March 22, 2005

Box Score

BRADENTON, Fla. - Junior Mike Goetz scored three times, and freshman Jesse Hart drove in two runs, but it was not enough as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team dropped a close game, 6-5, to Cornell, Tuesday afternoon in Bradenton, Fla. It was the second-straight day the Panthers (3-11) fell to the Big Red (4-3).

The game was a back-and-forth affair, with UWM scoring first and Cornell fighting back to tie it each time. Milwaukee tallied a single run in the first, and held leads of 2-1 and 4-3 before building a 5-3 advantage with a two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth.

After the Big Red tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth, the Panthers retook the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Milwaukee benefited from two errors to push across its first run, and Hart struck a two-out single to score senior Charlie Reschke, who had been the recipient of the second Cornell miscue.

In the sixth, freshman Nicholas Wichser singled and two batters later senior Steve Sanfilippo scored the rookie with a double.

Cornell fought back against Panther reliever Rob Brockel. Two hits and a UWM error in the seventh inning brought the game to a 5-5 tie. In the eighth, the Big Red used back-to-back hits to push across the winning run.

Brockel (0-1) got the loss in relief, scattering five hits and two earned runs. In 4.1 innings of work, the sophomore transfer also struck out six. Sophomore Robert Michalkiewicz struggled with control in the start, walking eight batters in 4.2 innings. He surrendered just three hits, three runs on the day, while striking out three.

Milwaukee returns to action with two games on Wednesday. The Panthers will take on Kent State at 9 a.m., before facing Dartmouth at 1 p.m.