May 15, 2009

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Freshman Kyle Schmidt threw seven scoreless innings to send the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team on its way to a 6-0 shutout victory over Butler University Friday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers (26-25, 14-9 Horizon) jumped out to a fast start against the Bulldogs (12-39, 6-20 Horizon), scoring three runs in the first inning en route to their second shutout of the season.

Schmidt (3-4) did not have a stellar outing, as he walked four and allowed five hits, but got the big outs when he needed them. He stranded 12 Butler runners on base and had five strikeouts.

"Kyle was effectively wild and did get himself into trouble a couple of different times," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "But, to his credit, he made a pitch when he really needed to and got us out of those innings. He gutted it out; he certainly did not have his best stuff today. It was just really heart and guts and competitive nature."

Freshman Cameron Amsrud finished the combined shutout, coming on with two on and no outs in the seventh and pitching two innings, allowing just one hit while striking out one.

After Schmidt left the bases full of Bulldogs in the top of the first, the Panthers hit the scoreboard for three runs in the bottom of the frame to take control. Senior Josh Groves and junior Tim Patzman each had RBI-singles, with another run coming home on a wild pitch.

"The start was huge," Doffek said. "We are coming off last night [playing two games at Miller Park] and we were talking about playing 27 innings in less than a day, so to give us some energy and score those runs really gave us a lift."

Schmidt and Amsrud did the rest, ending rallies with big pitches when necessary, stranding the bases full of BU base runners in the first and fourth and with two on in the seventh and eighth innings.

Up 4-0, UWM added two more in the seventh to put it away, as junior Dan Buchholz plated a run on a sacrifice fly and senior Shawn Wozniak doubled in a run as well.

Groves finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and sophomore Cole Kraft was 2-for-5. Seven other Milwaukee batters had one hit each.

Milwaukee did what it needed to with the weekend series with Butler, sweeping the three games to end the league season at 14-9. They are currently in second place, but the Wright State Raiders are in third and can still catch the Panthers for the No. 2 spot if they sweep their three-game set against Cleveland State. UWM is hoping to benefit from the No. 2 seed, as the top two seeds in the Horizon League Tournament will have a bye into the third day of play.

"Either way we are going to get prepared the best we can for the weekend and we will see what happens," Doffek said.

The event, which runs from May 19-24, will be held at Pipe Yard Stadium in Lorain, Ohio, and will be hosted by Cleveland State University. Milwaukee will begin play Thursday if it remains the No. 2 seed and will start play Wednesday if it falls lower.