Baseball Enjoys Successful Run At Horizon League Tournament
June 3, 2008
MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team opened play at the Horizon League Tournament in Ohio in late May as the No. 5 seed in the event. It ended it six days later, just one victory away from making its first trip to the NCAA Regionals since 2002, falling to UIC in a one-game, winner-take-all, title contest. Seed-wise, the Panthers upset #4 Cleveland State in the opener, #2 Wright State in its second game and then also topped #1-seeded UIC Saturday to set up Sunday's final game. They rode a potent offense all week, batting .347 in the six games, averaging almost nine runs and 14 hits per game. A look at the final numbers shows UWM's offense played a large role all season long. The Milwaukee offense ended the season ranked 73rd in the NCAA with its .309 batting average. Its 412 runs scored led the Horizon League and ranked 67th in the country. Its 672 hits were second all-time in program history, led the league and ranked 16th in the country. The Panthers were a doubles machine, recording 156 two-baggers to smash the old school record of 143 and end the season ranked No. 2 in the NCAA. In fact, senior Jesse Hart finished the season ranked second on the NCAA doubles list with a school-record total of 28. Junior Shawn Wozniak gave UWM two players with doubles totals that surpassed the old school standard of 23, as his 26 doubles ranked sixth in the NCAA last week. Senior Nick Wichser (22 doubles and 34th place) gave the Panthers three players with 20-plus doubles in the same season for the first time in school history. The team hit-by-pitch total of 87 led the league, was 17th in the country and easily surpassed the former school mark of 66. Several players ended the season ranked in the top 100 in various offensive categories.
-Junior Andy Gerhartz challenged the school mark in hit-by-pitches. His season total of 23 was seventh in the NCAA and came up just three short of Clay Schwartz's standard of 26. -Hart's 89 hits were third-most all-time and ranked 48th. His career-best RBI total of 64 was fourth-best all time and ranked 62nd. -Wichser's 61 runs scored tied for the fourth-most in program history and ranked 89th. His career-high hit total of 84 was fifth-best on the season charts and ranked 97th. Three players ranked in the top 100 for toughest to strike out. Hart was seventh at 23.4 at bats per strikeout, senior Troy Vesling was 49th (14.9) and Wichser 91st (12.4). |
