April 1, 2011

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Senior Chad Pierce threw a four-hit shutout to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team to a 4-0 victory over Butler University Friday at Henry Aaron Field. Pierce struck out nine, walked just one and retired the final 13 batters in order to record his first complete-game shutout in a Milwaukee uniform.

The Panthers (6-15, 1-0 Horizon) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first inning against the Bulldogs (10-11, 2-2 Horizon) and Pierce (2-3) did the rest, allowing just one base runner past second base the entire game.

"It was all Chad Pierce today," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "He had a good mix of three or four different pitches and worked down in the zone. And when he got in a little trouble, he would battle and make a big pitch. He also defended his position very well [Pierce ended with five assists]. Sometimes that goes unrecognized. When you don't do that, it puts more pressure on your middle infielders. He did a great job."

Milwaukee took advantage of a pair of errors in the first to plate two runs, scoring on a sacrifice fly by junior Paul Hoenecke and getting another on a two-out single up the middle off the bat of senior Sam Sivilotti.

The Panthers would tack on insurance runs in the second and sixth on RBI-singles from freshmen Derek Peake and Ryan Solberg.

"We had a couple of sacrifices and they (Butler) hurt themselves a little bit," Doffek said. "But the good thing is that we took advantage with a couple of big two-out hits, stole a base that ended up coming around to score - just small ball."

Following 20 games on the road to start the 2011 campaign, Milwaukee improved to 18-3 all-time in home openers at the NCAA D-I level and continue to play well at home. Dating back to the start of the 2009 season, the team is now 32-6 at Henry Aaron Field.

"It was great," Doffek said. "I thought it was an outstanding atmosphere even though the weather conditions weren't very great. It was great to see family and friends out at the park and finally being able to watch us on our turf."

The offense ended the game with 10 hits, with each starter recording at least one. Peake ended 2-for-3 with an RBI. Dom Silvestri (1-2) took the loss for the Bulldogs, allowing four runs - two earned - in 7.0 innings, striking out five.

The two teams wrap up the weekend series with a doubleheader Saturday. The start time has been moved up one hour, with first pitch now scheduled for 11 a.m. instead of the regularly-schedule time of noon.