May 29, 2010

Box Score

GARY, Ind. - Seniors Jeff Gordon and Dan Buchholz led the way as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team handed Wright State University a 14-7 loss in the Horizon League Tournament Championship round Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Steel Yard. The Panthers (32-24) live to see another day against the Raiders (31-24), as the two teams will now play Sunday at 11 a.m. for the right to advance to the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

Gordon came through with a solid start, working into the seventh inning. He tied his career-high with six strikeouts in giving up four earned runs.

"The credit really goes to Jeff Gordon, putting up ones against that lineup instead of crooked numbers," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "And, we kept the momentum and kept tacking on runs ... it was good to see in a game like that."

Buchholz, who was named the U.S. Army Player of the Game, continues to swing a red-hot bat in the tournament, finishing 4-for-6 with four runs batted in, including a key three-run home run that gave UWM the early momentum with a 3-0 advantage in the third inning.

"I think when Buchholz hit that home run, everyone just seemed to relax a little bit," Doffek said. "And, we got a couple of fortunate-hop base hits too that we mixed in there."

Starting pitching continues to be key for Milwaukee, as it's starters now carry a 2.08 ERA and .243 opponent batting average after four games in the tournament. Gordon made it four good starts in a row, working around baserunners and trouble all game. He stranded runners in scoring position in six of the first seven innings, leaving two on in the first frame and also leaving them loaded in the third.

"That third inning was huge because we had just scored those three runs," Doffek said. "Instead of giving them an opportunity to tie it or take the lead, he puts up the one. And then, we score right away which is tough for a team when you have the opportunity to score and don't and then your opponent does. Jeff was really good in that inning."

Scoreless until the third, the Panthers jumped ahead on Buchholz's home run to deep left field. After Wright State got one back, UWM responded with a huge rally in the fourth inning by scoring five runs - all coming with two outs.

With two down, senior Shaun Wegner fought back from an 0-2 count to record an infield single and Buchholz followed with another. Senior Ben Long continued the hit parade with a run-scoring single and then, after a hit batter, junior Sam Sivilotti had an unusual at bat. His hard-hit ground ball to short looked like a routine play, only to take a huge hop over the shortstop's head and eventually turn into a two-run double. Another ground ball followed, but an error continued the rally and plated two more to give UWM an 8-1 cushion.

"We grinded out some at bats and really made him work," Doffek said. "Schum was throwing the ball very well but we made him work hard to get that final strike and those tack-on runs were huge."

The team ended the game with 20 hits after recording a total of 20 combined in the first three games of the tournament. In addition to Buchholz's four-hit effort, Long, junior Cole Kraft and senior Shaun Wegner ended with three hits each, with Wegner scoring three times. Sivilotti (2-for-5, 2 RBI), junior Doug Dekoning (2-for-4) and freshman Jonathan Capasso (2-for-5) all added multi-hit games. Aaron Fields led the Raiders with four hits in five at bats, scoring twice and driving in a pair.

Should the Panthers win tomorrow, it will mark their first trip to the NCAA Regionals since the 2002 campaign. The action will be available via the Horizon League Network at www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv and also on the UWM website via Gametracker. First pitch is slated to get underway at 11 a.m.

"At this point, both teams are going to come to play," Doffek said. "That's what I told the guys - you can throw that part of it out, because nobody is going to be on their heels - everyone is going to be ready to play. It's going to be a matter of execution; pitching and defense are going to win a championship."