April 18, 2010

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team let a big early lead slip away in falling to Butler University, 20-12, Sunday afternoon at Bulldog Park. The Panthers (13-16, 5-4 Horizon) led 9-2 after scoring three times in the fourth inning, only to see the Bulldogs (11-21, 3-9 Horizon) score 18 unanswered runs to take two of three games in the weekend series.

Lost in the decision was a record-breaking day on the base paths for the Panthers. The team stole 10 bases to shatter the school record of six steals in a game (done three times, most recently in May of 2008). Senior Tim Patzman also tied former Panther Andy Gerhartz's game record with four steals of his own in the contest.

Patzman had a great day overall, finishing 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, reaching base in all five plate appearances. Junior Cole Kraft was 4-for-7 - tying his career-high with four hits - as UWM did collect 20 hits on the day. Senior Ben Long and junior Sam Sivilotti both went 2-for-3 with three walks. Senior Nino Guerrero had a double to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

"It's not every day that you get 20 hits in a Horizon League game and lose by eight runs," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "On a whole, for the weekend, it was embarrassing and inexcusable the amount of mental energy and focus that we ended up bringing to the ballpark. We just need to be much better than we have been. At this point, we need to go back to fundamentals, with a positive attitude, and understand and appreciate the amount of focus it takes to win in this league."

Trailing 9-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Butler plated three to make it 9-5 at the time. With the game seemingly still in hand, sophomore Cameron Amsrud struck out the first two batters of the sixth before the bottom fell out. All seven runs in the frame scored after two were out, coming on six hits, three walks and a hit batter. The Bulldogs then added a second-consecutive seven-run inning in the seventh to put it away.

Butler was led by Grant Fillipitch, who went 5-for-6 and drove in four runs.

Milwaukee returns to action midweek, with a trip to Peoria, Ill., to take on Bradley in a doubleheader. Game one starts Wednesday at 5 p.m.