MILWAUKEE - Sophomore Justin Langley opened the night with five hitless innings of work and five pitchers on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team combined to throw a two-hit shutout and top Oakland University by a score of 5-0 Friday at Miller Park.
 
The Panthers (34-18, 15-13 Horizon League) defeated the Grizzlies (10-37, 5-23) by the same score for the second straight day, scoring three times in the second inning and letting the pitching do the rest. The game was played at the home of the Milwaukee Brewers in front of a festive crowd of 1,015 people.
 
"Justin Langley threw the ball really, really well and the rest of the guys came in and did their job as well, which was good to see," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "It wasn't pretty – we didn't swing the bats well at all. We were fortunate to find some soft contact that fell in for us and drove some runs in. It can be tricky when there is a different pitcher every inning. It's hard to get into a flow. I think that was a little bit of what happened."
 
UWM collected just nine hits overall, led by a 2-for-3 effort from senior Mike Porcaro and a 2-for-4 outing by junior Mitch Ghelfi, who also scored twice. Junior Nick Unes added a pair of RBI's.
 
Scoreless in the second, the Panthers loaded the bases with a Ghelfi single, a walk and a base hit by freshman Daulton Varsho. Unes earned an RBI with a hit-by-pitch and sophomore Eric Solberg hit a deep sacrifice fly to right to make it 2-0. Junior Luke Meeteer then sent a screamer down the left field line to plate Varsho and hand Langley an imposing 3-0 lead the way he was throwing.
 
He took a perfect game into the fifth inning before walking a pair and ended the evening with two walks and four strikeouts.
 
Sophomore Adam Reuss worked an easy 1-2-3 sixth and senior Justin Jaquish was on for the seventh. After one out, a slow roller to second turned into the first hit of the contest for Oakland after Zac Sterry legged it out.
 
"It was unfortunate to lose it that way on a slow roller and a bang-bang play at first," Doffek said.
 
Senior Gunnar Eastman worked a scoreless eighth and classmate Cody Peterson got some work with a strikeout and a walk in the ninth to close it out.
 
The atmosphere at Miller Park was fantastic, with the department holding a pregame tailgate and honoring Milwaukee baseball alumni in a pregame ceremony on the field.
 
"It was awesome," Doffek said. "When you come in here sometimes it's such a vast building that however many people you put in here doesn't feel like a lot. But tonight it felt like we had a home crowd. A shout-out goes to Jenny Gryniewicz and the administration for putting this on. It was great to see so many alumni out here – guys that had the chance to play here years ago and guys we went to regionals with – just phenomenal ambassadors for our program. It was good to see those guys – I love 'em."
 
The regular-season finale is set for tomorrow at Henry Aaron Field. Join the team for "Senior Day", when it honors its 14-member senior class in a pregame ceremony. First pitch is slated for noon.