April 13, 2008

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - Senior Jesse Hart broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh inning with a two-run double and senior Adam Ferrell allowed just two hits in four innings of relief to give the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team a 6-5 victory over Cleveland State University Sunday at Les Miller Field. The Panthers (9-21, 4-5 Horizon) and Vikings (12-14, 4-5 Horizon) had to deal with the elements all weekend in Chicago, including wind chills in the low 30's today and winds blowing straight in, gusting to over 30 miles an hour.

"It feels really good to win two out of three after everything we went through this weekend, and both games were one-run victories," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "In those conditions today I thought our offense did a great job of executing small ball and keeping some pressure on them."

Hart broke a 4-4 deadlock in the seventh with a two-run double to right, his team-leading 16th of the season. The base hit scored senior John Sarcia, who walked, and junior Andy Gerhartz, who had legged out an infield single. After a slow start, Hart has been on fire at the plate, including nine hits in 14 at-bats and seven runs batted in this weekend alone.

"It was just a matter of time for Jesse, he's a good hitter," Doffek said. "Over the course of time, good hitters are able to get good results."

Ferrell (2-3) did the rest, retiring the side in order in three of the four innings he pitched, allowing just two base hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. His effort followed a nice start from junior Jordan Herbert, who gave up two earned runs and struck out three in his five-inning start.

Cleveland State jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, but UWM forged ahead with a two-out rally in the third that saw it score three runs to take a 4-3 advantage.

Hart led-off with a single, followed by another hit by senior Nick Wichser. Senior Troy Vesling started the scoring with an RBI-single and a CSU fielding error allowed the next to score. Sophomore Shaun Wegner then put the Panthers ahead with a double off the wall that nearly made it over the fence right into the teeth of the wind.

After dropping its first nine one-run games of the season, Milwaukee has now won each of its past three one-run decisions, including two this weekend against the Vikings.

The Panthers collected 10 hits in the game, led by a 3-for-4 outing by Hart, who is now batting .457 (16-for-35, 11 extra-base hits) in the month of April. Gerhartz, Wichser and Vesling all added two each, with Vesling driving in two runs and Wichser extending his hitting streak to 22 games.

Milwaukee starts a busy week with what will officially be its home opener Tuesday, hosting Bradley at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers and Braves get things underway at 2 p.m.