Coming off the heels of dropping a weekend series to Wright State in the Panthers home opener, Milwaukee was able to get back to winning ways by winning three straight games last week.
Action started with a midweek showdown against in state foe UW River Falls. The visiting Falcons managed to grab an early lead after a pair of Panthers mishaps. First a wild pitch allowed a run to score, and moved Tanner Hraby to third, who came around to score on a ground out.
After going scoreless in the bottom of the 1st, Milwaukee was able to get a run across in the 2nd, courtesy of a Ben Buehring RBI double to score John Hadley. River Falls kept the Panthers at bay in the remaining part of the 2nd and tacked on another run on an RBI single by Kole Paulsen.
From there, though, Milwaukee was able to grab firm control of the game. The bottom of the 3rd kicked off with Gabe Roessler able to score on a Justin Hauesser ground out. On the next pitch, the Panthers grabbed the lead on a 2 run homer from Caden Headlee, his first of the season. Hadley was able to score on a balk later in the frame to increase the lead to 5-3.
Milwaukee tacked on a 3 more in the 6th after Bradyn Horn and Roessler both hit RBI singles. River Falls was able to cut in the deficit in the 7th on another wild pitch but Milwaukee got the run back in the 8th on a Tristan Ellis RBI double put Milwaukee up 9-4. The Panthers were able to put the game out of reach later in the inning on a Hausser grand slam. River Falls added one more in the 9th, but Milwaukee emerged victorious 13-5.
Milwaukee hit the road once again for a weekend set against Northern Kentucky. In the Friday matchup, the Panthers grabbed a lead in the 2nd and never looked back. Thomas Otto walked with the bases loaded to start the scoring. Milwaukee tacked on another pair in the frame, after a throwing error by Jake Altman allowed 2 to score, increasing the lead to 3-0. Headlee knocked an RBI double in the 3rd, and came around to score on a Hausser single.
Otto added 2 more RBI when he homered in the 3rd, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead. Otto and Roessler both homered in the 4th, part of a massive 6 run inning to put Milwaukee up 13-0. The Norse did get on the board in the 4th from a pair of groundouts and an Altman single, but that’s all Northern Kentucky could muster, losing to Milwaukee 13-3 after the 10 run rule was implemented in the 7th.
Northern Kentucky started off Saturday’s game on a fast start, with a 1st inning grand slam off the bat of Tyler Shaneyfel. The Norse added another run on a solo shot in the 2nd from Nolan Sparks. Milwaukee loaded the bases in the 3rd, getting 2 runs across on a pair of walks to Lethert and Phillips. The Panthers kept the scoring going in the 4th, starting with a Roessler solo home run, a sacrifice fly from Hausser, and eventually tying the game when Charlie Marion was able to score on a Norse throwing error.
Northern Kentucky grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the 4th on a fielder’s choice groundout, but tied it back up in the top of the 7th after Marion cranked an RBI triple. NKU managed to go up in the bottom of the 8th when Sparks singled in a run, and came around to score to put the Norse up 8-6. In the final frame, Milwaukee got its first two batters on base, but saw its next two out to come down to its final out.
Hausser drew a walk before Tiege Lethert tied the game with a 2 RBI single. The Panthers chose to pinch hit Cade Palkowski for Q Phillips, and it paid off with an go ahead, 2 RBI double. Roessler added an insurance run by singling in Palkowski. Zach Dohrmann slammed the door in the bottom of the 9th, earning the win after 1.2 innings on the mound, only allowing a walk. With the 11-8 win, Milwaukee earned the series win.
Looking for the sweep on Sunday, the Panthers ran out of gas, falling behind early on and not being able to overcome the slow start. The Norse scored 1 in the 1st on a fielder’s choice, before a big 2nd. Sparks hit a homer to start the scoring, followed by an RBI single from Logan Devenport. Devenport came around to score on a wild pitch, putting Northern Kentucky up 4-0. A sac fly and wild pitch plated two more in the 4th to put the Norse up 6-0. Milwaukee did get a pair of solo homers in the 7th, coming off the bats of Hausser and Lethert, but couldn’t spark any further rally, losing 6-2 in the Sunday finale.
Milwaukee was on the road to start off the month of April, with a matchup against former Horizon League foe, Valparaiso. Milwaukee struck in the top of the 1st, with RBI singles from Headlee, Hausser, and Otto. Unfortunately, the Panthers gave those 3 runs right back to Valparaiso in the bottom frame, with a run scoring from a fielder’s choice, followed by a 2 RBI single by Austin Ambrurgey.
The Beacons grabbed the lead in the 2nd after Kevin Denty was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Another fielder’s choice and a 2 RBI double by Spencer Warfield put Valpo up 7-3. Warfield homered in the 5th to put Valparaiso up 8-3. Saturday’s hero, Palkowski did drive in an RBI single, and came around to score on another Roessler home run in the 6th, but Milwaukee was unable to pull off another comeback, losing 8-6.
The Panthers remain on the road this weekend, traveling to Purdue Fort Wayne for a Friday to Sunday weekend set against the Mastodons, before returning to Franklin Field for a Tuesday showdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
