Walk-off homer helps Milwaukee sweep YSU

Staff report

MILWAUKEE, Wis.

Milwaukee senior Dan Buchholz hit a walk-off three-run home run in his final swing at Henry Aaron Field to lift the Panthers to an 8-7 victory in 14 innings in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.

YSU had the tying run at the plate in the ninth in game one before falling 8-5.

Youngstown State (21-32, 9-17 Horizon League) enters the Horizon League tournament as the sixth seed and will play on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

In game two, the Penguins got a solid outing from freshman starter Kevin McCulloh.

Making his first conference start, the right-hander held the Panthers to three runs on 10 hits while striking out seven batters in seven innings.

He left with a 5-3 lead, but UWM rallied to tie the score on a two-out single in the ninth.

Neither team scored until two runs came in on Eric Hymel’s single in the top of the 14th for YSU.

In the bottom of the 14th, the No. 9 batter Jonathan Capasso reached with a leadoff single and Shaun Wegner drew a one-out walk. That set the stage for Buchholz, who hit Trent Wood’s 2-2 offering over the wall in left center.

Hymel went 3-for-3, and C.J. Morris had four hits to lead Youngstown State in the nightcap.

Joe Iacobucci’s RBI single brought in Jacke Healey in the first inning to give YSU a 1-0 lead, and Padraic Williams and Derek Carr had RBIs in the third.

Milwaukee scored twice in the third and another run in the fourth to tie the score at 3-3.

Tom Clayton’s 10th home run of the season put the Penguins ahead 5-3 in the eighth, but UWM got two-out runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to send the game to extra innings.

In game one, YSU fell behind 7-1 before making things interesting late.

The Penguins scored twice in the eighth to make it 7-3, and UWM added an insurance run in the bottom half to go up 8-3.

Morris hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to make the score 8-5, and the Penguins got two more runners on before Clayton grounded out to end the game.

The Panthers score three runs, two of which were unearned, in the second inning to go ahead 3-0.

Healey doubled and scored on Clayton’s grounder to get YSU on the board in the sixth, but UWM tacked on four run runs in the bottom half to go ahead 7-1.

YSU got two unearned runs in the eighth to climb to within 7-3, but Wegner’s two-out double gave UWM a five-run margin.

The Penguins were held to five hits in the opener as UWM starter Chad Pierce allowed just one earned run in eight innings.