March 5, 2006

Box Score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Junior Mike Rauwerdink allowed just one earned run in eight innings and junior Rob Brockel had four runs batted in to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team to a 7-2 victory over No. 20 Missouri on Sunday at Taylor Stadium. The UWM (3-7) victory over the Tigers (8-5) is Milwaukee's first over a ranked opponent since they beat No. 15 Nebraska 9-7 on April 25, 2000.

Milwaukee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and still held a 3-2 lead late in the game. They then put the game away with a four-run ninth inning. Rauwerdink allowed just three hits in eight complete innings of work, walking four and striking out five. In the ninth, junior Kelby Mack retired three-straight Tigers after a leadoff single to close the door.

Brockel highlighted the offense with a two-RBI-double in the first inning and a two-RBI triple in the ninth to give him a team-leading 10 runs batted in on the season.

"This was a really good win for us," assistant head coach Scott Doffek said. "Our guys went to battle today. The offense continued to hit the ball well [UWM out-hit Missouri for the third-straight game] and our pitchers kept us in the game. It's a nice win to end the weekend on."

UWM put the game out of reach in the ninth. After senior Matt Curran led off the inning with a hit and was sacrificed to second, senior Mike Goetz was intentionally walked. A wild pitch advanced both runners before sophomore Grant Berkovitz plated the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. After a walk and a run-scoring single off the bat of sophomore Jesse Hart, Brockel cleared the bases with a two-run triple to left center.

The only other scoring came in the first. Goetz led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. Berkovitz and Nowicki followed suit to load the bases before Hart added an RBI-groundout. Brockel then doubled to give UWM a 3-0 advantage.

Goetz finished with a team-high three hits while Brockel had two of the Panthers 10 safeties in the game. Hart had two runs batted in, with Goetz and Nowicki both scoring twice. No Tiger batter had more than one hit.

Milwaukee is off next weekend, set to return to action March 18-19 when they travel to Bowling Green, Ky., for two games against the Akron Zips and a third against host Western Kentucky.