May 1, 2004

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pounded three home runs in the opener before scoring a season-high 14 runs in defeat in the nightcap in splitting a doubleheader with the University of Detroit Mercy in Horizon League baseball action here Saturday (May 1). UWM won the opener 7-3 before Detroit came from behind to post a 15-14 victory in a wild, offensive-driven nightcap. UWM is now 16-22 overall and 6-7 in the league while Detroit moves to 9-28 overall and 3-7 in the loop.

Milwaukee jumped ahead of Detroit 4-0 in the second inning of game one and never trailed en route to the four-run victory. The Panthers scored four runs in the second thanks in large part to the long ball. Charlie Reschke led off the inning with a solo shot to right before Blake Kangas drove his first career homer to left field, driving in two more runs. UWM scored its final run of the inning thanks to a Sam Jansen single, a Mike Czerwieniec wild pitch and a Dan Navarette base knock.

The Panthers then made it 6-0 with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Matt Alexander led off the inning with a single and then, with two outs, Ross McCoy crushed a ball over the centerfield fence for his fourth home run of the season. The home runs are the first for Milwaukee since April 14, a span of 10 games.

Detroit made things interesting in the fifth, scoring three runs and loading the bases versus starter Korey Keller. Alex Martin provided the big blow in the inning when he delivered a two-run single to left field. However, with the bases loaded and no out and a 6-3 lead, reliever Jed Dolske struck out mark Moehlig and got J.D. Leichtman to ground into an inning double play.

Blake Kangas drove home his third run of the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-3 before Dolske worked out of a two-out jam to close the door in the seventh. Keller worked five solid innings to improve to 4-4 on the year while Dolske notched his team-leading fifth save with two scoreless innings of relief. Kangas broke out of a prolonged slump with a 3-for-3 showing to go with a homer, double and three RBI. Czerwienic allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in five innings to fall to 1-4.

Game two proved to be a wild one as each team held, and then lost, leads of at least four runs. Milwaukee jumped ahead again in game two, this time grabbing a 3-0 lead after one inning. Zak Rivera started things off with a one-out double while Matt Alexander followed with a single. Ben Stanczyk drove home Rivera with a single before Reschke notched his second RBI of the game with a double to center. UWM scored its final run of the inning when Ross McCoy delivered an RBI groundout to first base.

The Detroit bats quickly went to work in the second inning en route to a 24-hit performace. The Titans scored seven runs in the frame on six hits, three of which went for extra bases. Jamey Embree drove home two runs with a triple while Charlie Anderson ripped a two-run homer to right, his eighth of the season.

Trailing 7-3 heading into the bottom of the second UWM took the lead back with a five-run frame to make it 8-7. The Panthers loaded the bases with no outs with a Kangas single, a Jeremy Wilson walk, and a Jansen base hit. Rivera made it 7-5 with a two-run single to left before Reschke homered for the second time in the game, this one a three run shot to give the Panthers the lead.

UWM starter Aaron Bushong settled down after the rough second inning and held the Titans scoreless over the next three immings. Meanhile, UWM expanded its lead to 12-7 with a four run fifth inning. Kangas drove home his fourth run of the game with a single before a two-run Wilson double and an RBI single by Jansen increased the Panther lead to five. Then, after one run in the top of the sixth Stanczyk hammered a two-run homer, his team leading seventh of the year, in the bottom half of the frame to give UWM a 14-8 lead heading into the seventh.

Unfortunately for Panthers the wheels started to fall off as Detroit scored five times in the seventh and two times in the ninth to steal the 15-14 victory. Anderson, the league's leading hitter, continued his torrid play with a bases-clearing, three-run double in the seventh. Then, in the ninth, Anderson drove home the tying run with his fourth double of the game and scored the eventual winning run on an Alex Martin single and Matt Alexander error.

UWM managed a hit in each of the last three innings but could not plate the game-tying run. Jed Dolske (2-3) allowed two earned runs in two innings to take the tough luck loss. Daniel Dobberowsky (2-1) worked a solid 2.1 innings of relief to earn the victory. The Panthers pounded out 16 hits in the game and scored a season-high 14 runs but committed six errors and allowed 24 hits in the loss. Reschke went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Stanczyk (3-5, two runs, three RBI), Rivera (3-4, two runs, two RBI) and Kangas (2-5, two runs, RBI) all added two or more hits. Anderson finished the game 5-for-6 for Detroit with four doubles, a home run and seven RBI.

The two teams will be back at it on Sunday (May 2) with another doubleheader. Sunday's twinbill is set for a 5:00 p.m. start at Miller Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers.