April 22, 2012

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Sophomore Mike Schneider faced the minimum through the first six innings and seniors Jim Lundstrom and Paul Hoenecke each had three hits to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team to a 5-2 victory over Youngstown State University Sunday at Henry Aaron Field.

The Panthers (16-20, 10-8 Horizon League) used solid defense and another quick start offensively to complete the three-game weekend sweep of the Penguins (4-34, 2-16 Horizon league).

Schneider (2-4) picked up the victory after facing just 18 batters over the first six frames, allowing just three hits. He walked one and struck out three and also picked a pair of runners of the bases.

"Again, it was about pressure," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "We ran a little bit, we bunted, and we scored three runs after we had two outs and nobody on in the second. We had an opportunity to really take charge and could have done better. But, on the weekend, we did a good job of maintaining pressure throughout all of the games."

Lundstrom came through with a career-high three-hit outing, scoring a pair of runs, driving in two and adding a pair of stolen bases in the contest. Hoenecke went 3-for-4, with freshman Luke Meeteer (3-for-4, 2 runs) and senior Phil Striggow (2-for-4) joining them with multi-hit efforts.

The Panthers also used a pair of impressive double plays to keep Youngstown off the scoreboard until the ninth, improving to 9-2 at home this season.

"We made some really good turns up the middle and whatever trouble Schneider got into - which wasn't much - Tell (Taylor) and Mike (Porcaro) just did a great job of turning some tricky double plays," Doffek said.

For the second-straight game, UWM jumped out to a quick lead, scoring a run in the first on an RBI-single from junior Will Fadness.

They upped the lead to 4-0 in the second, scoring three runs on three hits after the bases were empty with two outs. Freshman Michael Porcaro drew a two-out walk and went to third on a base hit by Meeteer. Lundstrom then dropped down a perfect bunt that scored a run before junior Jonathan Capasso doubled in a pair to make it 4-0.

The Panthers added a run in the fourth on an RBI-double by Lundstrom and the score stayed that way until the top of the ninth. YSU managed a pair of runs, but senior Jordan Guth worked out of the final jam to close out the victory.

Milwaukee returns to the road for a midweek game against Northern Illinois Tuesday, taking on the Huskies in a 3 p.m. start. Then, it's back home to host Valparaiso Friday through Saturday.