April 24, 2005

Box Score

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team withstood a five-run rally by Cleveland State in the eighth inning to hold on for the 10-9 win in game two of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field. UWM (17-18, 8-4 Horizon) scored nine unanswered runs in game one to defeat the Vikings (8-22, 2-10 Horizon), 9-1, and take the weekend series, three games to one.

Trailing 10-4 heading into the eighth inning, CSU struck for five runs in the frame to pull within one at 10-9. Ben Smith got the rally started with a one-out solo home run, and the Vikings tacked on four more unearned runs, courtesy of a pair of Panther errors. In the ninth, Cleveland State led off with a single against junior reliever Jed Dolske. Dolske induced a double play and struck a batter out to preserve the win.

Milwaukee had built a 6-0 lead through two innings of the day's second game, scoring four unearned tallies in the opening frame. Junior Zak Rivera and senior Charlie Reschke each had RBI doubles, as Reschke scored on his own after a pair of errors. Freshman Jesse Hart also had a sacrifice fly in helping UWM out to a big lead. In the second inning, junior Mike Goetz hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to centerfield.

After the Vikings got on the board with one run in third, the two teams traded runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to make the score 10-4.

Junior Korey Keller (4-3) pitched seven solid innings, scattering eight hits and four runs. The righty also struck out nine batters, compared to just one walk. Dolske got the final four outs of the game, striking out two, to pick up his eighth save of the season.

UWM's offense and pitching clicked in game one, as junior Rick Cavaiani (2-4) scattering five hits and an unearned run in the complete-game effort. While the righthander struck out three and walked none, the Panther offense connected for nine extra-base hits, and 13 total hits, in a 9-1 win.

Mike Ochwat led off the game with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a ground out. After that, it was all Milwaukee, as UWM tied the game on junior Joe Nowicki's sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning. The Panthers took the lead one inning later, when sophomore Rob Brockel hit the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for his first home run of the year.

Nowicki followed a Rivera double with his team-leading seventh home run of the season in the third inning to put UWM up 4-1. Two innings later, the offense was back at it, striking for four runs in the fifth. Freshman Grant Berkovitz and Rivera connected for back-to-back RBI doubles after Goetz had led off the frame with a triple. Nowicki stroked a one-run single and Reschke hit the team's third double of the inning to score him.

Goetz tied a school record with his second triple of the game in the sixth inning. He scored on a single to right field by Berkovitz and capped the scoring.

For the day, Goetz led the Panthers with five hits, including a double, two triples and a home run, while he scored five times and drove in two more. Four more players collected four hits over the two games, while Rivera and Reschke each hit three doubles and were joined by Berkovitz in scoring three runs.

The Panthers return to action next week with a pair of non-league dates in the Chicago area. UWM travels Northwestern on Tuesday for a single game, before returning on Friday for a doubleheader with Chicago State. Milwaukee returns home, and to league play, May 6-8, when Wright State comes to town.