EVANSTON, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team battled back from an early hole to force a tie, only to see Northwestern University score the final four runs of the game to claim a 9-5 victory on a windy Tuesday at Rocky Miller Park.
 
"We did a great job of getting back to even," UWM head coach Scott Doffek said. "I thought in the middle of the game, we barreled some balls and did not get any results. They did a good job of pitching away from the wind. What balls we did hit hard, we hit hard to right and the wind would knock it down."
 
The Panthers (22-13) trailed the Wildcats (12-26) by a score of 5-1 after the first inning before eventually tying the game at 5-5 on senior Sam Koenig's ninth home run of the season leading off the fifth.
 
The loss snapped Milwaukee's five-game winning streak on the season and also snapped its five-game win streak against Big Ten opponents. The conditions played a major role on the day, with winds blowing out to left field, gusting to well over 30 miles per hour.
 
"You were going to get a result on the left side of the field and not the right, and they executed better than we did," Doffek said. "To lose 9-5 – when the game started I thought it would be 29-25 – we just didn't hit enough to win that game anyway. When you give up a five-spot that early, it's tough. "
 
Junior Nick Unes starred with a 3-for-4 day, finishing a triple short of the cycle in driving in a pair of runs and scoring two more. Senior Ryan McShane also added a 2-for-4 day but the rest of the lineup combined for just one hit.
 
Junior Luke Meeteer set a school record with a pair of stolen bases to reach 25  to eclipse the former mark of 24, which was tied by Ryan Solberg in 2014 and set by Darin Haugom in both 2000 and 1999.
 
Northwestern was led by the top three spots in the order, which combined to go 9-for-14 with six runs scored.
 
Down 5-1, Unes got Milwaukee jumpstarted with a home run in the second and then doubled in another in the fourth. McShane also doubled in a run to trim the deficit to 5-4 at the time. Koenig's laser-beam blast over the left-center field fence tied the game at 5-5 to lead off the fifth inning.
 
From there it was all Wildcats, scoring four unanswered runs the rest of the day to claim the victory in what was their home opener.
 
Sophomore Adam Reuss (1-1) suffered the hard-luck loss. He went 4.0 innings, allowing a single run on three hits, striking out a pair.
 
Northwestern jumped all over freshman starter Alex McIntosh in the first inning, blasting a pair of home runs in plating five runs on six hits.
 
Reuss came on in the second inning and did a fantastic job, retiring the first eight Wildcats he faced in order.
 
The Panthers return home and get right back at it tomorrow, welcoming Wisconsin Lutheran College to Henry Aaron Field starting at 3 p.m.