Saturday's Results Finalize Bracket for 2005 Horizon League Baseball Championship
Release
Horizon League ·
May 22, 2005
NILES, Ohio -- Brent Parks hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to tie the score and added another in the eighth to give Youngstown State a doubleheader sweep of UW-Milwaukee and a first-round bye in next week's Horizon League Tournament.
Parks capped a four-run comeback in YSU's 5-4 win in game two while sophomore Andy Svitak threw a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory in game one.
With the win, the Penguins (28-24 overall, 10-5 Horizon League) clinched second-place in the final Horizon League standings - their best finish in four years in the league. UW-Milwaukee (21-29, 11-8) will finish third in the league standings and will play Wright State in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday. YSU will play its first game on Thursday at 4 p.m. EST.
Svitak threw his first career shutout and struck out a career-high eight hitters in leading YSU to a 1-0 victory. The righty did not allow a hit until there was one out in the fifth, and UWM's only two hits were bloop singles to left. The Panthers did not get a runner past first base in the game.
The Penguins got the only run they needed in the first inning when Justin Banks singled home Brandon Caipen for an unearned run. Caipen hit a one-out single to left and advanced to third when first baseman Ross McCoy mishandled an Erich Diedrich grounder. Banks then stepped up and ripped the first pitch up the middle to bring in Caipen for the game's only run.
UW-Milwaukee got the leadoff runner on in the seventh when Joe Nowicki singled, but Svitak induced three-straight flyouts to center to end the game.
Rick Cavaini allowed only four hits in six innings and struck out four in a losing effort in game one.
In game two, the Panthers got two runs on two hits off YSU starter Eric Shaffer as Rob Brockel hit a sacrifice fly and Jesse Hart hit an RBI single.
YSU got to within one with a run in the second as Banks scored on a Charles Schultz groundout, but UWM answered with two runs in the top of the third on an RBI double from Brooks Graff and a sacrifice fly from Hart.
Shaffer, Kevin Libeg and Wells did not allow another run for the rest of the game, and the Penguins steadily chipped away at the lead with a run in the third, one in the fourth and another in the sixth to tie the score at 4-4 and send the game to extra innings.
J.D. Hannan tripled with one out in the third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Caipen, and Schultz singled home Banks in the fourth to bring the Penguins to within one at 4-3.
Dustin Thomas got the rally started in the sixth with a one-out double inside the bag at third, and Schultz followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Brockel came in and hit Miek Turjanica with a 1-0 pitch to load the bases, and Parks hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to shallow right to bring in Thomas to tie the score.
The Panthers put a runner on third with one out in the seventh but were turned away empty. Steve Sanfilippo hit a leadoff double to left center and advanced on a Nick Goetz sacrifice bunt. Libeg then got pinch hitter Zak Rivera to ground out to shortstop with the infield drawn in, and Turjanica made a game-saving diving stop toward the first baseline and beat Nowicki to the bag to end the inning.
Thomas was hit by a 1-0 offering to leadoff the eighth, and pinch runner Sean Lucas advanced to second on a Schulz sacrifice. Turjanica then hit a rocket up the middle that ricocheted off Brockel to put runners at the corners. Parks then hit a liner to left and Lucas raced home with the game-winner.
Wells got the win for the Penguins, retiring the only batter he faced in the eighth.
Phillips and Schultz finished with two hits apiece in game two while Graff had two hits for the UWM.
Cleveland State 14, Butler 6
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State used a 18 hit performance in support of a gutsy outing by senior right-hander Matt Kaltenbach to top Butler, 14-6, at Forest Hill Park on Saturday (May 21). The win gives the Vikings the fifth seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament by virtue of the 3-1 series win over the Bulldogs.
CSU (13-34, 5-15 Horizon) will take on fourth-seeded Wright State in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday (May 25) beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
Following a pre-game ceremony to honor the eight departing Vikings, CSU jumped on Butler starter Jim Knytych for five runs in the first inning. Steve Chinn led off with a double to left field before Mike Ochwat crushed his third home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.
Kolin Kelly followed with a single through the right side, took second after Dominic Erney walked and came in on a double over the head of the left fielder by Jeff Katlen. A single to left by Ben Smith plated Erney before a sacrifice fly by Josh Geric brought in Katlen.
Butler slowly chipped away at the advantage in the next three innings, tallying a single run in the second and two in the third. CSU picked up a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Katlen, but the Bulldogs struck for three runs on four hits to knot the scoring at 6-6.
An unearned run in the bottom of the fourth put the Vikings back on top for good at 7-6 before the close game turned into a rout in the final three frames.
After Chinn and Ochwat reached on one-out singles in the sixth, Kelly plated both base runners on a double down the left field line that got hung up in the Viking bullpen. Following a walk to Erney, Marc Sikora brought Kelly into score and moved Erney to third on a single to right. A sacrifice fly by Katlen put Erney across to give the Vikings an 11-6 lead.
CSU would put the game away with three runs on a pair of two-out hits by Smith and Geric.
Meanwhile, Kaltenbach would settle down after the rough fourth inning, allowing only three Butler hits in the final four innings. He tossed 135 pitches in eight innings of work in winning his fifth game before Darren Green closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth. Kytych took the loss, yielding 10 hits in 4.0 innings.
Sikora finished the day on a 4-for-5 clip with an RBI and two runs scored. Kelly went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI, while Ochwat and Smith tallied three hits of their own.
Ball State 3, Wright State 0
Ball State 5, Wright State 0
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Wright State baseball team dropped a pair of non-conference games at Ball State on Saturday, May 21. The Raiders dropped the first game 3-0 and then dropped the nightcap 5-0 to finish their regular season schedule.
In the first game the Raiders couldn't overcome a costly second inning error that allowed the first Ball State run to cross the plate. The Cardinals added single runs in the fourth, on a sacrifice fly and again in the fifth on an RBI single through the left side to take a 3-0 lead.
Getting tagged with the loss was Chris Coleman, now 3-3 on the year, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits and struck out one batter.
The Raiders collected only four hits as a team in game one, with Brian Shoup collecting a hit, walking once and stealing a base in the contest. Amin Abusaleh, Justin Wilson and Ross Oeder all added a hit for the Green and Gold.
In the second game the Cardinals jumped on Raider starter Nate Stevens, scoring five runs on six hits. Stevens, now 2-7 on the year, recorded one out in the first inning before handing the ball to Chris Nighland who retired the final two batters to get WSU out of the inning.
The Raiders couldn't recover as they managed only one hit in the game, courtesy of a John Kopilchack single in the second inning. Kopilchack reached base twice in the game, drawing a walk to lead-off the fifth.
The Raiders end the season at 24-31 overall and head into the Horizon League Tournament as the fourth seed. The Raiders (11-9 HL) will face off against the fifth seeded Vikings of Cleveland State (13-34, 5-15 HL) at Noon Dayton time at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
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May 22, 2005
Saturday's results finalized the bracket for the 2005 Horizon League Baseball Championship, which will begin this Wednesday, May 25, at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis. UIC, which won its fourth straight regular-season title, is the No. 1 seed and will receive a first-round bye, along with No. 2 seed and defending tourney champion Youngstown State. Wednesday's action will include No. 4 Wright State against No. 5 Cleveland State at 11 a.m. Indiana Time, followed by No. 3 UW-Milwaukee versus No. 6 Butler at 3 p.m.
Youngstown State 1, UW-Milwaukee 0
Youngstown State 5, UW-Milwaukee 4
Cleveland State 14, Butler 6
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State used a 18 hit performance in support of a gutsy outing by senior right-hander Matt Kaltenbach to top Butler, 14-6, at Forest Hill Park on Saturday (May 21). The win gives the Vikings the fifth seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament by virtue of the 3-1 series win over the Bulldogs.
CSU (13-34, 5-15 Horizon) will take on fourth-seeded Wright State in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday (May 25) beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
Following a pre-game ceremony to honor the eight departing Vikings, CSU jumped on Butler starter Jim Knytych for five runs in the first inning. Steve Chinn led off with a double to left field before Mike Ochwat crushed his third home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.
Kolin Kelly followed with a single through the right side, took second after Dominic Erney walked and came in on a double over the head of the left fielder by Jeff Katlen. A single to left by Ben Smith plated Erney before a sacrifice fly by Josh Geric brought in Katlen.
Butler slowly chipped away at the advantage in the next three innings, tallying a single run in the second and two in the third. CSU picked up a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Katlen, but the Bulldogs struck for three runs on four hits to knot the scoring at 6-6.
An unearned run in the bottom of the fourth put the Vikings back on top for good at 7-6 before the close game turned into a rout in the final three frames.
After Chinn and Ochwat reached on one-out singles in the sixth, Kelly plated both base runners on a double down the left field line that got hung up in the Viking bullpen. Following a walk to Erney, Marc Sikora brought Kelly into score and moved Erney to third on a single to right. A sacrifice fly by Katlen put Erney across to give the Vikings an 11-6 lead.
CSU would put the game away with three runs on a pair of two-out hits by Smith and Geric.
Meanwhile, Kaltenbach would settle down after the rough fourth inning, allowing only three Butler hits in the final four innings. He tossed 135 pitches in eight innings of work in winning his fifth game before Darren Green closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth. Kytych took the loss, yielding 10 hits in 4.0 innings.
Sikora finished the day on a 4-for-5 clip with an RBI and two runs scored. Kelly went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI, while Ochwat and Smith tallied three hits of their own.
Ball State 3, Wright State 0
Ball State 5, Wright State 0
In the first game the Raiders couldn't overcome a costly second inning error that allowed the first Ball State run to cross the plate. The Cardinals added single runs in the fourth, on a sacrifice fly and again in the fifth on an RBI single through the left side to take a 3-0 lead.
Getting tagged with the loss was Chris Coleman, now 3-3 on the year, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits and struck out one batter.
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