March 18, 2007

Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawaii - A three-run sixth inning by the University of Hawaii broke open a close game on Sunday, handing the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team a 9-2 loss at Les Murakami Stadium. The Panthers (0-13) had cut the deficit to just a run in the top of the inning, but the Rainbows (19-8) went on to add four more in the seventh inning to help finish off the weekend sweep.

The Milwaukee offense, which averaged 10 hits in the first three games of the series, had just five Sunday.

"Two-out hits were the key to the game. I think they had five or six hits that turned into at least six runs and that turned out to be the difference," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "We had ample opportunities and could not get a two-out hit."

Junior Nick Wichser, who had two of UWM's hits on the day, drove in senior Rob Brockel with one out in the sixth inning to make it 2-1 at the time. That was as close as the team would get, as UH responded with the three runs in its half of the frame and four more in the seventh. That scoring spree in the seventh was courtesy of four hits, all coming with two outs.

Junior Dan Luczak (0-4) started strong, allowing just two runs through the first five innings. He ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up a walk and three hits, including a two-RBI single by Jonathan Hee. Luczak ended the day with three strikeouts and three walks in 5.1 innings, allowing five earned runs. `Bows starter Matt Daly (2-1) allowed just one hit in five innings of work, striking out seven and walking four.

Wichser led the way with two hits and an RBI for UWM, while freshman Shaun Wegner collected the first two hits of his collegiate career. Hee finished with three hits and three runs batted in to lead the home team, with Evan Zimny and Landon Hernandez also recording three-hit games.

Milwaukee opens the Horizon League schedule next with a trip to Chicago to take on UIC March 23-24. UIC won its fifth-straight regular season crown in 2006 and was again tabbed as the league favorite in the preseason poll. Friday's game is set for a 3 p.m. start.

"We have to look at the start of conference play like a fresh start ... we are 0-0," Doffek said. "Hopefully we'll use these hard lessons we learned against quality regional teams to our advantage."