April 18, 2009

Box Score: Game 1
Box Score: Game 2

NILES, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team collected 35 hits in a doubleheader against Youngstown State University Saturday, but could only come away with a split when Casey Holland's two-run, walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning ended a late rally and gave his team an 8-7 victory. The Panthers (15-19, 8-4 Horizon) did beat the Penguins (10-24, 7-8 Horizon) by a score of 12-3 in the opener, giving UWM a series win for the third time in four tries this league season.

"Any time you can win two of three on the road in league play, you have to consider that a good weekend," Panther head coach Scott Doffek said. "It was certainly disappointing not getting out of there with a win in game three, but we did not play all 54 outs. We just couldn't get the last one and it came back to haunt us."

Milwaukee seemed in control of game two and on its way to a weekend sweep, leading 6-2 in the middle of the eighth. But, YSU would rally, plating four in its half of the eighth, highlighted by Derek Carr's bases-loaded triple.

UWM would respond immediately, tallying a run in the ninth to retake the lead at 7-6. Sophomore Cole Kraft walked, went to second when sophomore Doug Dekoning reached on catcher's interference and to third on a fly out. He then came home on a wild pitch. Youngstown would end up scoring two unearned runs in the ninth after a two-out fielding error extended the inning.

Senior Andy Hetebrueg was solid until tiring in the seventh, ending the game with three strikeouts and three walks in seven-plus innings of work in getting the no-decision.

"There were a couple of times during the game where, if we just could have executed a little better, we might have scored another run," Doffek said. "It didn't look like a big deal at the time. Andy (Hetebrueg) did a good job through seven and then just sort of ran out of gas in the eighth. But, he gave us a chance to win the game."

UWM led 4-0 after three, getting a sac fly from junior Dan Buchholz and an RBI-single from senior Josh Groves in the first inning. Kraft doubled in senior Andy Gerhartz in the second and Buchholz plated Dekoning in the third for the early advantage. Senior Shawn Wozniak added his sixth home run of the season in the sixth.

For the game, Dekoning paced the 15-hit attack with a 4-for-4 outing, setting a career-best for hits in a game. Kraft, Wozniak and freshman Paul Hoenecke all went 2-for-4 and Buchholz and Wozniak had two RBI each. For the second-straight contest, every starter had at least one hit. Holland ended the game 3-for-4 with four runs batted in to lead YSU.

"The offense was very good all weekend," Doffek said. "They really swung the bats well and with authority - we had a lot of extra base hits this weekend."

In game one, Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead and then continued to add to it's advantage. The team struck for two in the first, three more in the third and put it away late in cruising to the 12-3 victory.

Freshman Kyle Schmidt (2-4) had another solid outing. He went 6.2 innings, allowing just three hits in giving up three runs. He struck out two and walked three.

Up 6-3 in the seventh, the Panthers added four more runs on five hits to take control for good. Gerhartz and Buchholz each had RBI-singles and junior Tim Patzman added a two-run base hit through the right side of the infield.

YSU struck for two in the second on just one hit, trimming the lead to 5-2 at the time. The teams traded runs in the fourth and fifth, with Groves tallying an RBI-single.

Kraft got the team going early, driving in a run in the first and the second inning, one on a double and one with a home run to lead off the game on the second pitch of the afternoon.

The offense finished 20 hits, as every starter recorded at least one safety and eight of nine drove in runs. Six players had multi-hit games, led by three each from Kraft (3-for-6, 2 2B/HR), Buchholz (3-for-6) and Groves (3-for-5). Kraft finished with three runs scored and drove in two, Buchholz scored and drove in a pair and Groves also had two RBI's. In addition, Dekoning, Wozniak and junior Shaun Wegner all added two hits.

UWM starts the busiest stretch of it's schedule, playing eight games this upcoming week. The first will be a doubleheader against Chicago State Tuesday. The pair of non-conference games, originally scheduled to be played in Milwaukee, will now be played at Brooks Field in Chicago with the first game starting at 3 p.m.