May 2, 2004
Box Score
Miller Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, saw three extra inning games and five games decided by one-run in the last Brewer homestand. Well, those numbers should now be four extra inning games and seven one-run contests as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Detroit Mercy split a pair of games in Horizon League baseball action here Sunday (May 2). Detroit used two runs in the first and second innings of game one to take a 4-3 victory while Milwaukee rode an impressive pitching performance by Ben Stanczyk to take the nightcap, 2-1 in 12 innings. UWM is now 16-23 on the year and 6-8 in league play while the Titans move to 10-28 and 4-7 in the loop following the four-game weekend split.
In the first game Detroit took advantage of some rare early wildness by UWM starter Robert Michalkiewicz to jump ahead 4-0 after two innings. The Titans scored both first inning runs with two outs when Tim Poley drove home Charlie Anderson with a single before Poley scored on a balk after a stolen base and an error. The Titans scored two more runs in the second inning to grab a 4-0 leads thanks to three base hits and a walk. Anderson continued his red-hot play with an RBI single while Jason Chapieski drove home a run with a base hit.
UWM finally got to Detroit starter Adam Myers in the third inning and cut the lead to two, 4-2. Dan Navarette got things going with a two-out double to right field. Sam Jansen then tripled to score Navarette before eventually scoring on a Matt Alexander RBI single.
The Panthers scored one more run in the sixth to make it 4-3 but Detroit left fielder Mark Moehlig stymied the rally when he threw out the potential game-tying run at home. Ben Stanczyk walked to lead off the inning and eventually scored when Zak Rivera singled and the throw into the infield got away from Titan third baseman Alex Martin. Then, after Joe Nowicki pinch ran for Rivera, Ross McCoy grounded a base hit to Moehling in left and his throw beat Nowicki to the plate where he was called out on a bang-bang play.
Leroy Pederson struck two guys out in the top of the seventh to keep it a one-run game but the Panthers couldn't score the equalizer in the bottom half. Myers (2-5) notched a complete game victory for the Titans while Michalkiewicz allowed eight hits, six walks, and three earned runs in dropping to 3-4 on the year.
Game two turned out to be an old-fashioned pitchers dual as Stanczyk and UDM's Keith Astraukas battled pitch-for-pitch for 12 innings. Detroit took the early lead again thanks to a Charlie Anderson solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Anderson, who went 9-for-14 on the weekend with five doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI, ended his day in the fourth when he was ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes.
Astraukus kept the Milwaukee hitters off balance and took a shutout into the seventh inning. The Panthers finally scratched out the game-tying run thanks in large part to a Titan error. Alexander led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Kyle Crepeau. Stanczyk then reached on an RBI bunt, setting up runners at first and third. Charlie Reschke delivered an RBI sacrifice fly to tie the game but Astraukus got Ross McCoy to strike out and Blake Kangas to fly out to end the threat.
Stanczyk took over from there and continued to overpower the Titan batters, allowing just three hits from the sixth inning on. However, Detroit mounted a rally in the 11th inning thanks to a walk and two singles but Alexander threw out Chapieski at the plate as the second baseman tried to score from second on a base hit to left field. Chapieski became the second Titan to be thrown out of the game when he was ejected for arguing the play at the plate.
UWM failed to score in the 11th despite a leadoff single by Jeremy Wilson but Stanczyk used just six pitches to get out of the 12th with a one, two, three inning. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Reschke roped a one-out single to center field. McCoy then singled to right field, advancing Reschke to third. Blake Kangas then drove home the game-winner when his fly ball to deep centerfield scored Reschke to give the Panthers the 2-1, extra inning victory.
Stanczyk struck out 12 and walked just one while allowing six hits in his 12 innings of work. The 12 innings pitched are the most by a UWM hurler in school-history while the 12 strikeouts are the second-most in a single-game, trailing the 13 by Korey Keller last season and Stanczyk's 13 at Cleveland State last Friday. Stanczyk, who improved to 5-3 with the win, is now 3-0 with two saves in Horizon League play and has struck out 38 batters while walking just two in 32.2 innings of work. Astrakaus (2-8) allowed just eight hits and no walks in 11.2 innings to take the tough luck loss.
Milwaukee will hit the road for six games next week beginning with a doubleheader at Chicago State on Tuesday (May 4). Game one is schedule to begin at 2:00 p.m.
