Baseball Splits with UW-Milwaukee

May 15, 2004

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Senior Josh Markle ended a 13-game hitless streak by going 2-for-3 with a go-ahead RBI-double and P.J. Finigan went 3-for-4 with a RBI to lead Southern Illinois (21-28-1) to a 5-4 win and force a split with Wisconsin-Milwaukee (22-26) earlier today in a doubleheader at Abe Martin Field. The Panthers took game one, 8-2.

Markle was hitting just .033 (1-for-30) prior to the weekend with his only hit of the season being a home run at Vanderbilt on Feb. 20.

After SIU fell behind 3-1 early on, Nathan Boldt led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run to left center to pull the Dawgs to within a run. Boldt's homer marked his second of the season and first in 45 games.

SIU tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth, where Nick Baughman drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a single by Nathan Emrick, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Greg Andrews.

It was then in the sixth where Markle came up big for the Salukis. Tyler Schooley sparked a one-out rally with a double to right center. Kevin Koski, who pinch-ran for Schooley at second, touched home on Markle's ensuing two-base hit which put SIU ahead. A two-out single by Finigan then knocked in Markle to extend SIU's lead to 5-3.

UWM had all the makings of a big inning in the top of the eighth when three consecutive one-out singles helped the Panthers narrow the Saluki lead to 5-4. Charlie Reschke singled to right and went to second on a single by Ross McCoy. Shortly after McCoy's hit, Joe Nowicki drove in Reschke on a single to center.

With left-handed hitter Zak Rivera at the plate, southpaw Tyler Norrick relieved starter Josh Joiner and struck out Rivera for the second out. After getting the job done in that particular left-on-left situation, Norrick was replaced by Andrew Weber, who caught Nicholas Wichser looking on strikes to end the jam.

Weber's strikeout was one of three in the last 1.1 innings of the game, as he picked up his team-leading seventh save of the season. A native of Midlothian, Ill., Weber now has eight saves in his career, and as a result, moved into a tie for fifth with Jim Pecoraro (1999-00) on the school's all-time career saves list.

Joiner (3-2) was credited with the win after allowing five hits and three runs in six innings. He also registered one strikeout and issued a walk.

Aaron Bushong (2-7) suffered the loss on the mound for UWM. He scattered nine hits, struck out two batters and allowed five runs in six innings.

Offensively, SIU pounded out 11 hits led by Finigan's three. Andrews, Schooley and Markle each followed with two. Additionally, Emrick, who hit safely in both of today's games, extended his hitting streak to four games.

In game one, left-hander Eric Haberer and right-hander Ben Stanczyk went head-to-head in a solid pitcher's duel. However, after striking out seven batters and allowing two runs in an impressive complete game performance, it was Stanczyk who came out on top.

UWM led 2-1 before scoring four runs in the middle innings, including three in the top of the fifth to take a sizeable lead.

Haberer, who carved up the Panthers for eight strikeouts in the first four innings, started showing signs of fatigue in the fifth when he walked Sam Jansen, gave up a single to Brooks Graff and hit Matt Alexander with a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Shortly after Jansen scored on a wild pitch, Stanczyk grounded out to short to plate Graff and Reschke singled home Alexander to give the Panthers a 6-2 advantage.

UWM added to more runs in the ninth when Stanczyk knocked in Graff and Reschke delivered a sacrifice fly to score Alexander and ice the 8-2 win.

Stanczyk, who is also the Panthers' starting third baseman and leading hitter, improved to 6-3 on the year.

Haberer, whose nine strikeouts marked a career high, fell to 5-3 on the year. In addition to his nine Ks, he gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings.

SIU and UWM conclude their three-game series with a single, nine-inning game at 1 p.m., tomorrow. Seniors Markle, Baughman, Boldt, Schooley, Andrews, Joiner, Jerel Deitering, Cory Newman and Marshall Tucker, who were honored in between games of today's doubleheader, will play at home for the last time in their Saluki careers.

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Nick Baughman

Nathan Boldt

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