The Journey: NCAA Regionals

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 11th entry.

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Ever since I joined this team back in the fall of 2008, there was a bitter taste in the mouths of the veteran players. This taste was that of reaching the league championship game only to come up on the short end, receiving 2nd place. I remember the first meeting I attended. The 2nd place plaque was on the table with the coach facing us with him bantering about the disgust of getting 2nd. It was an honor to be able to play in the championship game but to come up short of your season-long goal is like a slap in the face. With the onset of the 2008 offseason one goal held constant, win the conference championship. Realizing we are in a mid-major conference, only one team would receive a bid into the NCAA tourney. Winning the regular season title was not enough, you would have to win the conference tournament. Its a sad thing to think that some teams just cruise through the year without a worry about losing or lack of distaste of it. For me losing is terrible, no matter what it is. A pick-up basketball game, solitaire, bocce ball, or a D1 baseball game. That's just how competitive I am. Truth of the matter is, winning the conference tournament is something teams build up for, all season long, all off season. Getting a good seed in the tournament is basically what the regular season title awards, however 1st and 2nd place in the regular season receive close to the same treatment. Skipping over a disappointing 2009 season, where we got 2nd place in the regular season and were 2 games over .500 for the season, we packed our bags for the summer only to return in September to build on the never-changing goal.

Arriving for “fall ball” and the beginning of the school year, our team was one with an immense amount of talent. We also had the wits about us as a team to realize that we had something special. We would gain trust and love in one another through really early morning workouts with assistant coaches Steve “Flip” Sanfillippo and Mike Goetz. Our abilities and strength were improved throughout the fall and winter and by the time the regular season rolled around we were fully prepared. Preparation, however, does not translate to success, as we began the year on the wrong foot, losing many close games with some in walk-off fashion, digging ourselves a 5-14 hole I believe. Nonetheless we were resilient and battled our tails off to insure ourselves and those around the league that we were a team to be reckoned with. Before we know it we are the #2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament with 29-23 record, 1 game behind the #1 seed and heavy favorites Wright State.

Arriving in Gary, Indiana we took on the tournament by storm. Our starting pitching was some of the best we could ask for, having a 2.03 era or something through 5 games. We went 4-1 in the tournament and ended up winning the whole thing. We had to win 3 games in a two day stretch, taking two from the number 1 seed Wright State in the process, to win. To say it was a surprise would be false, but to say it was expected would be tough to agree with, even with my bias. I mean, we have to have enough arms to win three games in a row, and the way the games were going at the Steelyard the bats were somewhat silenced. Our offense was struggling no doubt, and every one in the lineup can tell you that, however they came through when we most needed it. Recording a 3-1 win vs Valparasio in the first game on Saturday and a 14-7 victory over Wright State the following game, setting the stage for a Sunday Championship game. Chad Pierce was phenomenal, along with our DH Sivvy (Sam Sivilotti) and other crucial pieces of the lineup we won the game 6-3 guaranteeing our spot in the NCAA tournament.

There are no words to explain the feeling I had running out to the mound for the dogpile after the last pitch, mostly because it went so fast, but you know. There has been no feeling in my life thus far that had given me that kind of enjoyment and gratitude. I really haven’t been in many games like this, coming from a lackluster sports school as GB West. Celebration ensued and we rode the road of glory all the way back to Milwaukee, with news outlets and papers publishing (for the first time about our baseball team, which is embarrassing) our berth into the regional.



The next day we had the selection show on ESPN at the Oakcrest Tavern. About 5 minutes into the show we learned our destiny, Tempe, AZ regional, and we would face Arizona State the first game, the #1 seed overall, why not? We were kind of thrown for words as we saw other teams with iffy records and some with sub .500 records receiving better seeds than us. Whatever right, lets shock the world. This week has been very exciting. Many teammates getting interviews for news outlets and the AP, along with us getting meals from Qdoba, JJ’s, and Noodles. Getting prepared for the departure for Tempe I pack my jerseys, shorts, swim suit, and very warm gear (clothes because it’s gonna be 110) for the amazing weather I expect.

We left Mitchell International Airport at 7:35 in the morning Wednesday and I am currently writing while in mid-flight to Las Vegas where we will have a layover, giving me a chance to play some slots!! (Wish me luck! Or actually you’ll probably know how I do when I get to writing more).

Some observations while on board: Taking off is kind of fun, especially when we turn while we’re ascending. Cameron really hates it but he’s okay. No one likes turbulence, I dont care who you are, if you say you dont mind it you’re lying. The rockies from way above are kind of cool, but I’m not sure how much I saw. The snowcaps are what are cool. Also, we’re scattered all around this plane with 40 of us flying Southwest and they have open seating. Senior Tim Patzman, with the broken elbow is scrunched up against the window with his cast tucked nicely in his abdomen, not to alarm his neighbors with the horrific stench. Also, I really like people watching, it’s interesting and sort of creepy but who cares. Until I have something else to write about I’ll see ya later. I’ll try to document the non-baseball stuff about this once in a lifetime trip.

Arriving in Vegas was pretty cool, seeing the stip and what not. With much anticipation of our 2 hour layover we grabbed some airport grub and the “of age” guys went right to the slots. To say the least we as a whole lost money, except for a couple outliers. (Tim Patzman and Cole Kraft, right next to me ... I was furious). We then boarded our plane to Phoenix and before we knew it we checked into our hotel. The Hyatt is a great hotel and the rooms are amazing. Two beds, pull out couch, kitchenette area, and a huge LG plasma. Getting comfortable is not a problem. We left to get a late lunch at the local “Tempe Marketplace” which is a outside mall, much like Bayshore. This place was full of shops and restaurants and we had no problem wasting time and money there. A bunch of guys went to this bar-b-que place called Lucilles. It was the most amazing ribs and tri-tips I have ever had. Anywho, many guys bought new hats, shirts, oakleys, and other things before returning to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel some of us gathered at the pool area to swim and take in the sun. At this point of the day our bodies are starting to get really tired, and with the sun and heat taking a toll its not wonder a handful of us were scrambling to wake up from naps to get ready for dinner at 7:45. I was one of them, waking up from an amazing one, getting up 10 minutes before we left. (Sidenote: I fell asleep before the 9th inning of the perfect game opportunity and I didn't get to see the real time blown call, which infuriates me). We went back to the same mall and enjoyed more of the great food choices. Not too much else to talk about other than tomorrow is a new day and a really busy one.

This whole regional thing is something I can become accustomed to. It is really nice to be in a warm and beautiful city with the opportunity to play the game I love. Until tomorrow, stay hot and always ask why not?

The Journey: Wright State

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 10th entry.

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Want a shot at the title?

With much anticipation extinguished, our 8-hour busride was underway toward Dayton, Ohio. We are playing one of our more intense Horizon League series’ of the year, Wright State University. Wright State earned a berth to the NCAA Regional last year, winning the Horizon League tournament for their bid. They are a very good team and are top-20 in the nation in hitting this year. However good they may be on paper, we know we are just as good, if not better, and are able to take the series. To add some more incentive we currently are two and a half games back of them for 1st place in the league. In order to take over 1st place we would need to sweep them on the weekend, a hefty task, which can certainly be done.

We arrive in Dayton on our shortened Lamers bus, which allowed for the coaches to drive themselves, in humid 80-degree weather, and received our room assignments and went to bed. With alot of stress put on the treacherous weather that could be seen in the Dayton area we woke up and kept our eyes on the radar to see what we had in store. With a severe thunderstorm watch, as well as a tornado watch, put in place we boarded the bus on our way to the field. The temperature was probably 83 degrees when we began batting practice and concluded our pregame activities.

The game started with both pitchers earning 0’s in the first inning of work. Junior Chad Pierce once again toed the rubber for us on this Friday night and was throwing much better a week after his shortened Valpo appearance. Our offense got on the board first with a 5-run explosion in the top of the 2nd inning. We gained runs off the bats of Hoenecke (double), Buchholz (single), and Shaun Wegner (double, 3 rbi). Guerrero was walked to load the bases to lead up to the bases-clearing by Wegner. Following Wegner was junior Cole Kraft, who took the first pitch over the left field wall for a 2-run homerun. Following another scoreless frame from both teams Wright State proved to be the hitting team they are perceived to be. Wright State answered with five of their own runs in the bottom of the 4th inning with a few singles as well as a walk and HBP. Four runs in that inning were unearned, as we had 2 errors in the inning resulting in scoring plays.

After a few more innings of 0’s for our offense and a one-spot for WSU in the bottom of the 5th, we had a score of 6-5 going into the top of the 7th inning. Many times this year we found ourselves in this situation. In games past we couldn't find the extra hit in order to plate a run, but with nothing but a win in mind we dug into the batters box and scored two runs to take the lead. Following a couple strikeouts and a walk senior Ben Long laced a ball to the right center gap for a double. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, senior Tim Patzman came to the plate with the chance to take the lead. Tim, like he has all year, stepped up in the clutch and hit a triple to right center, which proved to be his final collegiate hit.

In the bottom half of the inning Pierce cruised through the first two batters of the inning and seemed to be out of the inning when Wright State’s center fielder Ryan Ashe hit a tailing ball to left field. Today was a day where wind was definitely a factor, at times gusting to 33 mph, out to left. The ball carried all the way to the wall and Tim Patzman attempted to make the catch causing him to crash into the wall. When all was said and done, Ashe got a triple and Tim Patzman had to be taken out of the game. Later on in the night we found out he broke his elbow and we lost him for the rest of the year. With a runner on third Pierce was relieved by sophomore Greg Blohowiak. Walking the first batter on four-straight pitches, Blohowiak did what was necessary and got a ground ball to 2nd base to end the threat. In the top half of the 8th, we extended our lead to two runs when Paul Hoenecke, Nino Guerrero and Shaun Wegner all strung hits together to plate another run.

After walking the first batter he faced in the 8th inning, Blohowiak was relieved by sophomore Cameron Amsrud, our closer. He got a ground ball to defensive substitute Jimmy Lundstrom, who make a spectacular play by tagging the runner to second and firing the ball to first to get the double play. It was a huge play in the game that squashed any momentum Wright State had. Jimmy had been sitting on the bench for the whole game and he came in and proved why he is in for defensive purposes.

Another run was scored by us in the top half of the 9th and Cameron came in and closed the door getting the three out off a hard-hit ground ball right to his belly. We win 9-6, beginning our attempt at a series sweep on the right foot.

Following the game it was a relatively low key night at the hotel considering by the time we got changed and finished with dinner it was already 11:30 p.m. local time. Off to bed in preparation for a crucial day.

Game two of the series was slated for a 1:00 start. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t recognize this until about the third inning when we were already down 12-0. The game continued to be a living nightmare as the Raiders went on to win 20-3. Not much to say other than we now need to salvage game three and come away with a series win while pulling a game closer on Wright State.

Game three turned out to be quite the shootout as both offenses were relentless on the opponent. Jeff Gordon faced off against Raider pitcher Jon Durket, both of whom are California natives, something fairly uncommon to see in the Midwest. Gordon went a strong five innings for us allowing five earned. His numbers simply do not justify the effort he gave us on the hill. He battled all game and kept a potent Wright State offense in check. Durket on the other hand was not so lucky. His day concluded after 2.2 innings after allowing five runs all earned in the top half of the third frame. Following Durket was Jordan Marker for Wright State who also threw 2.2 while allowing four of his own to cross the plate. The scoring in the fourth began when Cole Kraft doubled to left center. Following Kraft, Shaun Wegner hit his second home run of the season extending the lead to 7-0 at that point. Wright state would respond by putting a three spot up in the fourth and another solo run in the fifth closing the gap to 7-4. We then countered with another three spot of our own in the sixth when Nino Guerrero, Cole Kraft, Shaun Wegner, Dan Buccholz and Paul Hoenecke all singled in the frame. Wright State would then go on to tack on two more in the bottom of the sixth and then one in the bottom of the seventh but their effort was not mighty enough, as we closed out the game 10-7 on the back of Luke Annen who came in and relieved Gordon. All together it was a successful weekend as we took the series and closed the gap on the conference leaders, just wishing we could have game two back.

The bus ride home was fairly energetic, as we were excited on the successful season. Arrived home to Milwaukee around 11:30 local time and it was off to sleep as the last week of formal classes was ahead of us along with a very crucial four game conference weekend against Butler and UIC.

The Journey: Valparaiso

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 ninth entry.

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April Showers bring May Flowers...

We have now found ourselves in the thick of things in the Horizon League. Even though the conference season is halfway through, we have, legitimately, five teams who are vying for the top spot in the conference. This weekend we welcomed Valparasio into the friendly confines of “The Hank”. We are currently riding an 18-game win streak while playing at “The Hank”, and looking to extend that streak throughout the weekend.

Getting the Friday start is Chad Pierce, coming off a no-decision last Friday, Pierce is looking to get another Horizon League win. Valpo got off to a quick start plating two runs in the first two innings. Having already thrown 61 pitches throughout the first 2 2/3 innings with 4 walks, Pierce was relieved by senior Luke Annen, who got the final out of the 3rd unscathed. In the bottom half of the inning our offense got things going, starting with a double off the bat of Cole Kraft followed by a single from Shaun Wegner. Following reaching off of a fielders choice, we found ourselves with the bases loaded and no outs. Senior Ben Long then singled through the right side plating 2 runs, tying the game.

The following innings proved to explain the crazy game of baseball. In the top half of the 4th and 6th, Valpo gathered 6 and 7 runs, respectively. It seemed as though every single hit they had was in the hole. It was as if in the Valpo dugout they had rigged the ball with a remote control and they were guiding the ball throughout the field. Luke Annen pitched well and was ahead of most of the batters he faced, however the game of baseball can treat you like that sometimes. No matter where we pitched it they seemed to get a hit. Following another two runs in the top of the 9th we saw the final score rest at 17-3. We got our third run on a homerun to right field off the bat of junior Doug Dekoning, into howling wind might I add.

This game was definitely not the type of game we were looking for to kick off a series. Getting thwarted at home, ending our 18-game “Hank” win streak, was absolutely demoralizing. However demoralizing it was, we also knew we lived to play another day. We had two more games to get ready for and they would prove to be what was most important. We tarped the field in anticipation of heavy rain that night and went home to relax. This final day of April brought “showers” in both runs and actual rain, hopefully it would bring “flowers” on the Saturday doubleheader.

Saturday morning came early. We arrived at the field a half hour early to pull the tarp and take care of the necessary field duties in preparation for the doubleheader. Kyle Schmidt started the first game for us. Valparaiso countered with the hard throwing righthander Bryce Shafer. The first inning was rough for both teams. Schmidt gave up three runs on three hits and an error in the opening frame. Thankfully he settled in, after our offense countered with a three-spot of our own in the bottom half of the frame. From that point on, runs were hard to come by. Valpo added single run innings in the third and the seventh to tally five in the game. Our offense closed the gap with a run of our own in the sixth to bring us even and then back down eventually one after Valpo struck in the seventh. The table was set for an opportunity to come back in the ninth. With the 18-game home winning streak snapped the day before, we were anxious to start another. In the bottom of the ninth things started slow but there was a bright spot, Shafer was out and in came a reliever. After a groundout, Dekoning hit a single up the middle. Following a pop out things began to look even more bleak. Needing this game so badly we knew we could not just fold up and give in. Tim Patzman then singled through the left side to move Dekoning up to second. Out came one reliever and in came another. Dan Buccholz then stepped into the box. Down 0-2 in the count early, Bucchy put together one of the more impressive at bats of the year. He fought back to 2-2 fouling multiple pitches. Finally, he managed to get the count to 3-2. Buccholz then hit a laser back up the middle allowing Dekoning to score from second and tie the game. Paul Hoenecke followed Buccholz. Paul took a 1-1 fastball and hit a rope to centerfield that was unfortunately caught. Nonetheless, we tied the game at 5-5 and had an opportunity to win. It was not until the eleventh frame that the fireworks came. With two outs and nobody on, Ben Long hit a single to the left side, bringing up the hot-swinging Tim Patzman. Patzman dug in and really came up big. He quickly got down 1-2 in the count but found a way to work it back to even at 2-2. He then got a fastball on the outside half of the plate that he drove to left field. Roars erupted. The ball was in the jet stream and we knew it had a chance. Everyone jumped up from the bench to watch the ball carry through the air. The leftfielder continued to go back and eventually got to the wall. The ball cleared the fence by 30 feet. Our whole team ran to the plate awaiting to greet Tim. He rounded third base, threw his helmet in the air, and jumped on home plate as he got mauled by our entire team. A walk-off home run. What a great way to start off a day in which both games were must-win.

Following the fireworks of game one, both teams prepared for the series finale. In general, game two of the day was pretty slow. The first run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when Sam Sivilotti doubled to centerfield to start the frame. Following a lineout, Alex Erdman singled to the shortstop advancing Sivilotti to third. Sivilotti was eventually plated after Cole Kraft singled through the left side, giving us our first run of the game. We eventually added two more in the seventh to give us a 3-0 lead going into the back end of the game. Jeff Gordon did an outstanding job for us on the hill as he threw 6.2 of scoreless ball, striking out three and only scattering four hits. Cameron Amsrud then came in to toss the last 2.1 while striking out three of his own in putting up scoreless frames to close the game out. The series was ours and we know were in a position to make an end of the year run that could potentially win us a conference championship. Three weekend series to go, 10 conference games left, an opportunity to win a title. The most important one this upcoming week as we head to Dayton for a first-place showdown with Wright State. With a little rivalry to spice things up, this weekend could have a number of fireworks as we hope to jump into first place and over take the league.

The Journey: Younsgtown State & Cleveland State

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.

The Journey: Cleveland State

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 seventh entry.

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Another week goes by and we find ourselves in the midst of another Horizon League series. After taking two games from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside baseball team on Tuesday, we looked to ride that momentum into the weekend. We welcomed Cleveland State University to the friendly confines of the Hank for a three-game weekend series before Easter. It is very important for us as a team to get off on the right foot on this weekend, seeing as we faltered in the previous series versus UIC. High energy coming off of two wins at home (15 in a row, dating back to last season) and also confidence brought us to the field on Friday afternoon.

It was a beautiful sunny day with the temperatures flirting with the 80's as we stepped on the field for batting practice. As not to beat a dead horse, we lined up on the line, only to notice that we would not be hearing the national anthem, as we do not have a flag to recognize at our field. Nonetheless, we went through introductions and the ceremonial first pitch from team manager Michael Poll and the game was underway. For only the 3rd time all year we would be starting off in the field. Getting the start to begin this pivotal series was Chad Pierce, a pitcher who is making a name for himself with his stellar performances thus far. Not to miss a beat, Pierce found his groove early on in the game with only a couple hiccups along the way. He allowed one earned run, coming in the 8th inning, as well as 6 strikeouts to work his way to another astounding outing. Behind Pierce’s strong pitching effort was a dangerous offense, which jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning with help from Cole Kraft’s leadoff double. He was eventually plated when Doug Dekoning was regretfully picked off of first. Following a couple scoreless innings our offense scored once again, with a Ben Long homerun over the right field wall. On a beautiful day like this it was only customary that there would be one complaint. The wind was howling all day - sometimes reaching gusts of 30 mph. This wind would not phase our hitters however, with three of the four runs coming off of homeruns. Two homeruns by Ben Long (4th and 6th innings) and Cole Kraft (8th inning) capped off the scoring on the day.

Keeping the streak at home going, as well as winning the first game of a league series was very important for us. It causes us to maintain a high level of confidence going into the next game. We met as a team and stressed the fact we cannot be satisfied with how we played, in other words we would strive to make the best of our todays, being the worst of our tomorrows. We have to come out and be even better to continue to succeed in this conference and as a baseball team. We broke huddle and continued to clean up the field, putting the tarp on and everything (a new tarp might I add, one without any holes!!!) since we would be seeing rain within the next 24 hours as the weather people forecasted. As time would tell, this tarping of the field was a very good idea for two reasons, for maintaining a dry field, as well as some much needed entertainment to start off our Saturday.

Unlike normal Saturdays where we arrive to the ball park and usually plan on playing a doubleheader, we got to the beloved “Hank” unsure of whether or not our games were going to withstand the storm that was moving into town. It was a cold chilly morning, but there was promise on the horizon after we found out that the games were only going to be postponed about an hour. In the meantime, both teams had a few pregame festivities that always keep us loose during rain delays. It started with both Cleveland State and our team throwing baseballs back and forth between both dugouts to think of acceptable activities that freshmen could participate in (typical amongst most teams in the country). Both teams settled upon tarp slides, a freshman dance off, and a few upside down men. The tarp slides always get a good laugh, seeing freshman of all heights and weight running through the wet sloppy field in sliding shorts and then diving into huge puddles of water on the tarp. The upside down men usually are a big hit but did not seem to generate the laughs that we are normally accustomed too. Finally, everything concluded when Michael Poll started to perform his infamous dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” As we all got a good chuckle from Michael, Cleveland State sent starting left fielder Ryan Franks out to battle Michael. We then countered with Drew Pearson (the only freshman that had yet to participate in either of the previous two events) to turn the tables into a two on one dance off.

Finally, Anthony Sambula, starting pitcher from the previous night, began strutting his stuff as he made his way behind home plate. Pearson, Sambula, and Michael withstood one another’s challenges, although the trophy was taken home when Michael decided to take off his shirt and wave it around his head. Nothing more needs to be said…Lets play some ball…

Game two started with Kyle Schmidt facing off against Cleveland State’s Jimmy Cowhy. Both pitchers did an exceptional job of minimizing offensive threats from both teams. Schmidt threw 7.1 innings while striking out eight and giving up three earned, where as Cowhy threw 7.2 while allowing up four earned. The tables turned when Dan Buccholz hit a single to the left side with two outs in the eighth. Out came Cowhy and walking up to the plate was hot-hitting Tim Patzman. Patzman was already three for three on the day looking to add more. After swinging through the first two pitches, Patzman was down 0-2 in the count. He then took a belt high fastball and drove it over the wall in left center. Patzman had given us a 5-3 lead and that was all that was needed. Cameron Amsrud, who came in for Schmidt, shut the door on the Vikings in the top half of the ninth giving us a 2-0 series advantage and win, but there was more to be taken.

Before game three, we knew the importance of this game. Although it was early in the year, we know that we would have to make up for a disappointing previous weekend (1-2 vs. UIC) and a weekend sweep was just what the doctor prescribed. To call this game a must-win might sound a little crazy considering there are numerous weeks left to the conference schedule, but that is just the way we approached it. We jumped out to a hot start putting up four runs through three innings, but there was a little cause for concern. Cole Kraft had to come out of the game in the second inning with an oblique injury and starting pitcher Jordan Herbert exited after the third with some arm concerns. In entered Alex Erdman at shortstop and Jeff Gordon to pitch, both proved to be extremely pivotal substitutions. Gordon threw 4.1 of shutout baseball while only allowing three hits, and Erdman went two for four with two RBI’s (first collegiate hit and RBI). Both RBI’s proved to be the difference in the game, as Cleveland State bit into our commanding 7-2 lead in the eighth when they added three runs of their own, closing the gap to 7-5. Once again, for the second straight game, in entered Amsrud with a save opportunity at hand. And once again, we achieved the same result. Amsrud closed the Vikings out for the second time in one day, giving us a third-straight victory and a weekend sweep of the Cleveland State Vikings. In general, it was a good weekend and we are now right back in the mix of the top of the conference standings. With a conference weekend off, we have in-state schools Wisconsin Lutheran and St. Norberts on tap for this Thursday and Friday along with a community camp this Saturday and Sunday, and then off to Butler to continue our Horizon League journey…

The Journey: UIC

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 sixth entry.

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"Light post and back is one..."

It is no question that the past couple weeks have been a struggle. A struggle to find out where we stand compared to other teams as well as amongst ourselves. Suffering several heartbreaking losses, and also some embarrassing losses, we had a very sour taste in our mouths. This does not cause us to dwell on ourselves though, we take it as a learning point and grow from there. Following the rough patch of games, this is the time of year we were all preparing for; opening weekend in conference. For our first series in the Horizon League we would be facing off against our rival, University of Illinois-Chicago. Winners of the last seven regular-season titles, UIC is like the Vikings to the Packers. The energy and anticipation that go along with playing against this team is unmeasurable.

We boarded the bus once again and began our (very relieving) short trip to Chicago. Only about an hour and a half, we put a movie in (Blind Side, great movie!!) and enjoyed the ride. We would not be stopping at our hotel before the game, therefore many of the guys were changing on the bus as we were pulling into Les Miller Field. It was a bit windy, as expected, with the sun beating down on us along with 40-degree weather as we began batting practice. We finished up the pregame routines as usual and lined up for the recorded anthem.

Like I said before, energy for this game would be unmeasurable. We were lined up on the front edge of the dugout cheering on our hitters as we laced single after single to get out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning. On the bump for us was Chad Pierce, who is pitching stellar this year, who has also been on the short end of some walk-off wins. He is reigning Horizon League Pitcher of the Week and brought his game to Chicago. Following another run in the second inning off of a walk and a laser back at the pitchers foot by Sam Sivilotti, Jon Capasso was plated on a fielders choice. After an answer by UIC the score was 3-1 after three full innings. Following a couple more runs by UIC the score was deadlocked at three when senior Dan Buchholz smashed a homerun over the left field wall to regain the lead with two innings left to play.

The first game versus UIC was one that was far too cliche. UIC is a baseball team known for playing small ball (bunting, stealing, hit and run) as well as taking advantage of their opponents mistakes. In this game Pierce surrendered three runs, with none of them being earned. Our defense played a little shaky the first game having five errors to show for it. Even though we did not play the type of baseball that was ideal in beating a well-rounded team, we had a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning. Coming in for the save was sophomore Cameron Amsrud, a submarine guy who has a large amount of experience, and is no push over. He began the inning getting a pop out to Cole Kraft. Following a couple singles and a hit by pitch, Amsrud found himself pitching with the bases loaded. With the score still at 5-3, UIC second basemen Matt Serna took a pitch from Amsrud off the thigh, getting an RBI and closing the gap with us to one.

This seemed like a bad nightmare, with this same situation occurring at least five times in the past. With two outs and the bases loaded, Cameron got a ground ball to 3rd basemen Dan Buchholz, which seemingly was the relief we needed to get this win. However, after bobbling the ball he had to resort to diving at the running attempting to advance to 3rd. A fully outstretched Buchholz dove and tagged the UIC runner on the back, which made us hold our breath waiting for the umpire to make his call. The umpire ruled the runner safe, to much distaste from all of our players, but the most angry was Buchholz, who looked as though he was going to rip off someone’s head. On that controversial play the runner from third scored tying the game at 5 runs a piece. It was almost surreal that this was happening again, to such a competitive and talented team. Following a walk to the next batter we found ourselves wondering what had just happened, pinching ourselves to see if it really was a bad dream. After several minutes of cleaning up the dugout and boarding the bus, the upperclassmen made a decision that the kind of baseball we played was unacceptable and we would have to face some punishment. This decision was one that was almost expected following that performance, as well as following the performance earlier in the week when we let another game slip away in the latter innings versus Northern Illinois.

When we arrived to our hotel we got our room assignments and gathered in the lobby 15 minutes after with shorts and workout gear on. As a team we marched outside to an unknown baseball diamond at dusk. We had to get mentally tougher and in order to teach a lesson we began doing sprints. We chose to sprint from one light post to another with a down and back equaling one. All in all, we as a team had completed 15 of these sprints before joining together as one. With gasping for air and cramps setting in we got in close and had a talk. Led by senior Shaun Wegner and junior Sam Sivilotti, this inspirational meeting was one unlike any other. With all of our cards on the table we could not afford to go 0-2 to begin our conference play. We had to come together as one unit and compete against another unit of men in order to prevail in a game we each love to play. There is no question that wood was added to the fire that was a rivalry conference game. Saturday is a new day, with the same opponent, same game, same diamond, same players, but most importantly ... a new mindset.

We awoke Saturday morning with a chip on our shoulders and a point to prove. We arrived at the field and got our game on. After the usual pregame rituals we prepared for a long day full of baseball. You could tell our loss the day before and running gave us a sour taste. We exploded for 12 runs over the first 5 innings of the game with all nine starters recording a hit and seven of them recording multi-hit games led by Cole Kraft (3-4, 1 RBI, 2 Runs), Ben Long (3-5, 3 RBI’s) and Tim Patzman (3-4, 1 RBI, 2 Runs). Starting the game on the mound was Jeff Gordon. He was scheduled to only pitch one inning and then hand off the game to Kyle Schmidt. Gordon had a flawless first inning while only throwing one off speed pitch. Sophomore Kyle Schmidt took it from there, going the rest of the way while giving up no earned runs. There was a five-run outburst for UIC in the bottom half of the 5th inning, however the runs were scored following some errors in the field, therefore Schmidt did not give up an earned run. The final score of the game was 13-5. This game was one that was played much better than the one from the day before. Even though we had some hiccups in the field, we maintained focus throughout much of the game. It was a very positive way to come out and play the first game of a doubleheader, especially following the rough outcome Friday. Nevertheless, we have to now forget about all of the achievements we made in this game and focus on the third game of our series.

In this pivotal game of our series, it would determine if we had a successful or an unsuccessful opening weekend in league play. The second game did not see as much offensive firepower, however we did open up with three straight one-run innings, while also threatening to score more. We got out to a 3-0 lead, but then UIC had taken advantage of some errors and strung some hits together to plate five to bring the score to 5-3 UIC at the end of three innings. From there on out we seemed to be deflated by their pitching and their defense. It was a day were we couldn’t catch a break and we came up on the short end of some good plays by their defense. With the score at 6-4, Jordan Herbert (starting pitcher) saw his outing come to a close after giving up a homerun and walk. He didn’t have one of his better outings, however, to UIC’s credit their hitters stepped up and made timely hits. Junior Jayme Sukowaty came in relief of Herbert and saw much of the same. “Suko” came in and with a runner on gave up a single and then one of UIC’s leading hitters, Steve McGuiggan, homered to left field putting the score at 10-3. We managed to plate one more run off the bat of Sam Sivilotti to end the game with a score of 10-4.

This game was not a result we were looking for, and it also shows how important the first game of a three-game series is. Being able to win the Friday game enables you to have to win one of the two games on Saturday, instead of winning both. However depriving this weekend was we had to remind ourselves it is a long season and we have another opportunity to gain momentum in the next coming days. We packed up and changed into proper bus attire and continued home with the weekend on our minds and the anticipation of our first home games looming. A seven-game homestand is before us and we have alot of work to do to get at where we want to be. We are a very talented bunch and can be dangerous if we believe in ourselves. With the homestand coming, we have an opportunity to relax in the comfort of our own beds instead of those in hotels, enjoy our own meals, as well as wear our ALL WHITE JERSEYS!!! We like to wear those (we were 14-1 last year) in home games. Come out and support us this Tuesday versus UW-Parkside in a double header and this weekend we welcome Cleveland State for a Horizon League series!!

The Journey: Kansas State

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 fifth entry.

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Toto, We’re not in Kansas anymore...

Another weekend, another 12-hour bus ride. As the reality of playing baseball every weekend is finally setting in, with many people starting to get into a routine with school and their homework, we yet again stepped foot on the Lamers bus. Taking a similar route as last weekend, we picked up the fellas at the park and ride and began our trek to Manhattan, Kansas. We were scheduled to play a series versus Kansas State (#25) with one game on Friday, two on Saturday and another one on Sunday. But due to anticipation of horrible cold and snowy weather on Saturday, we bumped up a game to Friday so we would play a doubleheader. A little different from what is normal, however we were going to approach this weekend like any other, aiming to win games while continuing to get better in the process.

The long bus ride was full of movies, with a photo slideshow from Arkansas and a couple minutes of laughs at the end to begin. With a request for the best of Will Farrell from SNL quickly on the table we popped that in and continued with the laughs. Following a couple hours of movies we were in the thick of the March Madness tournament updates. With many teams going down to the wire and some upsets (thanks Georgetown...) it was no doubt people were itching for any updates available.

Before we knew it we made a stop at a Urbandale, Iowa, Happy Joes pizza buffet to absolutely destroy the establishment, for food of course. We have enjoyed this pizza buffet in the past, however it came only a couple hours before a game versus Iowa, therefore stuffing our faces was not such a good idea. This time though was different, with four hours on a bus ahead of us we could afford to mash out the countless number of delicious pizzas without worry. While in Happy Joes Panther Baseball prize machine victor (AP #1 for winning things) Paul Hoenecke was at it once again. Taking five dollars worth of tokens straight to his favorite ticket game, Speed Demon. Before all was said and done Paul had won around 2500 tickets and redeemed them for a number of stuffed animals and other miscellaneous items.

With all the pizza in our stomachs and our bodies on the bus we continued on toward Kansas, only to arrive at our Holiday Inn hotel on campus shortly before 11 pm. We unpacked and got situated in our rooms and laid to rest, to wake up and play a couple games versus the Wildcats of Kansas State.

The morning started off rough, without a free continental breakfast, many of us went to the nearby gas station to pick up the necessary energy supplements and food for the morning. We then boarded the bus and starting on the one mile trek to the field, only to go around the block three times before we figured out where to park the bus to let us out. Thanks to the problem solving skills of our bus driver and picking up a Kansas State rep, we pulled up and continued toward the dugout.

The usual occurred, with batting practice and infield as well as the national anthem, we then proceeded toward the first pitch. Taking the rubber for us was Kyle Schmidt, usual game one starter, however we once again were at the plate to begin. A quick start, junior Cole Kraft laced a double past the diving first basemen. After a sacrifice bunt by Shaun Wegner the KSU pitcher then struck out Hoenecke and Long to end the threat. Kansas State started off strong, putting up three runs in the bottom of the 1st, getting runs on a leadoff double, a couple off end of the bat, two-strike, only-off-metal-bat kind of hits and a error fielding a bunt, that inning ended with a unconventional double play by Doug Dekoning (caught a ball and throwing behind the runner who was stealing to double him off). The next inning we were limited to only three batters, with KSU tacking on another run. The score was 4-0 after two innings and didn’t see a change the rest of the game.

With temperatures dipping and the swirling wind picking up runs on this day were very hard to come by. With the baseball “gods” not in our corner for game one, we saw many hard hit balls fielded by luck (Ben Long hit a liner in the gap, only to be snagged by the wind and caught by the right fielder below his knees, when he didn't even expect it) or because they were hit right at someone. That is baseball I suppose, many hard hits at people, and many handle-shots that fall in between people. That was the case as well as some pretty good pitching on either side of things, Schmidt had a rough first two innings before settling in and only allowing four runs. Also their pitcher did well, nibbling away at the corners while receiving some iffy strike-three calls. To note, Senior Bob Stone came in the bottom of the 8th inning working a run free frame.

We saw the first game end with a 4-0 score and some promise, promise that we play another game shortly following. After a brief meeting in right field we grabbed our in-between game food and got ready for the 2nd game, hoping to pull out a win versus a very good Kansas State team.

With game two on the horizon, the weather began to drastically change. Normally in Wisconsin we are used to 20-degree weather in March, but when we prepared to leave for Kansas we expected at least something a little warmer. As pregame sprints and throwing finished, the temperature dropped to 25 and snow flurries began to fall. Chad Pierce toed the rubber, and yet again, gave us another quality start. Pierce went eight innings and scattered three hits on top of seven strikeouts. Chad gave a great effort and put us in a position to win the game. The first run of the game came in the fifth when Tim Patzman laced a double down the left field line. Unfortunately, the double was erased when Dan Buccholz grounded into a fielder’s choice but as Patzman remained in a run down, Buchy advanced to second. Doug Dekoning then came up and hit a single that plated Buccholz giving us a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain the same as K-State kept us off balance all game, only surrendering five hits. We had a chance to extend our lead in the eighth but after a one-out single by Nino Guerrero followed by a double Sam Sivilotti, we had runners on second and third with one out. Cole Kraft then was intentionally walked, but back-to-back strikeouts ended our threat. Kansas State then plated an unearned run in the eighth to tie the game. We then went down one, two, three in the top of the ninth. The Wildcats were then able to put the go ahead run on base with one out in the bottom half of the ninth with a single through the left side. An infield single followed, and runners were on first and second with still only one down. We then got an out to bring the game right down to the wire. Two down, two runners on…Unfortunately Kansas State prevailed. A single through the left side scored the game winning run from second.

After a brief post game talk, we gathered our things and boarded the bus. We got back to the hotel and tried to get warm. As the night passed on the snow continued, and the weekend series began to look a little bleak. We went to bed unsure of the Saturday game status. 9:10 AM, next morning, all players are notified that the weekend series was cancelled and we are going home. The “pack-up” process was extremely surprising as most of us had imagined that we would at least try to preserve one game from the series. Twelve hours on the bus ride passed by with movies, funny conversations, music and sleep. We got back to Milwaukee around 10 pm. We took the rest of the weekend to get healthy and prepare to turn our play around at Northern Illinois the following Wednesday.