Junior Sam Sivilotti and sophomore Greg Blohowiak, members of the UWM baseball team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. This is their eighth entry.
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The Price is WRONG Bob!!!
After a week or so off we are back once again to offer an insight into the recent adventures of the baseball team. The Butler weekend was one of much dismay and was a definite step back as a team. It was just one of those weekends where it seemed that nothing was going right and we lacked energy and focus, which is inexcusable. After going 1-2 versus Butler, we came back the following Tuesday morning for a 6:45 a.m. practice at the one and only Klotsche Center. Going in early and getting the point across that the way we played was unacceptable, we had a new perspective on the upcoming games. After sweeping Bradley on a combined score of 32-8 we gained momentum going into the weekend versus a couple of Horizon League opponents.
We left the Klotsche Center at 12:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon to begin our trek to Youngstown, Ohio. The first movie we watched, which has been a long time coming, was Happy Gilmore and the part where he states “there's 364 more days until hockey tryouts, I gotta toughen up!” got us revved up for a long trip. We arrived to Youngstown around 10 pm Eastern time with empty stomachs and tired eyes. Some of us went to the local gas station or Denny’s to solve our hunger, with others laying to rest in the hotel.
This weekend was a very unusual weekend for baseball as we were slated to play Youngstown State on Friday in a doubleheader with a doubleheader against Cleveland State looming on the following Sunday. Even though this was a weird schedule our starting pitchers remained the same. Junior Chad Pierce toed the rubber for game one. The weather was beautiful, at 70 degree sunny skies for the first pitch, and the pregame routine followed suit. You could tell that we came to play and everything was done full speed pregame.
Pitcher Chad Pierce would be the first one to tell you that he did not have his best stuff Friday, however the way he pitched he kept us in the game for seemingly the whole time. The game was a back and forth battle for the first six innings, with the biggest lead at anytime was 2-1 or 3-2 held by both teams. Going into the bottom of the 7th inning Pierce was reaching a staggering 120 pitches, however he felt strong and remained in the game. He got the first YSU batter to fly out to right and the second to pop out to third basemen Paul Hoenecke. After getting the first 2 outs of the inning Pierce hit a speed bump. After a single and a couple walks Pierce found himself battling to get out of the inning with the bases loaded. Following a wild pitch and another single the score was set at 6-3 and Pierce saw his day come to an end. In came sophomore Greg Blohowiak to try to get the final out of the inning. He got a fly ball to right field with 2 outs and a runner on 1st to end the threat.
Even though this was a 3-run inning and now YSU had the lead going into the top of the 8th inning there was no reason for us to put our tails between our legs. We “manned” up and did what we have been doing all day, hit the ball. We came back with a 3-run inning of our own with hits by senior Nino Guerrero, sophomore Paul Hoenecke, freshman Jon Capasso and junior Cole Kraft. With help from a couple wild pitches and a fielding error we found ourselves right back in the game with a 6-6 score going into the bottom of the 8th. Blohowiak remained in the game getting their first hitter to fly out to right before giving up a “fisted” single through the left side. After striking out YSU shortstop Jacke Healy, Blohowiak delivered a pitch that the YSU runner attempted to steal 2nd base. Catcher Dan Buchholz fired down to 2nd missing only by a couple feet, but because we were a split second late covering the ball squeezed out to center field causing the runner to advance to 3rd. With a runner on 3rd, Blohowiak got a hard hit ground ball back to him that hopped up off the tip of his glove and shortstop Cole Kraft attempted to make an off balance throw, missing slightly up the line, causing the runner to score from 3rd and YSU taking the lead. Blohowiak saw his day come to an end with sophomore Kaleb Engelke relieving him, after throwing one pitch the YSU runner was thrown out at 2nd to end the 8th.
Once again we found ourselves down one in the top of the 9th inning. We fought back nonetheless, scoring one in our half of the ninth after a sacrifice fly by Hoenecke to plate Shaun Wegner, who came in and pinch ran for senior Ben Long after he singled. With the game tied once again at 7-7, Engelke took the hill to begin the 9th. He got a ground ball out to begin the inning. Unfortunately, the next batter found the perfect spot to hit the ball and received an infield hit. With a runner on 1st, sophomore Cameron Amsrud came into the game to relieve Engelke. The story remained the same with Amsrud however, with the next two batters getting ground ball hits through the infield. Youngstown won in walk off fashion to take the first game 8-7. It was disappointing, however our energy and focus was one that needed to be carried over to the next game where we would almost be guaranteed to be in a dog fight for the win, which proved to be the case.
The game began with much of the same energy carried over from last game with the offense providing us a 7-2 lead after two innings. This game proved to be one where we let them inch back. Starting pitcher Kyle Schmidt did well throughout much of the game, but once again he would be the first one to tell you he has had better outings. After 8 innings the score was 9-6. The ninth inning for YSU proved to be a typical end of the game inning for our opponents this season. With us “making it interesting” to say the least. We have many older guys on the team who claim any more of these types of games will indeed stop their heart. After a walk and a single through the right side Schmidt saw his day come to an end collecting 8 innings pitched throwing 130 pitches. In came Kaleb Engelke to relieve Schmidt.
A lefty submariner, Engelke did exactly what he was called upon to do. He got two straight ground balls to get the first two outs of the inning. However, during this time two runs scored due to a wild pitch that advanced runners to 2nd and 3rd, with them scoring on the ground outs. Engelke stayed in the game to face the next batter who he subsequently walked. Coach Scott Doffek made the stroll to the mound and called upon Cameron Amsrud once again to preserve the win. Cameron is known for making things very interesting, with one example being against SIU-Edwardsville earlier in the year. The next batter for YSU came in and got a hit up the middle just off the glove of junior Jimmy Lunstrom, advancing runners to 1st and 2nd. Amsrud made it very interesting by walking the next YSU batter to load the bases. This seemed to be a bad dream, or nightmare, as we have seen something like this before. Even though this was happening once again we had confidence in Cameron to close the door. With the YSU closer/hitter Marzec at the plate, Amsrud pitched the ball up and in and got Marzec to weakly ground out to 2b Lundstrom, getting the final out of the game, giving us the win.
What an important win this was for us, especially coming off a close game. We were 6-5 in conference play following this game and had two more games Sunday for us to look forward to. We went back to the hotel and figure out eating situations and relaxed in the hotel until bedtime.
With games one and two of the weekend out of the way, we woke up Saturday morning unsure of whether or not the weather would allow us to play the final two games of the weekend at Cleveland State. Having a day off on a weekend series is a little unusual for us. We took advantage of having Saturday off with a light workout and some batting practice back at Eastwood Field. After about a two hour workout we all showered up and hopped back on the bus. The team was then treated to a delicious all you can eat pizza buffet at Cici’s Pizza in Youngstown, Ohio. Following the meal, we made the two hour journey to Cleveland. As we got closer to Cleveland, storm clouds began to roll in. We finally arrived in Cleveland and checked in to yet another Extended Stay Hotel and received our room assignments. After about three hours of lounging around the hotel, taking naps and playing pranks on teammates we went to dinner at a local Applebee’s. A big shout out goes to Ricky Babcock, Director of Baseball Operations, for arranging the phenomenal deal we received at the restaurant. Richard, as we like to call him, can finagle any restaurant manager into getting us ridiculous deals, that let me assure you, we take full advantage of. Following the meal it was back to the restaurant and to bed in preparation for a long day at Cleveland State.
All Pro Freight Stadium is the home of Cleveland State this year and is newly constructed. It has all the typical amenities that you expect to see in a minor league or independent ballpark: suites, concessions, and souvenir shops. With that being said, upon arrival, we ran into one speed bump. We COULD NOT wear our metal spikes on the freshly laid field turf. What seemed to be ridiculous to us, all position players were issued rubber football spikes. After issuance of the spikes we preceded with pre-game exercises and batting practice in preparation for the two games ahead. The weather was beautiful. National anthem was sung and we were ready for some ball.
Continuing the hot-hitting from Friday, we jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings. In the second we plated four with a leadoff flare single by Sam Sivilotti. Paul Hoenecke then followed with another bloop single that moved Sivilotti to third. Doug Dekoning then hit a rocket up the middle to plate Sivilotti and move Hoenecke to third. Nino Guerrero then continued his hot hitting with a single of his own to move the runners up another base. Cole Kraft then extended the rally with another flare to left field plating Paul and Doug. Out came Cleveland State’s pitcher and in came another. Did not matter. Shaun Wegner then singled through the left side scoring Guerrero. The offensive was stalled when a laser inning-ending double play concluded the inning.
With a comfortable lead through three innings, the game drastically changed when Cleveland State put up a five spot of their own in the bottom of the third to tie the game. We were now essentially in a 0-0 battle over the next six innings. Following the offensive explosions, Luke Annen entered the game for us on the hill. He came in and dealt giving us an opportunity to win the ball game. Luke had pitched five scoreless innings before the ninth rolled around. Dekoning lead off the top half of the inning with a walk. Following a strikeout, Kraft hit a single through the left side on a hit-and-run. With runners on first and second, Cleveland State made a move to their pen bringing in a new pitcher. His outing seemed to be a rather difficult one as he threw a wild pitch in a 1-0 count to move both Doug and Cole up to second and third. Cleveland State then opted to intentionally walk Wegner. After getting to 3-0, Schwegler, the new pitcher for CSU, through another wild pitch to plate Dekoning and give us a 6-5 lead. Out came Schwegler and in came Miller who induced an inning ending double play to get Cleveland State out of the jam. Annen was able to then shut the door on Cleveland State in the bottom of the ninth to close the game out and give us an opening game win.
Following game one, the rain began to come down. After about a two hour rain delay and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the bus, both coaching staffs and the umpiring crew decided that game two was going to be cancelled due to the amount of rain that the Cleveland area was still expected to get. Back on the bus it was. An eight hour journey home was ahead of us. Movies, napping, and jokes…the usual. We returned home around 11:30, which was a little earlier than expected. Nonetheless, it was late and we were ready to get back to the weekly grind, although with anticipation for the big doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday at Miller Park against Northwestern.
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