May 1, 2012

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa - In a game that featured five lead changes and three ties, it was the University of Iowa that scored the final run, defeating the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team, 10-9, in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field.

The Panthers (17-24) let three leads slip away on the night, with the Hawkeyes (18-22) claiming the win in walkoff fashion when a bases-loaded ground ball to a five-man infield was stopped, but the winning run beat the throw to the plate.

"We beat ourselves every time we scored," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "When you put up crooked numbers you have to find ways to go back out there and put up zeroes and ones - those are killers. Right now, we are a team that doesn't know how to win. If we give up five, we'll score four; if we give up one, we'll get none - that's just the way it's going right now."

Senior Phil Striggow had two hits and drove in three runs to lead the offense. Freshmen Luke Meeteer (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Michael Porcaro (2-for-3) also had multi-hit efforts on the night.

Iowa had the leadoff runner get on base in the ninth with a hit batter and sacrificed him to second. A passed ball put the runner on third with one out, forcing UWM to intentionally walk back-to-back hitters to load the bases and set up the force. After bringing in a fifth infielder, a hot shot to the right side of the infield was enough to get the Hawkeyes the victory.

The Panthers took the lead for the third time in the seventh inning, plating three runs to go ahead, 8-5. Sophomore Sam Koenig broke the deadlock with a solid double to the gap in left center. Striggow added to his night at the plate with a little help, as his fly ball to left turned into a double that scored a pair of runs after it was lost in the lights.

"We battled and swung the bats pretty well," Doffek said. "We just didn't put up the zeroes when we needed to and that was the difference."

The lead was short-lived, however, as Iowa went back ahead with four runs in the bottom of the inning, two of them going down as the unearned variety. Meeteer did, however, make it a new game again in the eighth with an RBI-single.

Striggow homered in the top of the third to give the Panthers a 5-4 lead. That advantage held up through a few scoreless frames before the Hawkeyes tied it with an unearned run in the sixth inning.

Milwaukee made it look easy early, jumping out to a quick lead with four runs on four hits in the top of the second inning. UWM scored the first run of the game on a passed ball. Sophomore Ryan Solberg added a sac fly, Meeteer walked with the bases loaded and senior Jim Lundstrom collected an RBI-single to round out the scoring.

Iowa wasted no time in battling back, tying the game with four of its own in the bottom of the second, with most of the damage coming on a bases-loaded double by Mike McQuillan.

Milwaukee remains on the road for league play this weekend, starting a three-game series at UIC on Friday at 6 p.m.