NORMAL, Ill. - Cole Heili hit a pair of home runs to help the Milwaukee baseball team race out to a 7-1 lead in eventually outlasting Illinois State, 8-5, in the series opener Friday at Duffy Bass Field.
 
The Panthers (5-11) saw their lead fall to just two runs late before adding an insurance tally against the Redbirds (7-10) in the top of the ninth inning.
 
Jake Tuttle also played a key role, getting the final six outs of the contest to earn his first save of the season.
 
Brian Keller (2-3) was solid in picking up the victory. He worked the first six innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits. He struck out five despite adding an uncharacteristic four walks.
 
"That was just a good team win today," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "Brian Keller really battled for us on the mound and it was great to see Cole Heili bust out in that way at the plate. Even when things got a little tight in the eighth inning, Jake Tuttle came in and really competed. It was just what we needed to start the series."
 
Heili finished with four RBI and a pair of runs scored, part of a 13-hit UWM attack. Dan Barwick went 3-for-4 while Eric Solberg (2-for-5) and Jeremy Wright (2-for-4, 2 RBI) also added multi-hit efforts.
 
Nick Unes went 1-for-2 with the late insurance-run RBI and walked three times. Owen Miller led the Redbirds with two hits and four driven in.
 
Keller ran into his only jam in the bottom of the fifth, as the Redbirds loaded the bases with just one out on a walk, single to right and a swinging bunt. He limited the damage by inducing a fly ball that turned into a sac fly and a strikeout for the third out of the frame to quickly extinguish any large rally.
 
Heili blasted his first home run in a Milwaukee uniform in the fourth inning, a solo shot to left center that made it 3-0 at the time. He provided the fireworks in the fifth inning as well, sending a long fly to center for a three-run home run and a 6-0 lead.
 
The Redbirds made a large dent immediately after Keller was done, putting up a four-spot in the bottom of the seventh, with most of the damage coming on a three-run shot to left by Miller to pull within two at 7-5.
 
Tuttle got out of a huge jam in the eighth, coming on with a runner on base after a leadoff single. He worked around what could have been a costly error, inducing a lineout to center for out number two and then making a terrific play on a ball tapped down the third base line to end the inning. Each of the final two batters he faced in the inning represented the go-ahead run.
 
He worked a 1-2-3 ninth, closing the game with a pair of strikeouts.
 
The series continues with a Saturday matinee, first pitch scheduled tomorrow for 2 p.m.