March 23, 2007

Box Score

CHICAGO. Ill. - Larry Gempp's walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the University of Illinois at Chicago a 9-8 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team on Friday night. The Panthers (0-14, 0-1 Horizon) held an 8-6 lead in the eighth but could not hold off the Flames (6-10, 1-0 Horizon) in the league opener for both teams.

"It doesn't get much tougher to swallow than that," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "We didn't execute a critical play with two outs and nobody on in the eighth [the UWM defense let a playable foul ball drop near the plate]. Before you know it, he battles back and gets a base hit and the next guy hits a two-run home run."

Senior Kyle Silver came up clutch for the Panthers in the eighth inning, as his two-out single to center field scored two runs to put Milwaukee in the lead at the time, 8-6. UIC came right back, plating two of its own in the bottom of the inning on a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of David Cales that followed Jake Carr's single.

"Offensively we did a good job," Doffek said. "We took a way a lot of the things that they tried to do and played good defense, except for the one hiccup."

Both pitchers settled down after a 49-minute rain delay before the start of the fourth inning. Senior Robert Michalkiewicz retired 14 of 16 batters from the fourth through seventh innings, allowing only two base runners - one on an error and the other on a check-swing bloop single.

He finished the night with a no-decision, going 8.0 innings, walking one and striking out three. Sophomore Andy Hetebrueg (0-1) took the loss, working the ninth.

Zach Peterson did the same for the Flames, not allowing a hit in the fourth through seventh after giving up eight hits in the first three innings. Andrew Davis (3-1) picked up the win with 1.2 scoreless innings of work.

Milwaukee tied the game in its half of the third. Singles by junior Jesse Hart, senior Rob Brockel and sophomore Shawn Wozniak loaded the bases with one out. Junior Grant Berkovitz started the scoring with an RBI-single to left that plated Hart. Senior Ross McCoy sent a sacrifice fly to left that plated Brockel. Sophomore Andy Hetebrueg then made it 6-6 on the scoreboard with a single up the middle.

The Flame rally in the second all came with two outs. Five hits and a hit batter led to five runs coming across, with UIC getting two-RBI hits from Ben Trotter and Mickey Pingree to take a 6-3 lead in the frame.

The Panthers jumped on Peterson - the Horizon League leader in wins, strikeouts and ERA a year ago - for three runs on three hits in the first. Hart and Brockel reached on hits and a walk to junior Nick Wichser loaded the bases. Berkovitz had another big hit in the frame, sending a double to the left center fence that scored two.

Milwaukee ended the night with 11 hits, as Berkovitz led the way with a 3-for-4, three RBI night. Brockel had three hits and Hart recorded two safeties.

These two teams meet again on Saturday for a doubleheader, with the first game scheduled for a 12:05 p.m. start at Les Miller Field.