Brinkley started the rally with a one-out single and advanced to second on a ground ball. He then stole third and scored on a Mathis double to right-center. After allowing an infield hit, Lefeber worked out of further trouble by getting Marcum to ground out to third.

SMS added to their advantage in the fifth while getting the help two Panther errors. Piazza reached on a one-out error by Steve Guden and went to third on an infield single by Wilson and an error on the same play by Adam Christ. Matt Gardner then drove in Piazza with a bloop single and Brinkley brought home the third run with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Panthers wasted a golden opportunity to score in the bottom of the fifth. Steve Guden was hit by a pitch and Charlie Reschke doubled to put runners on second and third with no one out. But Shane Davis grounded out, Reschke was picked off second and Ben Beno struck out swinging to end the Panther threat without a run scoring.

"That was the key to the game," Augustine said. "That tells you the way things went for us this weekend. We've got to get those runs in. Good teams get those runs in. It really set the tone for the ballgame."

UWM finally broke through with a run in the sixth. Troy Doering reached on a walk and, following two fly-ball outs, advanced to second on a wild pitch. Vanden Berg drove him in with a bloop single to center and Dave Pudlosky walked to put runners at first and second. But Guden grounded back to the mound on the first pitch he saw to end the threat.

SMS added two insurance runs in the ninth. Colvin singled off the hand of Lefeber and moved to second on a ground ball. Colvin then stole third and scored on a wild pitch. After Lefeber went to 3-1 on Donnie Watchowski, Matt Freisleben replaced him and completed the walk to Watchowski before allowing a single to Piazza. Mikel Schaefer then entered for the Panthers and enduced Rick Wilson into a run-scoring ground out before striking out Matt Gardner to end the inning.

Game Notes: Dave Pudlosky's second-inning walk was his 40th of the season, setting a new single-season UWM record. He broke the previous record of 39 set by Jak Kraus in 1996 ... Troy Doering has now reached base safely in 35-straight games after drawing a walk in the sixth inning. He has 35 walks this season, the fifth-most in a single season by a Panther ... John Vanden Berg's single in the fourth extended his hitting streak to eight games. He had a 10-game streak earlier this season. His two hits gave him his 22nd multi-hit game of the season ... The game was the final contest for six Panthers seniors. John Vanden Berg, Matt Freisleben, Quintin Oldenburg, Steve Guden, Ben Beno and Adam Christ have all exhausted their collegiate eligibility ... UWM finishes the season with 36 wins, the second-most in school history ... UWM is now 1-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests.