April 25, 2010

Box Score

AVON, Ohio - Senior Lucas Annen pitched six and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning to defeat Cleveland State University, 6-5, Sunday afternoon at All Pro Freight Stadium. The Panthers (17-17, 7-5 Horizon) and Vikings (9-28, 2-10 Horizon) tried to get the second game of the scheduled doubleheader in, but after several delays had the contest cancelled because of the rain.

Milwaukee led 5-0 before Cleveland State tied it in the third. Annen (1-0) came on in relief during that inning and limited the damage by inducing a double play ball. From there on he was impressive, scattering four hits the rest of the game while striking out five. Annen retired 16 of 18 batters from the fourth through one out in the ninth, with only one batter making it past first base in the stretch.

"We came out really swinging the bats well and put up some big numbers early," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "The relief pitcher they brought in early on really did a good job of holding us in check. After they got back in the game, we gave the ball to Annen and he was just outstanding. He was throwing three different pitches for strikes and was not beating himself with walks."

The Panthers jumped on top immediately. Junior Cole Kraft led off the game with a double and was singled in by senior Shaun Wegner to make it 1-0 after the first. The team then recorded six-consecutive hits in scoring four runs in the second inning. Junior Doug Dekoning and Wegner had run-scoring singles and Kraft chased home two with a bases-loaded single as well. That made it 5-0 and UWM appeared to be in control.

However, the Vikings used a big inning of their own to tie it. Tom Carter started it with a double that scored two and Josh Lowe and Jason Haditsch each drove in runs. Milwaukee was then kept in check until the ninth, scoring the winning run on an unusual play.

Dekoning walked and Kraft singled to put runners on first and second with one out. A wild pitch moved runners up 90 feet and forced CSU to intentionally walk Wegner to set up the double play. However, what was supposed to be ball four ended up past the catcher as well, with Dekoning racing home on the wild pitch to send UWM home with the win.

Kraft led the offense with three hits, while Wegner had two hits and drove in three. Dekoning was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and senior Nino Guerrero was 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Panthers are off until Wednesday, when they welcome Northwestern to Miller Park for a doubleheader. Game one will start around 4 p.m. that day. The two teams will start approximately 30 minutes after the Brewers and Pirates finish up their 12:10 p.m. contest.