LUBBOCK, Tex. - The Milwaukee baseball team knocked off a nationally-ranked opponent for the second straight season, defeating No. 25 Texas Tech University by a score of 10-3 Saturday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park.
 
The Panthers (1-2) scored the final 10 runs of the game against the Red Raiders (2-1), helped along to the victory by three home runs and a strong performance on the mound by Jay Peters, Jake Tuttle and Jake Sommers in the opener of a doubleheader.
 
Daulton Varsho continued his hot start, going 2-for-4 with another home run, a double, three runs batted in and a pair of runs scored.
 
Luke Meeteer went 2-for-5 with a home run, Eric Solberg had two hits and scored twice and Nick Unes also homered.
 
Peters allowed just one earned run in his first start in a Milwaukee uniform, scattering six hits in 5.0 strong innings. He allowed a pair of unearned runs, but did strike out three.
 
Tuttle (1-0) picked up the win, throwing a strong scoreless inning after the Panthers dug out of an early 3-0 hole and had trimmed the deficit to one.
 
"It starts with Jay Peters and the start he gave us," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "He really competed today. Then you have to look at the job Jake Tuttle did when we were down a run to hold them at bay and give our bats a chance to go to work."
 
That started in the seventh with the team trailing 3-2. Billy Quirke singled and, with two outs, Solberg also singled to put two on for Varsho. He socked a three-run bomb to right to give Milwaukee the 5-3 advantage and opened the floodgates for UWM's offense. The team added a run in the eighth and then piled on four more in the ninth.
 
With the offense on display, a freshman was making an impressive debut on the mound. Sommers threw the final 3.0 innings to record the save, allowing no runs in his outing while scattering a pair of hits and striking out three.
 
"We stacked quality at bats," Doffek said. "Varsh gave us a huge lift with that three-run bomb. But, most impressive was Jake Sommers in his first collegiate game – to come in for a clean three-inning save versus a top level opponent."
 
The victory was the program's sixth against a ranked foe, last topping #15 Iowa a year ago. The Panthers could not keep the momentum rolling in game two, falling by a score of 9-1.
 
The offense was limited to just a pair of hits, one by Meeteer and the other by Quirke.
 
"We didn't compete on the mound or in the box early and the game got away from us," Doffek said. "We need to come out tomorrow with passion and grit and find a way to split this series."
 
The teams close out the weekend series 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. The series finale will begin at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, moved ahead to better accommodate Milwaukee's travel plans home.