March 24, 2004

Box Score

BRADENTON, FLA. - From the looks of it, it appears as if the Ben Stanczyk show was up and running here Tuesday (March 23). The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior dominated at the plate and on the mound in leading his team to an 8-3 victory over Dartmouth College in UWM's Spring Break finale. With the victory, UWM improved to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the Sunshine State. Dartmouth, which defeated Milwaukee 4-1 on Sunday, dropped to 5-4 on the campaign.

Stanczyk, a 2003 Second-Team All-League selection, knocked in three of UWM's eight runs offensively in addition to allowing one run in 4.1 innings of work out of the bullpen. The junior allowed just four hits and struck out two en route to his first victory of the season. Stanczyk relieved starter Korey Keller who allowed two earned runs with three punchouts in 2.2 innings on the mound.

Dartmouth dented the scoreboard first thanks to single runs in both the second and third innings. Milwaukee promptly tied the game in the top of the fourth thanks to the long ball. Stanczyk started the inning with a single and later scored on a Joe Nowicki home run. The long ball was the first of the season and career for the sophomore. The Panthers came back in the fifth inning with four more runs with Stanczyk again playing a major role. With one out, Steve Sanfilippo and Charlie Reschke notched base hits before Matt Alexander reached on an error which scored Sanfilippo. Stanczyk then came to the plate and crushed a three-run home run to right field, giving UWM a 6-3 lead. The homer was the third of the season for Stanczyk, giving him a share of the team lead.

Milwaukee added two more insurance runs in the sixth inning, again via the home run. Blake Kangas walked to lead off the inning but was quickly erased on a Jeremy Wilson double play. Sanfilippo then delivered his second hit of the day, this time a single to left field. Second baseman Charlie Reschke then cranked a two-run bomb to right field to give UWM the final 8-3 cushion. Stanczyk allowed just one hit in the final two innings to clinch the win.

The Panthers rapped out 12 hits on the day, three of which cleared the fence. UWM now has 15 home runs through 12 games after hitting just 17 in 50 games last season. Milwaukee has reached double-figures in hits in eight of its 11 games this season. In addition to Stanczyk's and Reschke's big day, Sanfilippos went 2-4 with two runs scored and Ross McCoy went 3-3 and reached base all four times. Alexander singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to all 11 games.

The Panthers will fly back to Milwaukee on Wednesday before hitting the road for four more games. UWM will head to Terre Haute, Ind. for a weekend series with Indiana State University with the first game slated for Saturday (March 27) at 1:00 p.m.