Box Score

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (May 15, 2010) - Kyle Schmidt threw seven strong innings while Cole Kraft and Dan Buchholz combined for seven RBIs to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team to a 10-3 victory over UIC in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field.

The Flames (18-27, 11-8 Horizon) hit four home runs en route to an 11-7 victory over the Panthers (26-22, 14-8 Horizon) in the first game of the twin bill.

Coupled with a doubleheader sweep over Butler on Friday, Milwaukee finished the weekend with a 3-1 record to keep pace in the Horizon League standings. The second-place Panthers remain in contention in the league standings with three regular season games remaining, just 1.5 games behind first-place Wright State (15-6) and 1.5 games ahead of third-place UIC.

"We try to go into every weekend and win the series," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "This was a split series, but coming out of here 3-1 was a pretty good weekend."

Schmidt (4-3) worked ahead in the count much of the game with first-pitch strikes, scattering eight hits and striking out five. He did not walk a batter, while 77 of his 122 pitches went for strikes. Cameron Amsrud pitched the final two wins to secure the win for UWM. He worked around a pair of runners on and no outs in the eighth when he entered the game and faced just seven batters.

"Kyle worked ahead, which is critical against a good-hitting team--getting an 0-1 count. It really is at any level from college to the majors," Doffek said. "He did a good job of getting that 0-1 (count). We found out in the first game that (UIC) has some pretty leveraged swings. Kyle did a really good job and put us in position to win."

At the plate, the Panthers pounded out 14 hits in the second game, including nine by the top four hitters in the lineup. Kraft dropped to third from leadoff and finished 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI's. Buchholz also slid from third to fourth in the lineup and finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

Shaun Wegner got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first inning. After UIC pulled even, Buchholz hit a two-run home run in the third inning to make it 3-1.

After the Flames made it a one-run game, UWM scored four times in the fifth for some breathing room. The top of the order led off the frame with Jonathon Capasso, Wegner and Kraft hitting consecutive singles, scoring one run. Buchholz followed with a sacrifice fly and two batters later Ben Long hit a run-scoring double.

Kraft homered in the sixth inning, his second of the weekend, and Milwaukee countered a single UIC run in the eighth with two insurance scores in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.

Chris Rutta hit a two-run home run and Jason Ganek followed with a two-out grand slam to spark the Flames in a six-run fourth inning that proved to be the difference in game one. UWM led 3-2 heading into the frame, but faced an 8-3 deficit after. A three-run Panther rally with two outs in the fifth inning made it 8-6, but they would get no closer as UIC tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth.

Buchholz led the Milwaukee offense in game one with three hits, while Kraft, Long and Paul Hoenecke tallied two hits apiece. Over the two games, the Panthers pounded out 26 hits, including five apiece by Kraft and Buchholz.

"I think (our offense) was solid all day," Doffek said. "We had a lot of hard-hit outs to the wall that ended up getting caught. All day I was encouraged by the bats, the way we swung them was probably the best we have in a couple weeks."

Chad Pierce (4-4) felt the brunt of the UIC attack in game one, surrendering 10 runs in five innings, while striking out three. Greg Blohowiak made his third appearance of the weekend with a scoreless frame and Bob Stone and Eric Semmelheck finished off the game for UWM.

Michael Heesch (6-5) picked up the win in game one with six innings. He worked around eight Panther hits and five walks to give up just four earned runs.

Milwaukee closes out the regular season with a non-conference tilt at Northern Illinois Wednesday and a three-game set against Youngstown State Thursday and Friday at Henry Aaron Field. The mid-week contest is scheduled for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch, while the Panthers and Penguins play a single game Thursday at 4 p.m. and a doubleheader Friday, beginning at 1 p.m.