April 11, 2009

Box Score: Game 1
Box Score: Game 2

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team used quick starts in both games to record a doubleheader sweep over Wright State University Saturday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers (12-17, 6-3 Horizon) combined to score 10 runs in the first inning on the day, sweeping the Raiders (15-19, 4-5 Horizon) in a weekend series for the first time since May of 2005. With the 8-5 and 8-7 victories, UWM improved its record at home to 7-1 on the season.

Milwaukee received two more solid starts to lead the way. In the opener, freshman Kyle Schmidt (1-4) allowed no earned runs in eight innings, striking out six and walking just one. The Panthers scored the first eight runs of the contest and won, 8-5.

In the second game, senior Andy Hetebrueg (2-3) won his second-straight start and dominated through the first eight innings. Heading into the ninth, Hetebrueg had allowed no runs, allowed just two hits, had walked none and struck out seven. WSU again rallied late, plating seven runs in the final inning to chase Hetebrueg, before UWM held on for the 8-7 victory.

"All the credit goes to Andy Hetebrueg and Kyle Schmidt and their stellar pitching performances," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "All weekend it came down to big two-out hits. And, we caught a lot of breaks. But, to our credit, our starting pitching was very good. All three were outstanding this weekend and the hitters did a really good job as well."

Up 8-0 in the top of the ninth inning of game two, the Raiders mounted a furious rally to get the winning run to the plate. After seven runs, five hits and two UWM errors, senior Craig Meier finally helped the Panthers escape with the win by nailing down his third save of the season.

"We kind of limped into that last victory," Doffek said. "We got a little tight on defense, pitched a little tight, but, ultimately, to come out of here with three wins in league play is hard to do."

Sophomore Cole Kraft gave UWM the 8-0 lead in the sixth, driving in runs on a single in that frame and on a triple to center in the fourth. Freshman Paul Hoenecke had doubled in two runs in the third inning as well.

The Panthers jumped all over WSU's Greg Robinson (0-1), plating four in the first inning. Junior Dan Buchholz had a single that scored two runs, Hoenecke drove in another and senior Shawn Wozniak also had an RBI-double.

Offensively, UWM collected 10 or more hits for the seventh-consecutive game. Kraft was 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and Hoenecke and Wozniak each recorded two hits. Hoenecke drove in three.

The same story line applied to the opener, as the Panthers scored six runs in the first inning, led 8-0 and then held on to win 8-5.

The tone was set immediately, as Kraft walked with one out and went to second on a single by senior Josh Groves. After Buchholz walked, junior Tim Patzman drove in two with a double and Hoenecke followed with an RBI-single. Wozniak then emphatically made it 6-0 with a long three-run home run to right center.

"In all three games we had a big lead by the third inning," Doffek said, "It's easier for pitchers to hit their spots when it's like that then to be grinding out every single pitch."

Senior Johann Andes homered in the fourth and Hoenecke stayed red-hot with another run-scoring double in the fifth. Wright State scored three in the seventh and twice more in the ninth to cap the scoring.

The offense banged out 11 more hits, led by two each from Kraft, Groves, Patzman and Hoenecke. Jeff Mercer led WSU with three hits and two runs batted in.

Milwaukee has five more games on the schedule next week, with just one of them coming at home. First up is a game at Minnesota Tuesday, followed by a home contest against Wisconsin Lutheran College Wednesday before a road trip to Ohio for a weekend series at Youngstown State.