March 19, 2006

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team came roaring back from a 7-0 second inning deficit on Saturday night, scoring 14 unanswered runs at one point in a 20-12 victory over the University of Akron. The Panthers (4-7) collected 27 hits off Akron (5-11) pitching, including eight doubles and a school-record four triples.

Juniors Rob Brockel (4-for-6) and Ross McCoy (4-for-4) and sophomores Grant Berkovitz (4-for-7) and Jesse Hart (4-for-6) had four hits each, while senior Jeremy Wilson had a team-high four runs batted in. Brockel's four safeties included three extra-base hits, among them two triples to tie the UWM record for triples in a game.

The team scored 20 runs for the first time since a 26-21 victory over IPFW in April of last season, and its 27 hits came up just short of the school record of 29 in a single game. They raised the team batting average 31 points - from .274 to .305 - in the process.

Things didn't start as well as they finished, as the Zips roughed up freshman Panther starter Andy Hetebrueg for seven runs in the second inning to put UWM in a deep hole. But, they bounced back with 14 unanswered runs in the third through sixth innings, scoring two, two, four and six runs in consecutive frames to take a 14-7 lead and roll from there.

Senior Aaron Sorenson (1-1) came on in relief of Hetebrueg, throwing 4.2 innings to pick up the victory, his first of the season. He allowed just one run on six hits in his appearance.

Milwaukee roughed up five Zip pitchers in the game, tagging Stephen Williams (1-2) with the loss. He went 4.2 innings, allowing eight runs on 12 hits.

The Panthers got on the board in the third on Hart's two-RBI double. They kept chipping away, getting two more in the fourth and four in the fifth to take the 8-7 lead on Wilson's run-scoring double. They pushed the advantage to 14-7 with a six-run sixth, highlighted by triples from Nowicki and Wilson that both brought two runners to the plate.

Berkovitz added a team-high four runs scored, while Nowicki (2 hits), Wilson (3) and seniors Zak Rivera (2) and Mike Goetz (3) gave the Panthers eight players with multiple hits on the night. Goetz's three-hit effort extended his hitting streak to 19 games and included two runs and two RBI. Hart and Nowicki both finished with three runs batted in. Four Akron players had three hits each, with Doug McNulty adding two home runs.

The four triples in the game (Brockel 2, Nowicki, Wilson) broke the school record of three, set against Drexel back in March of 2001.

The Panthers wrap up the weekend set with two games tomorrow, taking on Akron again at noon before playing host Western Kentucky at 3 p.m. to finish weekend action.