May 25, 2013

Box Score

NILES, Ohio - Valparaiso University took advantage of a shaky first inning in handing the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team a 6-4 loss in the Horizon League Tournament Saturday at Eastwood Field.

The Panthers (29-20) tried to claw back, but left too many runners on base over the first three innings. The Crusaders (30-26) snapped UWM's eight-game winning streak in the process.

"We just beat ourselves in that first inning," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "We beat ourselves on the mound, we beat ourselves on defense and when you put up a big number like that it's a tough deficit to come back from. Especially in these conditions, where it's tough to hit - the ball is just not going anywhere in that wind."

Milwaukee attempted a late comeback and did score three times in the eighth inning and had the winning run at the plate in the ninth, but it was not enough to keep them out of the loser's bracket.

"The positive is that we did a really good job of fighting the whole game and Tyler Thicke was phenomenal ... just outstanding," Doffek said. "He did a great job of keeping us in that game and then we chipped away. We were just one hit away there at the end. We will have to start the next game with a little bit of that momentum and get back in the win column."

The first inning went from bad to ugly, as Valparaiso plated five runs despite hitting the ball out of the infield just twice. A couple of errors played a crucial role, as only two of the runs came across of the earned variety. A wild pitch scored a run and a pair of walks and a hit batter also added to the early hole.

That chased senior Cale Tassi (5-6) before the inning was even over, ending his day with five runs allowed - again, just two earned - on three hits after getting just two outs.

Junior Tyler Thicke was phenomenal in relief. He got the final out in the first inning and retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced - including the first 12 - ending with 6.2 innings of work, allowing one run while striking out three.

Chris DeBoo (5-7) was solid for the Crusaders, allowing one run in 7.0 innings, walking one and striking out five to record the win.

The UWM offense was led by three players with two hits apiece: senior Jonathan Capasso, freshman Mitch Ghelfi and senior Alex Erdmann.

With the loss, the Panthers will have to stick around and play this afternoon, taking on Wright State University at 2 p.m. CST.