May 22, 2010

Box Score: Game 1
Box Score: Game 2

MILWAUKEE - Senior Dan Buchholz hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team a dramatic come-from-behind, walk-off victory over Youngstown State University Saturday at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers (29-23, 17-8 Horizon) overcame two-run deficits against the Penguins (21-32, 9-17 Horizon) on three different occasions in the contest, winning game two of the doubleheader on Buchholz's eighth home run of the year to left field, giving Milwaukee the thrilling 8-7 victory to close out the regular season.

The win also gave UWM the weekend sweep after an 8-5 victory in the opener. The 3-0 weekend secured Milwaukee as the second seed for next week's Horizon League Tournament with its 17-8 league mark.

"That is what a Senior Day should look like," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "We had a lot of seniors make contributions today. Dan worked back from an 0-2 count and then just put a great swing on it. We just got outstanding pitching in the second game as well. We threw 14 innings and did not walk a batter - that is just outstanding. They did a great job."

YSU plated two in the top of the 14th, but the Panthers never gave up. Freshman Jonathan Capasso led off with a single and senior Shaun Wegner walked an out later to set the stage for Buchholz. Down 0-2 after two quick strikes, he battled back before sending the 2-2 pitch over the fence for the improbable win.

"Honestly, I was just trying to get on base," Buchholz said. "It was great running around the bases ... probably one of the best feelings of my life. I was very happy."

UWM battled back from deficits of 3-0 in the second and 5-3 in the eighth inning, never giving up despite the fact that it had wrapped up the second-seed with the game-one win.

"We talked about it between games," Doffek said. "It felt like we had chances every inning and could just not come up with that big two-out hit. We did a good job in the 14th of not laying down. It could have been so easy to just lay down. We knew at that point we had the two seed. But, we were going to take care of every inning like we have all year, just play each inning to execute and I couldn't be more proud of the way they played today."

The Panthers had plenty of chances all game, stranding 18 runners on base in the 14-innings, tying the school mark for longest game (14 vs. Cleveland State in 2008). Down one run in the last of the ninth, junior Doug Dekoning provided the heroics to send it to extras. With two outs and down to his last strike, he laced a single down the left field line that plated the tying run.

The home run made a winner out of senior Lucas Annen (3-2), who worked the final 2.1 innings. He followed solid efforts from sophomores Greg Blohowiak (0.2 IP) and Cameron Amsrud (3.0 scoreless IP, 3K) and senior Jeff Gordon (3.0 IP, 3K).

The offense ended up collecting 20 hits in the nightcap, led by a 5-for-7 outing from junior Cole Kraft. Buchholz, senior Ben Long and sophomore Paul Hoenecke each had three, while Dekoning and senior Nino Guerrero also added a pair. Hoenecke extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the process. C.J. Morris paced the Penguins with four hits.

In the opener, Milwaukee led, 7-1, after six innings, before holding on in the 8-5 decision. Junior Chad Pierce (5-4) threw well, allowing just one earned run in eight innings of work, striking out five.

"Pierce was really stellar," Doffek said. "He just had some little mental blips with some walks and then we, quite honestly, stopped playing a little bit and didn't focus through the end of the game. A couple of dropped fly balls turned that into a game and it didn't need to be."

Pierce retired the first nine batters in order while UWM jumped out to a 3-0 lead with all of the runs coming in the second inning. Helped along by a YSU error to get on the board, junior Sam Sivilotti made the damage worse with a two-run single to give Milwaukee the early advantage.

Two defensive plays kept the Penguins off the board before UWM took control with four runs in the sixth inning.

One was made by Dekoning, who robbed Derek Carr of a sure home run with an outstanding catch after a long run to the wall in right center. The other was made to end a threat in the fifth. With runners on second and third and just one out, Pierce made a nice play to field a comebacker, catching the runner from third in a rundown. Senior Shaun Wegner then capped the double play, throwing down and picking the trail runner off second base.

The Panthers looked poised to put it away in the sixth, scoring four runs - two of them on a two-out bases-loaded single from Kraft.

But, Youngstown crept back into the game late, helped along by three UWM errors, allowing all but one of the runs to come across as unearned. The Penguins even made it a save situation in the ninth for Blohowiak, who came on to record his second save of the season.

Kraft and Wegner each led the offense with three hits a piece, while Long and Sivilotti each had two.

The postseason begins next, and as the No. 2 seed, Milwaukee will open play at the U.S. Steel Yard in Gary, Ind., on Thursday. The Panthers first game of the event will be at 3 p.m. that day. More information regarding the tournament will be posted on the UWM website once the field is announced.