May 7, 2008

Box Score

WATERLOO, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team battled out of a 4-0 first-inning deficit against the University of Northern Iowa Wednesday night, tying the game on two occasions before falling, 9-6, in its final road game of the regular season. UWM (17-31) tied the contest against UNI (26-15) at five and six a piece, but two insurance runs in the eighth inning for the host Panthers put the game away.

Brandon Douglas led off the UNI eighth with a home run to make it 8-6 and UNI would add one more for good measure. Joe Gonzalez retired three batters in the Milwaukee ninth for his eighth save of the season.

Northern Iowa went ahead in the bottom of the sixth without a hit. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases and another walk forced in the go-ahead run to make it 6-5 at the time. Milwaukee tied it back up in the top of the seventh when senior Jesse Hart came home on a double play ball. Northern Iowa reclaimed the lead at 7-6 in the seventh.

Senior Nick Wichser tied the game with an RBI-single in the fifth, plating junior Andy Gerhartz who had singled and stolen a base. Junior Shawn Wozniak followed with a double to put runners on second and third with just one out, but the team was unable to push any more across. They threatened again in the sixth, as junior Josh Groves hit a leadoff double and went to third on a ground out but was unable to get home with the lead run.

Milwaukee got behind early, as UNI plated four unearned runs in the first inning after two were out. UWM battled right back, scoring once in the second and three more times in the third to make it a game at 5-4.

Senior starter Ben McClarey (1-1) settled in after the first, allowing just one other run between the second and fifth innings. Walks hurt his effort, however, as he gave up seven bases on balls and ended his night with 6.1 innings of work, giving up three earned runs and recording one strikeout.

Wichser led the offense with three hits and drove in two. Gerhartz and Wozniak also added two hits each. Wozniak's two doubles give him 21 on the year, marking the third time in program history that UWM has had two players with 20 or more two-baggers (Hart has 22) in a season.

The Panthers return to Milwaukee for an extended homestand, playing back-to-back league doubleheaders on the weekend. They welcome UIC Friday to Henry Aaron Field, with game one slated to start at 2 p.m. There will also be a special pregame ceremony to dedicate the new scoreboard at the field.