March 24, 2006

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - The University of Illinois at Chicago used a three-run seventh inning and a complete game pitching effort from Zach Peterson to defeat the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 5-2, on Friday afternoon at Les Miller Field. Justin Johnson hit a three-run home run in the decisive frame to help the Flames (7-10, 1-0 Horizon) to the victory over the Panthers (5-9, 0-1 Horizon) in the league opener for both teams.

Senior Mike Goetz led off the game with a single to center field, extending his hitting streak to 22 games to tie the UWM school record set by Scott Gillitzer in 2001. He finished the contest with three hits and a run scored.

Peterson (3-2), who leads the Horizon League by over two full runs with his 1.80 ERA coming into the game, kept the Panthers in check while scattering seven hits. He also struck out a career-high seven batters.

With one out in the seventh in a 2-1 game, UIC's Nick Rainwater reached base with a bunt single. After a fielder's choice brought the second out, another base hit set the stage for Johnson's home run heroics, giving the Flames a 5-1 lead.

Milwaukee put a rally of its own together in the ninth inning, but one run on three hits was not enough to close the gap. Goetz led off the inning with a single and sophomore Grant Berkovitz followed with a double. Goetz then scored on senior Joe Nowicki's sacrifice fly before sophomore Jesse Hart singled to put two on with just one out. Peterson was up to the task, however, getting out of the jam with an unconventional double play to end the game. Junior Rob Brockel hit a ground ball to third base, where it was fielded and thrown to second. The ball hit Hart in the back and was picked up by the second baseman for the force out. Berkovitz was then caught in a rundown to end the game.

Senior starter Aaron Sorenson (1-2) threw 7.0 innings in the loss, allowing five runs while striking out two. Goetz had a game-high three hits and added an RBI single in the third that scored senior Jeremy Wilson to make it 1-1 on the scoreboard at the time.

The two teams will be back at it on Saturday with a scheduled doubleheader. The start of the first game was moved up from noon to 11 a.m. due to storms forecasted for Saturday evening.