May 23, 2009

Box Score

LORAIN, Ohio - A nine-run uprising in the fifth inning sent UIC past the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team in an elimination game Saturday at the Horizon League Tournament. The Panthers (28-27) see their postseason run at Pipe Yard Stadium come to an end against the Flames (28-22) for the second-straight season with the 18-3 loss. UIC advances to take on Wright State in the tournament championship, while Milwaukee's season comes to a close.

The Flames led just 4-2 after the top of the fifth inning, but took control of the game with the nine-run rally, sending 13 batters to the plate in recording eight hits to make it 13-2.

"I think it was a really good season overall. The guys never let up and I think they were fired up coming into this game and feeling good about themselves," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "We just got down big early. We have a great group of seniors, so it was nice to get all of the seniors involved."

John Rosinski led UIC with a 6-for-6, six-RBI performance, tying the tournament record for hits in a game. Michael Heesch (5-0) limited UWM to six hits and three runs in seven innings of work.

"I give a lot of credit to UIC," Doffek said. "Obviously, we didn't pitch the ball well enough. All season, we talked about playing well in all three phases and we came down here and our pitching and defense was pretty inconsistent. When you give up 20 hits, you are certainly not going to win a championship-style game. I give them the credit and we have to do a better job."

Milwaukee had made it a game in the third inning, as senior Andy Gerhartz singled to lead off and went to third on sophomore Cole Kraft's double. Junior Shaun Wegner drove in a run with an infield single and UWM than added another on a fielder's choice to make it 3-2.

The Flames stuck first, getting back-to-back extra-base hits to plate the first run in the second inning. A bases-loaded ground out scored another and a passed ball allowed UIC to take a 3-0 lead after two innings.

Milwaukee was unable to take advantage of a depleted UIC squad that was without four regular starters. Chris Rutta (RF) and Nathan Orf (C) were out with injuries and Brandon Harwell (1B) and Jason Ganek (3B) were out with the flu. Ganek (.335) and Harwell (.320) came into play today as two of the top three batters in the UIC lineup.

Junior Tim Patzman went 2-for-3 and Gerhartz was 2-for-4 and scored twice to lead UWM at the plate. Sophomore Doug Dekoning singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Junior Nate Caldwell (0-5) suffered the loss, allowing six earned runs in 4.1 innings, striking out four.

The Panthers finish the 2009 season at 28-27, their first winning season since going 32-25 in 2006, and the fifth-straight year they have won at least 25 games.