The Univeristy of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s baseball team rallied from behind on five different occasions on Sunday afternoon, finally edging past Cleveland State 11-10 in the bottom of the 10th inning at Henry Aaron Field.

The game definitely wasn’t pretty as it featured 12 errors, including a season-high five committed by UWM. Either way, the Panthers (24-20, 14-10 Horizon) got the win, completing the three-game weekend sweep of the Vikings (8-34, 6-17 Horizon).

“Ugly is about the only word I can use to describe all of it, but a win is a win,” said coach Scott Doffek.

Fittingly, the game ended on a fielding error off sophomore John Sarcia’s at-bat. Junior outfielder Ross McCoy came up huge for the Panthers though as he tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a home run to left field, his team-leading 11th of the season.

It was McCoy delivering in the clutch again in the 10th inning, scoring junior Kyle Silver with a sacrifice fly, tying the game to set up the game-winning run.

“Ross (McCoy) came up with a huge home run in the ninth to tie the game,” Doffek said. “We just kept battling back. The tough part for (John) Sarcia is that he will go down (in the scorebook) without an RBI because of the error. But, he put a great swing on an 0-2 pitch and good things will happen when you put the ball in play.”

The offense had a field day with 13 hits, including six doubles. Silver had his best day as a Panther, finishing with a season-high three hits, four runs and two RBIs.

Saturday’s games were opposite of Sunday’s game, as pitching dominated the day. Senior Rick Cavaiani struck out a career-high 11 batters in eight scoreless innings, helping lead the Panthers to a 6-0 victory in game two.

Game one saw senior Aaron Sorenson throw seven scoreless innings that helped lead the Panthers to a crushing 14-1 victory.

Cavaiani (6-1) was in control the entire game, allowing no runs while giving up six hits and just one walk. Not only is the 11 strikeouts Cavaiani’s career best, it is the highest mark in the Horizon League this season.

“Pitching was the name of the game today,” Doffek said. “That was 18 innings with no earned runs … those were good games to watch. Rick (Cavaiani) had command of all four pitches and was really working the corners.”

Game one featured a masterful performance as well by Sorenson (4-3). The senior pitched seven complete innings, striking out six, walking one and allowing just four hits.

The offense wasn’t too shabby either, finishing with 19 hits with sophomore Grant Berkovitz leading the way with his second four-hit game (4-for-5, three runs, two RBIs) of the season. Junior Rob Brockel (three RBIs) ended with three hits.

UWM returns to action today, traveling to Peoria, Ill., for a doubleheader against Bradley University.

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