April 9, 2004

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - Butler University jumped ahead of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 5-0 through three innings and never trailed en route to a 12-5 baseball victory in the Horizon League opener for both teams here Friday (April 9). The Panthers lost for the fourth time in five games in falling to 8-12 and 0-1 in the league while BU improved to 12-15 overall and 1-0 with the win.

The Bulldogs, who came into the game batting just .263 as a team, hammered out 16 hits against four different Milwaukee pitchers while scoring 12 runs, the third most given up by the Panthers this season. Meanwhile, Milwaukee, which entered play second in the Horizon League with a .303 team batting mark, managed just seven hits off BU starter Aaron Miles and reliever Matt Byzet.

Butler grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a run-scoring single by Justin McKinley. The hosts quickly made it 5-0 in the third, scoring four runs off of UWM starter Korey Keller, three of which were unearned. Joe Dempsey provided the big blow when he blasted a two-run home run, his third of the season. Butler stretched its lead to 6-0 in the fourth when Stephen Gill scored on a double play groundout by Dale Mueller.

Milwaukee's bats finally began to click in the fifth when the visitors touched the Butler ace for three runs on four base hits. Charlie Reschke singled with one out and advanced to second on a two-out single by Robert Michalkiewicz. Brooks Graff then continued his torrid play when he plated both Panther baserunners with a double to left field. Matt Curran then made it 6-3 when his base hit plated Graff.

The Panthers continued to surge in the sixth when two more runs made it 6-5. Zak Rivera and Ben Stanczyk led off the frame with walks and moved up a base on a balk by Miles. After a Ross McCoy strikeout, Charlie Reschke delivered an RBI single to right field. Nicholas Wichser was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Miles then threw a wild pitch with two out, allowing Stanczyk to score and cut the lead to one.

UWM knocked Miles out of the game touching him up for five earned runs on five hits and five walks in six innings of work. However, the surge was shortlived as Byzet shut the Panthers down in the last three innings while his squad scored six more runs on six base hits in their final three at bats. Three different Panther relievers combined to give up six earned runs on six hits with two walks in three innings while Byzet allowed just two hits and no runs in his two innings of work.

The two teams will be back at it Saturday (April 10) with a twinbill at Bulldog Park. The first game of the day is set to begin at 12 p.m. with UWM's Sam Jansen squaring off against BU's Craig Costello.