April 17, 2012

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University used a bases-loaded squeeze bunt to pull off a 4-3 victory in the bottom of the 11th inning Tuesday afternoon at Rocky Miller Park. The Panthers (13-20) had plenty of chances against the Wildcats (11-22), leaving 14 runners on base in the contest.

It was a day of missed opportunities for UWM, stranding a pair of runners in both the ninth and 10th innings with a chance to claim the win. In addition, the NU rightfielder robbed junior Jonathan Capasso of a home run in the top of the 11th with a catch at the wall.

The Panthers loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th on a double off the bat of senior Phil Striggow, a fielder's choice and a walk. However, a strikeout and 5-2-3 double play quickly ended the threat. They also had a chance in the last of the ninth, but left runners on first and third after a deep fly ball to the warning track in center.

"That is a tough one to swallow," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "We put ourselves in a hole early on with some walks and eventually did a nice job of scratching back to get even. There were some calls in that ball game that put us behind the eight ball, but we had plenty of opportunities to rise above and we didn't. It's a tough one but these kids are resilient and I'm confident they will come out ready to play this weekend."

UWM tied the contest in the top of the eighth, rallying for a pair of runs on four hits. Junior Will Fadness and senior Paul Hoenecke led off with back-to-back singles. Two strikeouts later, the rally was nearly ended before RBI-singles by junior Nick Lingvay and freshman Michael Porcaro made it a new game.

Milwaukee again had an opportunity the previous inning when a single by Striggow and a pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. But, NU reliever Michael Jahns came on to get the strikeout and end the threat there.

The only scoring in the first seven innings came in the second, with the Panthers taking a brief 1-0 lead without even recoding a hit. After Hoenecke was hit by a pitch and sophomore Ryan Solberg walked, Striggow laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both runners 90 feet. That allowed the run to score on Lingvay's groundout to make it 1-0.

The advantage was short-lived, however, as Northwestern responded with a three-run inning of its own in the bottom, helped along by three walks and a hit batter that also forced in a run and gave the home squad a 3-1 cushion.

Striggow and Koenig both had two hits to lead the offense, with Lingvay driving in a team-high two runs. Koenig's first base hit extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Six pitchers combined to throw for UWM, with freshman Eric King (2.2 scoreless innings, 1 hit), senior Kyle Spurley (1.2 hitless), junior Alex Erdmann (1.0 IP, 2 K's) and senior Jordan Guth (2.0 scoreless, 3 K's) all throwing well.

The Panthers are back at home this weekend, welcoming Youngstown State to Henry Aaron Field for a three-game series that starts Friday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.