May 4, 2007

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Senior Robert Michalkiewicz threw his fourth complete game of the year Friday night, leading the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team to a 12-4 victory over Cleveland State under the lights at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers (14-26, 10-10 Horizon) won for the ninth time in their past 10 games against the Vikings (10-33, 7-11 Horizon).

"This is a really huge weekend for us and Cleveland State for third and fourth [in the league standings], so this is a big swing," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "Even two out of three here gives you some space ... this is a big win."

Michalkiewicz struck out a career-best 10 batters to win for the fifth time in his last six starts. The nine-inning effort also gives him 275.2 innings pitched in his four years, topping the Milwaukee career record for innings pitched of 271.0 set by Andy Neary (1997-2000).

"It's not easy to throw nine innings in college baseball," Doffek said. "And he just keeps on doing it for us. And, our offense helped out a lot. I really felt like that was probably our best game we played all year. We executed the offensive game plan really well - ran the bases well, got some bunts down and got some two-out hits."

Michalkiewicz was cruising from the start, allowing no hits through four innings before giving up two runs on two hits in the fifth. But, Milwaukee's offense had staked him out to a 5-0 lead before giving up those runs, with most of the damage coming in a four-run fourth inning.

Senior Kyle Silver had the big hit, a two-out single through the right side that scored two. Junior Nick Wichser followed with a single to center that scored Silver and made it 5-0 at the time.

The Vikings cut the lead to 6-4 with two more in the sixth on Rich Ranells two-run home run. UWM responded quickly, plating two in its half of the sixth on Wichser's sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.

The Panthers then added four more in the eighth inning to put it away. Junior Grant Berkovitz continued his recent hot streak, driving in two with a single to center. The third run would score on a wild pitch before junior Troy Vesling closed out the scoring with an RBI-single.

Michalkiewicz (5-4) did the rest, helping the Panthers to their fifth win in their past seven games with his league-leading fourth complete game. He allowed four earned runs on six hits while walking three. His 10 K's bettered his former career-best of seven, which he tied earlier this season.

The Panthers chased CSU starter Stephen Procner (3-7) after four innings. He gave up six runs - two earned - on seven hits while striking out four.

Offensively, UWM banged out 13 hits, lead by three each from Silver and Berkovitz. Silver finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two runs batted in, while senior Ross McCoy was 2-for-4 in the game. Berkovitz was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs, giving him 10 hits in his last 12 at bats over three games. He has now raised his season average from .298 to .346 since Wednesday.

"He's locked in right now," Doffek said, "I don't want to say too much but it's really fun to watch."

The teams close out the weekend series with a doubleheader tomorrow, starting at 1 p.m. at Henry Aaron Field.