Feb. 26, 2010

Box Score

JONESBORO, Ark. - Giovanni Garcia tied the game in the eighth inning and won it in the ninth, sending Arkansas State University to a walk-off 6-5 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team Friday night. The Panthers (0-1) led, 5-4, in the top of the eighth before Garcia led off with a home run for the Red Wolves (3-1). He then won it with a two-out single to right field to escape with the win and drop UWM in its season opener for 2010.

"For the first game, the energy was very good," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "We just need to execute better for all 54 outs. It was a really good game. I think Kyle Schmidt did a very good job and for the first time out, the offense was good too."

Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, a leadoff single to the pitcher and a seeing-eye single put runners on first and second with no outs. Following a strikeout and a fly out, both runners advanced on stolen bases before Garcia plated the winning run.

"We ended up on the bad end of some breaks," Doffek said. "There were two infield hits in the ninth inning that we made quality pitches on. And then, their batter comes through with a good two-out hit. They had a freshman pitcher (John Koch) come in and really stabilize the game for them - we really could not get anything going against him."

A-State's John Koch (1-0) came on in the sixth and shut the UWM offense down, striking out eight batters in 3.2 innings of work, including the final six of the contest.

Sophomore Kyle Schmidt (0-1) got the ball on opening day and started strong, not allowing a hit until the third and without a run until the fourth. He ended the day with five strikeouts in 6.2 innings, allowing six hits and four runs.

Milwaukee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth, adding two in the frame on an RBI-double off the bat of senior Tim Patzman and another on a run-scoring single from freshman Jonathan Capasso.

After Arkansas State got one back in the fourth, the Panthers pushed their advantage back to three at 4-1 on an RBI-groundout from senior Ben Long that plated junior Doug Dekoning. The Red Wolves then made it a new game with three in the fifth before giving it right back on another RBI hit from Capasso in the top of the sixth inning that made it 5-4 at the time.

Dekoning extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a 2-for-4 night, while Capasso had two hits and two runs batted in during his collegiate debut.

The two teams are right back at it tomorrow, getting a doubleheader underway at 1 p.m.