May 11, 2007

Game 1: UWM 6; Youngstown State 3 (10 innings)
Game 2: UWM 8; Youngstown State 9

NILES, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team had its win streak come to an end on Friday, falling to Youngstown State, 9-8, on a run in the bottom of the ninth inning in game two of a doubleheader. The Panthers (20-27, 13-11 Horizon) beat the Penguins (15-30, 7-17 Horizon), 6-3, in the opener, to extend their win streak to eight, the longest since 13-straight victories in 2002.

Milwaukee won game one in the 10th, rallying for three runs on four hits. Junior Grant Berkovitz singled with one out and senior Ross McCoy's ground-rule double put runners on second and third. After an intentional walk, freshman Shaun Wegner followed with an infield single to score the first run. Senior Kyle Silver then closed out the scoring with a base hit to right field that plated two.

Sophomore Jordan Herbert (4-0) picked up another victory, allowing just one hit in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. He struck out two in the 10th to close it down. Senior starter Robert Michalkiewicz threw well but did not figure in the decision, scattering 12 hits in 8.1 innings of work. He allowed three runs, struck out three and did not walk a batter.

"I thought the key to the victory was on Mick (Michalkiewicz)," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "After giving up those two runs, he held us in the game and then Jordan (Herbert) did a good job in relief."

After giving up two in the top of the first, UWM battled back with a run in each of the fourth through sixth innings to take the lead.

"They [YSU] put up those two early runs on a couple of seeing-eye hits," Doffek said. "The `old Mick' may have not dealt with that as well. He threw a great game and kept us in it."

Sophomore Shawn Wozniak had a run-scoring single in the fourth, senior Rob Brockel plated the second run in the fifth and senior Ross McCoy's fourth home run of the season in the sixth gave UWM the 3-2 lead it held until the Penguins tied it in the ninth.

Senior Kyle Silver had his second-straight four hit game, while Berkovitz had three hits in the game. Junior Nick Wichser and McCoy had two hits apiece as UWM collected 16 safeties in the contest.

The Panthers seemed to have the second game well in hand, leading 8-2 in the middle of the seventh after a three-run rally pushed its advantage from 5-2. Wozniak led off with a home run, junior Troy Vesling added a run-scoring triple and Wichser drove in Vesling with a single to give UWM that six-run lead.

It was short-lived however, as Youngstown State struck for six runs on six hits in its half of the frame, getting two key two-RBI hits from Lee Bainbridge and Tom Clayton with two outs to tie it at 8-8.

"You have to give Youngstown a lot of credit for fighting the whole game and getting the win," Doffek said. "We did a great job offensively once again but did not run the bases very well. We made three outs and third base and one at home. Those runs came back to haunt us."

The Panthers did load the bases with two outs in the ninth on a walk and two hit batters, but a ground ball ended the inning. After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, C.J. Morris pinch ran and stole second. He was sacrificed to third, setting the stage for Clayton's walk-off single to center field.

The Panthers offense had 12 more hits in the game, with Brockel and sophomore Josh Groves both going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in. Berkovitz and Wegner also each had two hits. McCoy added his name to the record book once again, as his first at-bat of the nightcap was the 693rd of his career, moving him to first place on the all-time list. John Koehnlein and Clayton each had a game-high three hits for YSU.

Junior Dan Luczak did not figure in the decision, but was cruising until getting in trouble in the seventh. He ended with 6.2 innings pitched, allowing eight earned runs and one walk. Amazingly enough, the league leader in strikeouts in conference play heading into the weekend did not record one against the Penguins.

These two teams close out the weekend series with a doubleheader tomorrow. Game time for the opener is set for 12 p.m. CST at Eastwood Field.