May 16, 2008

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Senior John Sarcia drove in the winning run in the eighth inning and junior Shawn Wozniak hit two home runs and drove in six to back the pitching of senior Ben McClarey Friday as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team closed out the regular season with a 9-8 win over Youngstown State. The Panthers (21-34, 11-15 Horizon) pounded out 17 hits off six pitchers in the game for the Penguins (23-31, 13-12 Horizon) and tied a school record by stealing six bases on the day.

They will now have to await their place in the league standings from play over the weekend. Milwaukee can still finish anywhere from fourth to sixth depending on the outcomes of the Valparaiso-UIC and Cleveland State-Butler series played today and tomorrow.

"All we can do now is wait," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "It's a little bit unfortunate, because our fate was in our hands this weekend and we really didn't take care of business. But I think a lot of the credit goes to Youngstown as well - making plays and pitches when they needed to."

Wozniak finished 3-for-4 with a career-high tally in RBI's while also scoring twice. Sarcia doubled in senior Troy Vesling - who laced a pinch-hit double - with the winning run after two were out in the eighth to give him six hits in 10 at bats in the series.

"John Sarcia was outstanding the last two nights," Doffek said. "He just kept getting big hits and picked us up when we needed to get picked up."

UWM did strand 13 more runners today, upping the team total in the past two games to 29.

"I don't know if we are deficient or they are just good at spotting up when it counts, but all weekend long we filled the bases up but had a hard time getting them in," Doffek said. "But, we scored nine runs today so we'll take that."

The two-three-four hitters in the line-up - seniors Jesse Hart and Nick Wichser and Wozniak - all had three hits and scored two runs each. Wichser's trio of safeties pushes his total to 199 in his career.

McClarey (2-1) came on in relief of junior Tim Hoy. He threw the final 5.0 innings, giving up two earned runs in his outing and recording one strikeout. He allowed only a walk in the eighth over the final two innings to close it out.

Trailing 5-3 in the fifth, UWM struck for the tying runs on Wozniak's two-run shot to left field. He was at it again in the sixth, sending a three-run shot to almost the identical spot of the outfield fence to make it 8-5.

The Penguins wasted no time in making it a new game, striking for three runs in the top of the seventh. They got one on an Eric Marzec double, another on a ground out and the third on a suicide squeeze attempt.

Wichser (two steals), freshman Doug Dekoning (two steals), Hart and junior Ben Long combined for the six steals, equaling the school record set twice during the 2001 campaign. Anthony Porter (three hits, three RBI) and Marzec (2-for-4) were the only YSU players with more than one hit.

If all of the league games get played as scheduled, UWM will know its seed and its opponent in the league tournament by Sunday. Check back for an announcement on the Milwaukee website at that time.