March 26, 2008

UIC 14, Illinois Tech 1 Box Score
Chicago, Ill. - UIC scored at least one run in each of the first six innings and never looked back in a decisive 14-1 victory over IIT at Les Miller Field.

The Flames improved to 12-7 with their eighth consecutive win.

Ty Rubio drove in a team-high four runs. Rubio (2-for-5), Steve McGuiggan (3-for-4), Brandon Harwell (2-for-4) and Rafael Garcia (2-for-4) had multi-hit showings against the Scarlet Hawks (4-8).

Harwell hit his first homer in a Flames uniform during the sixth inning, belting a three-run shot to right.

Right-hander Peter Ifft earned the victory in his first decision of the season, allowing just three hits in five innings.

Wright State 9, Hiram 6
Dayton, Ohio - A box score and summary of this game will be posted later.

Louisville 3, Butler 2 (11 innings) Box Score
Louisville, Ky. - Butler got another outstanding effort on the mound, as the pitching staff held host Louisville nearly five runs below its season average, but the Cardinals came up with the clutch hits they needed in extra innings to take a 3-2, 11-inning victory over the Bulldogs at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Louisville, which entered the contest averaging 7.9 runs per game, was held to just two through the first 10 innings before pushing across the deciding mark in the bottom of the 11th.

Butler took an early lead in the game thanks to some two-out hitting in the second. Jason Jamerson got things going with a single to left before Alex Montagano walked to put runners on first and second for Michael Letzter, who lined a single up the middle to bring Jamerson across for the first run of the afternoon.

Louisville came back to tie the game in the third on an RBI single by Josh Richmond before taking the lead in the fourth on a fielder's choice.

The Bulldogs picked up an unearned run in the seventh to bring the contest back to even at 2-2. Letzter led off with a single to center, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Rotherham and came in to score after an errant throw by the second baseman allowed Joe Pauley to reach base with two done.

The game remained deadlocked until the 11th, although the Bulldogs would have their chances late. Butler put runners on first and second with one down in the 10th before the Cardinals induced an inning-ending double-play. The Bulldogs would also get the go-ahead run on third with two down but would fail to cash in.

UL would end the game in the bottom of the frame, however, as a two-out RBI single down the left field line brought the winning run home.

Jeff Sinkiewicz worked a strong five innings as the starter, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out three and walking none. Evan DePotter tossed two scoreless innings, while Bryan Bokowy added a no-hit frame in the eighth.

Tyler Szymczak was the hard-luck loser, scattering five hits in 2 2/3 innings. Letzter finished with a 2-for-5 performance at the plate with a run scored and an RBI, while Ryan Neat added a pair of hits.

Kent State 9, Cleveland State 7 Box Score
Kent, Ohio - Cleveland State raced out to a 6-1 lead, but could not hold it as the Vikings fell at Kent State, 9-7.

The Vikings were playing their first game in 10 days after having their previous six games cancelled due to inclement weather. CSU fell to 5-8 with the loss, the Kent improved to 8-10.

CSU's top four hitters, Brad Buell, Alex Kerins, Kyle Bischof and Josh Geric, combined to go 9-for-17 with six runs and six RBI. Geric went 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Kerins drove in three.

Kocks also used six pitchers in order to give his staff some work after the long layoff. Brian Long, Dylan Henry and Sam Suitca worked two innings, while Drew Fronczek and Vasili Pahoulis worked one inning apiece. Chris Bauman also pitched.

The Vikings scored two runs in the first, second and fourth innings to stake claim to a 6-1 lead.

Kerins, the second batter of the game, got things started with a home run. Bischof followed with a single, stole second and came around to score on a Geric single.

In the second, Kerins delivered a sacrifice fly for his second RBI of the game, while Geric came through with a two-out RBI single to give CSU a 4-1 lead.

Buell led off the fourth with a double and was followed by Kerins, who hit his second homer of the afternoon to extend the CSU lead to 6-1. However, Kent came back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to slice its deficit to 6-4.

Bischof hit a solo homer in the sixth to push the lead back to 7-4, but the Golden Flashes had an answer in the seventh, using a solo homer to pull back to within two (7-5).

After the Vikings failed to score in the top of the eighth, Kent plated four runs on three hits, two walks and a wild pitch.

Pahoulis (1-3) took the loss, giving up two runs on two hits in one inning.

Akron 4, Youngstown State 3 Box Score
Akron, Ohio - Youngstown State couldn't come up with enough clutch hits and was hurt by issued walks in a 4-3 loss to Akron afternoon at Lee Jackson Field.

The Penguins stranded 10 and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, which offset a 10-6 advantage in the hits column for YSU.

Anthony Munoz doubled twice and singled for the Penguins (5-12), who came in winning two straight. Phil Bednar went 2-for-3 with the eventual game-winning two-run single for the Zips (11-8).

YSU led 2-0 after plating a run in the second and third innings and a strong start from freshman Phil Klein. Cory Hornyak started things in the second with a two-out single, and David Leon drew a walk to put two runners on. Munoz then ripped an RBI double down the left field line to score Hornyak. Joe Iacobucci then doubled with one out in the third, moved to third on Anthony Porter's single and scored on Tom Clayton's sacrifice fly.

After retiring the first six Akron hitters, Klein ran into trouble in the third by walking the first two hitters - both of whom came around to score. Kevin Hass singled home Brian Kordal with one out, and John Turk scored on Drew Turocy's sacrifice fly.

Kordal singled with two outs in the fourth to ignite another two-run inning. Turk followed with a double to left, and Bednar stepped up with a two-run single past a diving David Leon at short.

The Penguins had two runners on and one out in the fourth and fifth innings but couldn't get a run across. A 6-4-3 double play ended the fourth, and an infield pop out with runners on second and third halted the fifth.

Munoz cut the lead to one in the sixth when he hit a one-out double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a C.J. Morris groundout.

The Penguins created some drama in the ninth when Sean Lucas reached on an error to start the inning. Josh Page sacrificed him to second, but Haas made a great play moving to his left at short to steal a hit from Iacobucci and record the second out.

Klein was tagged with the loss, allowing all four runs on four hits and four walks in 3.2 innings. Corey Vukovic threw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, and Cody Dearth came on to throw a scoreless eighth. Jared Patterson got the win for the Zips, holding YSU scoreless despite allowing four hits in his two innings.

Notre Dame 14, Milwaukee 3 Box Score
South Bend, Ind. - Ryan Sharpley allowed one hit in five scoreless innings to lead Notre Dame to a 14-3 victory over cisiting Milwaukee at Frank Eck Stadium. The Fighting Irish (12-7-1) took an early lead on the Panthers (3-15) and then broke the game open with six runs in the fifth inning.

The Panthers did score late, plating two in the ninth inning on three walks and four wild pitches. Andy Gerhartz broke up the shutout in the seventh inning, driving in a run with a ground out to give Milwaukee its first tally.

A. J. Pollack led the 15-hit Notre Dame attack with a 4-for-5 day at the plate, scoring five times and adding two spectacular catches in the field to rob UWM batters of sure hits.

Notre Dame scored in four of the first five innings, jumping out to a 6-0 advantage after four and then breaking it open with the big fifth inning in which it sent 11 batters to the plate and recorded five hits.

The Irish scored three runs in the first before even hitting a ball out of the infield. Four walks, a hit batter and an infield single did the damage before a fly ball to right field ended the frame.

Six pitchers worked in the game for Milwaukee, with Jordan Herbert (0-3) taking the loss. He allowed three earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning, walking three and striking out one despite not allowing a base hit. Craig Meier struck out four batters in his 1.2 innings of work.

Nick Wichser, Shawn Wozniak, Shaun Wegner and Cole Kraft had the four Panther hits, with Wichser extending his hit streak to 10 games with his safety.

Purdue 15, Valparaiso 0 Box Score
West Lafayette, Ind. - Purdue scored 10 times in the seventh inning on the way to a 15-0 victory over visiting Valparaiso.

The Crusaders (5-16) committed six errors defensively and the Boilermakers tallied 20 hits on the afternoon.

Valpo had an early opportunity to take the lead in the first inning as Matt Lenski and Zach Rodeghero singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. Purdue starter Matt Morgan worked out of the jam, striking out two straight to end the threat.

The Boilermakers threatened in the second, loading the bases with just one out. Jon Gulbransen worked out of the situation inducing a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game scoreless.

Purdue did find the scoreboard in the third, as Ben Wolgamot and Ryne White reached with one out. Following a double-steal, a groundout by Dan Black put the Boilermakers on top 1-0.

An unearned run with two outs in the fourth increased the Purdue lead to 2-0 as Brandon Haveman singled to left, but the throw to third trying to gun down runner Nick Overmyer went into the dugout, allowing him to score. White added to the lead in the fifth leading off the inning with a homer to right field.

Another RBI groundout, this time off of the bat of Haveman, increased the Boilermakers advantage to 4-0 in the sixth.

A seven-run seventh inning broke the game open for Purdue as the Boilermakers sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 10 times. Dan Black led off the inning with a homer and Wolgamot had a three-run triple in the frame. The Boilermakers added another unearned run in the eighth to close out the scoring.

Lenski was on the only Crusader on the afternoon to record more than one hit, doubling in the eighth for his second tally on the day as Valpo was limited to just five hits on the day, and only three after the opening inning.