Milwaukee baseball was finally ready to return to Franklin Field, after opening the season on a 19-game road trip. Before the team could do so though, it had one last road game early in the week against a Big Ten opponent, the Purdue Boilermakers. The Panthers then returned to Milwaukee for a three-game set against the Wright State Raiders.
Purdue got off to a hot start in the Tuesday matchup, tagging Panthers starter Tyler Deleskiewicz for 3 runs in the opening inning and chasing him from the game after 0.2 innings pitched. Milwaukee did get one back Charlie Marion reached and came around to score on a Chase Headlee sacrifice fly. The Boilermakers put up 4 more runs in the bottom of the second on Eamonn Mulhern.
Milwaukee made a rally, scoring 2 in the 3rd on a Marion double, part of a 3-4 day, cutting the Purdue lead to 7-3. The Panthers did give up a couple more runs, falling to a 10-3 deficit heading into the 7th. Gabe Roessler doubled in a run, and came around to score later in the inning to cut the Boilermakers lead to 10-5. Roessler added another RBI in the 8th with a single, and set up Marion to knock in a pair on a single with a throwing error on the next pitch. The Panthers got as close as 11-8, but gave up an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th, and simply ran out of ballgame, falling to Purdue 12-8.
Milwaukee hosted Wright State for a Friday doubleheader, and a Saturday contest, for its home opener. The home cooking got the Panthers to a fast start, when Roessler cranked a homer in the bottom of the 1st to put Milwaukee up early. The Panthers added 2 in the 2nd when a Wright State throwing error brought in Tiege Lethert and Tristan Ellis.
The Raiders chipped into the Panthers lead in the 3rd, with back to back homers by Luke Arnold and Boston Smith. Milwaukee answered back though in the bottom of the 3rd with an inside the park home run by Justin Hausser, and a two-run shot by Marion in the 5th. Wright State got a pair back in the 8th, before the Panthers got those runs back on a two-run double from Tyler Bickers, giving Milwaukee a 10-4 advantage. The Raiders had one last rally in the top of the 9th, getting a pair of 2 run homers, but ultimately coming up short, with Milwaukee winning 10-8. Gavin Theis earned the win, giving him a 3-1 record on the season.
Game 2 of the twinbill did not go as well for the Panthers, despite getting a pair of runs in the bottom of the 1st. Bickers singled in Roessler to start the scoring, and Hausser walked with bases loaded to score Tate Schmidt. Milwaukee was unable to capitalize further and would watch their early lead evaporate in the 2nd. Wright State tied the game on a sac fly and throwing error of the bat of Braylen Blomquist. They then grabbed the lead on a double from Arnold, followed by a triple from Hunter Warren, and a run scoring single from Patrick Fultz, completing a 6-run frame.
Wright State tacked on three more in the third, when Smith drove in 2 on a double and then added the 3rd on a balk, increasing the Wright State lead to 9-2. Marion homered again, another 2 run dinger in the bottom of the frame. The Raiders got the 2 runs back in the top of the 4th on a bases loaded walk and a sac fly, before a Panthers rally started with a Schmidt RBI double scored Roessler. Bickers drove him in with a single, and came around to score on a Headlee single that made the score 11-7. That would be as close as the Panthers would get, as Wright State scored 5 in the 6th, and 3 more in the 7th, and shut down the Milwaukee offense to run rule them, winning 19-7.
Saturday’s rubber match got off to a good start for the Panthers, as Marion popped a sac fly to score Roessler, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. However, Wright State went on to tie the game in the top of the 2nd, and grabbed a 3-1 lead in the top of the 3rd after a throwing error on a stolen base and a sac fly put the Raiders in front. The Raiders kept the foot on the gas, adding another pair of runs in the 4th and a big 5 run 5th inning. Thomas Otto did belt a home run in the bottom of the inning to cut into the lead, and Bickers drove in a run as well on a single. Wright State managed to keep the game out of reach, scoring a run in each the 6th and 7th, going on to win 12-5.
Milwaukee hosts in-state, Division III opponent, River Falls on Wednesday, before heading back on the road for a 3-game set against Horizon League foe Northern Kentucky for a weekend series.
