April 9, 2011

Box Score: Game 1
Box Score: Game 2

CHICAGO, Ill. - Senior Sam Sivilotti singled in two runs in the ninth inning to send the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team to a thrilling, 6-5, victory over UIC Saturday at Les Miller Field. The Panthers (11-16, 5-1 Horizon League) rallied in their final at bat to sweep the Flames (13-15, 4-5 Horizon League) in a weekend series in Chicago for the first time since May of 1997 and extend their current winning streak to five games.

"I couldn't have been happier to see Sam get that hit," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "He's really been grinding all year so it was great to see him get that big hit. He's such an emotional player - it was just great to see. We stepped on our own feet again. They scored five runs on five singles. That shouldn't be the case - we beat ourselves again with some walks and an error."

Down a run with just three outs to go, senior Chad Pierce started the winning rally by legging out an infield single to the hole at shortstop. Asked to bunt, senior Doug Dekoning put down a good one, forcing a tough throw at first that the pitcher dropped. Junior Paul Hoenecke then sacrificed the runners 90 feet to set the stage. Sivilotti fell behind before sending a 1-2 pitch into right center, plating the tying run from third and Dekoning from second with the winner.

"I fell behind early but looked for something up and put my barrel on it," Sivilotti said. "Fortunately, it found a hole in right center. I was ecstatic - there was no other way to explain it."

Junior Kaleb Engelke recorded his third save of the season and second in as many days, retiring the Flames 1-2-3 in their last chance, moving the Panthers to 5-1 in league play and into a tie for first place with Wright State.

Sophomore Cale Tassi (2-1) picked up the win, working 2.2 innings of relief. He allowed four hits and struck out three, walking none.

"It's been kind of a curse that our starters have been throwing so well," Doffek said. "There are some guys in the bullpen that we have not gotten enough innings to keep them in rhythm and you could see he wasn't in sync when he came out of the pen. After about an inning, you could see him settle in and do a nice job."

Sophomore starter Jordan Guth was cruising, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning before running into trouble. A single and two walks to start the frame ended his day. UIC rallied for four runs on four hits to take the lead at 5-4, with Harry Kamholz driving in the run that gave his team the advantage at the time.

"We put ourselves behind the eight-ball and before you know it, we were down," Doffek said. "But, we talked about this before the game, good teams find a way and someone picks up somebody. We certainly don't want to live by that, but it's a great sign."

The Panthers were looking good through the first five. In addition to Guth's no-hit bid, Milwaukee got on the board right away in the first. The Flames would get an unearned run to tie it at 1-1, but UWM took over with three runs in the fifth to make it 4-1 at the time.

Singles by freshman Tell Taylor and senior Cole Kraft with one out got things going. After a ground out, Dekoning just missed a home run, doubling high off the left field wall to plate a pair of runs and break the tie. Following an intentional walk to get to Sivilotti, he made them pay for the move by driving in a run with a single up the middle.

Sivilotti (2-for-5, three RBI) was one of four players with multiple hits, joining Dekoning (2-for-3, two runs, two RBI), Hoenecke (2-for-3) and freshman Derek Peake (2-for-3).

Milwaukee also got a solid all-around effort in the opener, collecting 17 hits while limiting the Flames to just six in the 10-1 victory.

"All week you could see the bats starting to relax a bit," Doffek said. "Again, we had some guys step up and get some key two-out hits. Tell Taylor hit a three-run home run and across the board we made them work for the outs."

Sophomore Eric Semmelhack (2-4) did most of the heavy lifting for UWM on the mound, working into the seventh inning. He allowed just one run in 6.1 innings, giving up six hits and setting a new career-high with seven strikeouts.

"He has been great the past few weeks," Doffek said. "Every outing has been the same - solid effort after solid effort. We score, he puts up zeroes. Just good pitching."

Sophomore Jonathan Capasso led the offensive barrage, collecting Milwaukee's first five-hit outing of the season with a 5-for-5 showing at the plate, scoring twice and driving in another.

Milwaukee led, 1-0, after the top of the first and continued to tack on from there. Hoenecke added to UWM's 5-0 lead in the seventh with a two-run home run and freshman Tell Taylor closed out the scoring with a long three-run home run to left in the ninth. UIC scored once in the seventh to spoil the shutout.

Senior Cuyler Franzke worked 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out two and junior Cameron Amsrud worked a 1-2-3 ninth.

Offensively, senior Cole Kraft was 4-for-6, with his hit to lead off the game being the 200th of his career to become the seventh player in program history to accomplish the feat. Hoenecke ended 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in and Pierce was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Andy Leonard was the only player for UIC to record more then one hit at 2-for-4 in the contest.

Next up, it will be the busiest week of the season to date, as five games will be played on four different dates. It's a return to the Hank first, playing non-league games against St. Norbert College Monday and Carroll University Tuesday before taking on Cleveland State on the road on the weekend. First pitch of each home game is scheduled for 4 p.m.