April 25, 2006

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. - Sophomore Grant Berkovitz tripled and freshman Dan Buchholz drove in the winning run to give the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team a 5-4 victory over Northwestern in 12 innings on Tuesday at Rocky Miller Park. The Panthers (18-18) came back from a 4-2 ninth inning deficit against the Wildcats (14-23) to earn the win over their Big Ten opponent.

Buchholz, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the 10th inning, sent the first pitch he saw into centerfield to plate Berkovitz with the winning run. The rest of the work was done by senior reliever Jed Dolske (2-1), who earned the victory with his sixth-straight scoreless outing. Dolske worked four complete innings, allowing no runs, no hits and no walks while striking out two.

"Buchholz's hit was huge for us," UWM assistant head coach Scott Doffek said. "It seemed like we couldn't find a two-out hit all day and he came in and put a good swing on it. And then we really extended Dolske by having him go four innings, but he was dealing. It was just another plus for our bullpen."

Down 4-2 in the top of the ninth, Milwaukee scored two runs on just one hit, helped along by a couple of Northwestern fielding miscues. Senior Mike Goetz led off with a walk and advanced to second on a ground ball. Senior Joe Nowicki then sent a ground ball to second that was misplayed into centerfield, scoring Goetz.

With a 3-2 count on junior Ross McCoy, Nowicki was running from second with one out. McCoy lifted a fly ball to center, but the relay back to second for the possible game-ending double play was late when the NU fielder had trouble getting the ball out of his glove. That proved costly for the Wildcats, as senior Zak Rivera followed with a run-scoring single to left that tied the game.

The Panthers were able to overcome Pat McMahon's three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that erased UWM's 2-1 lead and gave Northwestern a 4-2 advantage.

Junior Robert Michalkiewicz had pitched a gem up to the point where he gave up McMahon's home run, allowing just one run in the first seven innings. He gave up eight hits and did not walk a batter, striking out four against the Wildcats, who currently sit in first place in the Big Ten.

"Robert had great control of his pitches and was ahead of batters all day," Doffek said. "He was making batters put the ball in play and letting our defense help him. An outing like this will really help get him back on the right track."

The Panthers jumped out early, plating a run each in the first and third to take a 2-0 lead. Both runs would score with two outs, as Milwaukee received clutch RBI singles from junior Rob Brockel in the third and Rivera in the first inning.

Milwaukee threatened several times, but couldn't take advantage of its opportunities. The Panthers left two runners on base in the first, second and ninth innings and left the bases loaded in the sixth. On the day, they stranded 14 runners on base.

Milwaukee finished with 11 hits, as Goetz (16 games), Nowicki (10) and Rivera (9) all extended current hitting streaks. Rivera had a team-high three hits and two runs batted in, while senior Matt Curran (2-for-5) was the only other Panthers with more than one hit. Caleb Fields (3-for-6) and McMahon (3-for-4) paced Northwestern's offense. Eight pitchers took to the hill for NU, with Brian Morgan (0-1) taking the loss.

UWM opens an eight-game homestand next, getting things started with a non-conference game against Carroll College on Thursday. Game time at Henry Aaron Field is set for 3 p.m. against the Pioneers.