March 19, 2014

Box Score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Junior Mike Porcaro drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game in the ninth inning but the late rally by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team came up just short in falling to the University of Missouri, 4-3, Wednesday night at Taylor Stadium.

The Panthers (3-10) trailed the Tigers (11-9) by a pair of runs headed into their final at bat, but strung together a walk and a pair of hits to get within one and had the tying run at third with two outs. Breckin Williams was able to close it out for Mizzou however, helping the Tigers improve to 7-1 at home this season with the final out for his second save.

Junior Derek Peake went 3-for-5 to lead the offense as the only UWM player with more than one hit in the contest.

"It was another tough loss tonight, but a lot of credit has to go to their club for making some great plays defensively," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "There were a lot of positives to take from today. I liked the way our pitchers threw the ball for the most part and I also liked the way we swung the bats. Hopefully we can use that as a springboard heading into conference play this weekend."

Milwaukee trailed 4-1 after five innings, but made a dent when it pushed across a run in the sixth inning and had numerous chances on the night, leaving nine runners on base, including a pair in the seventh inning.

The Tigers jumped on redshirt freshman Justin Langley (0-1) for three runs in the first two innings, scoring once in the first and two more times despite three strikeouts and no walks by Langley.

Down, 3-0, Milwaukee got on the scoreboard in the fourth on an RBI-single off the bat of sophomore Mitch Ghelfi and made it 4-2 in the sixth on a fielder's choice groundout by sophomore Nick Unes.

Peake and Porcaro collected two-out base hits in the seventh but UWM came up empty. Peake then helped matters in the ninth when his third hit of the game loaded the bases with one out. Porcaro drove one out to right to get one run in, but that was as close as Milwaukee could get in the loss.

Up next, the team opens Horizon League play this weekend at Youngstown State, with a three-game series scheduled to start Friday. Game time is currently slated for 2 p.m. CST but check back for any updates due to weather and field conditions.