MEQUON, Wis. - Wright State jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the top of the third inning and never let the Milwaukee baseball team back into it, claiming a 9-2 victory Sunday at Kapco Park.
The Panthers (12-14, 5-2 Horizon League) cut the deficit against the Raiders (20-10, 8-3 Horizon League) in half at 4-2, but the visitors regained momentum with a pair in the sixth and tacked on from there.
Rain and temps in the mid-30's forced cancellation of game two of the scheduled doubleheader. Following the weekend split, WSU (8-3, .727 winning percentage) leap-frogs past UWM (5-2, .714) by percentage points for first place at this point in the season.
"Unfortunately we were not very competitive on either side of the ball for most of the game," Milwaukee head coach
Scott Doffek said. "Wright State's pitcher did a really nice job on the mound and they came up with some big two-out hits which proved to be the difference today."
Adam Reuss (2-3) suffered the loss, allowing four runs in 3.0 innings. Wright State was fired up early, scoring at least one run in each of the first three innings, including a two-RBI triple by Mitch Roman in the second. Down 4-0 after the top of the third, Milwaukee got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame and it all came with two outs.
Eric Solberg reached on an infield single and went to third when running on a pitch that was rifled into left center by
Billy Quirke.
Daulton Varsho knocked in Solberg with a single to right and
Luke Meeteer followed with a shot down the left field line that chased home Quirke and cut the deficit in half at 4-2.
But that was as close as UWM would get. Wright State got a leadoff home run in the sixth and would score three runs in two innings to push the advantage back to 7-2.
The Milwaukee offense finished with six hits after a strong outing by WSU's Caleb Sampen (5-0), who remained perfect on the season after allowing two runs in 8.0 innings.
Varsho (2-for-4) was the only Panther with more than one hit.
Jared Reklaitis struck out two and did not allow an earned run in the final 2.0 innings.
A five-game road trip is next, starting Wednesday at Chicago State. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
