Horizon League Baseball Championship Game 2: Milwaukee defeats Cleveland State 10-7 in 14 innings

May 21, 2008

Box Score

Championship Central

NILES, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (21-34) outlasted Cleveland State University (21-30) 10-7 in 14 innings to send the Vikings to the loser's bracket of the Horizon League Baseball Championship presented by the U.S. Army. UWM will face either the Wright State University on Thursday.

Milwaukee scored three runs in the top of the 14th inning and closed out the Vikings in the bottom half of the frame. Sophomore Wes Munson scored from second on a single into centerfield from freshman Cole Kraft. Sophomore Tim Patzman came up next and picked up a pair of RBIs after he hit a double off the leftfield wall. Patzman's hit was his first since April 4.

The 14-inning affair saw both teams combined to play 33 different players, collect 32 hits and leave 26 runners on base. The game also was the second-longest tournament game in League history (Dayton and St. Louis played 15 innings in 1990).

The Panthers picked up the victory despite being out hit 18-14. UWM is just 4-26 when being out hit by its opponent this season.

UWM senior Adam Ferrell picked up the win and moved to 3-4 on the year. Ferrell came on in the eighth inning and worked 6.0 innings to close out the game for the Panthers. Cleveland State junior Sam Suitca took the loss and fell to 1-6 this season.

Milwaukee junior Shawn Wozniak went 3-for-7 with a double, a home run had a game-high three runs batted in. Wozniak's home run was his sixth round-tripper of the year.

Cleveland State junior John Brown led the way for the Vikings offensively as he collected a season-high three hits with two RBIs and a double.

Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead as it plated four runs in the first inning. Junior Andy Gerhartz led off the frame with a single through the right side. He would later advance to second thanks to single through the left side by senior Jesse Hart. Gerhartz would come around to score after junior Nick Wichser drove a single through the right side.

Wozniak became the fourth Panther batter to collect a hit as he cleared the bases with a double to left-center field, which scored Hart from third and Wichser from first. Wozniak advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Long. Wozniak would then score from third base after Wegner grounded out to third.

In the top half of the third, the Panthers extended their lead to five. Wozniak jumped on the first pitch of the frame and parked it over the right field wall.

Cleveland State got on the board in the bottom half of the third inning it plated one run. Junior Brad Buell got aboard as he singled to second base after Milwaukee retired CSU's first two batters. Buell the came around to score two batters later after senior Kyle Bischof doubled down the right field line.

The Vikings added two more runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning to cut the Panther advantage to two runs. Freshman Adam Heideman got the inning started with a single up the middle. Junior John Foco came up next and singled into right-centerfield. Both Heideman and Foco would later come around to score.

CSU struck again in the seventh and eighth innings. The Vikings scored two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to take a 6-5 lead.

In the top half of the ninth, the Panthers plated two runs to reclaim the lead. CSU then responded with a run of its own to send the game into extra innings where UWM would go on to close out the Vikings in the 14th inning.

The 2008 Horizon League Baseball Championship is being held at Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio. Single-day tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for senior citizens and youth, while all-tournament passes are $20 and $14, respectively. Students from all Horizon League institutions are free with a valid student identification card. Gates will open one hour prior to the first game each day.

For additional Horizon League baseball information, including the championship bracket, directions to Eastwood Field, GameTracker live statistics and game recaps, check out the official web site at www.horizonleague.org. For free, live video web casts of all games of the Horizon League Baseball Championship, log onto the Horizon League Network at www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv.