MILWAUKEE - Brian Keller pitched his second shutout in a row to lead the Milwaukee baseball team to an 8-0 victory in game one of a doubleheader against Oakland University Friday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field.
 
The Panthers (23-21, 10-9 Horizon League) were unable to pull off the sweep on the day after the Golden Grizzlies (20-18, 10-8 Horizon League) used a big sixth-inning rally to claim game two by a final score of 9-5.
 
Keller was at it again in the opener, putting together yet another fantastic effort. He threw his second straight complete-game shutout – just the third Panther pitcher to accomplish the feat in school history – and the first since Jake Long in 2013.
 
"Carbon copy of last week," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "He got touched up a bit early and from there, he was really good. Both sides of the plate, three or four pitches."
 
Keller (7-3) allowed a pair of two-out singles in the first inning – while striking out the side, however – and then faced the minimum the rest of the way, retiring 17 in a row at one point until a one-out walk in the eighth inning was erased on a double play. He walked one and struck out a career-high 12 batters, marking his second start in a row where he established a new career-high in K's (he fanned 11 against Northern Kentucky last week).
 
"I think it's just all coming together for him," Doffek said. "He's got his body in really good shape and has figured out a good midweek routine. He's just really executing."
 
The offense got on the board in the third when Billy Quirke knocked in a pair on a triple down the right field line and came home one batter later on a base hit by Aaron Buban that made it 3-0.
 
"I was really happy with our at bats in game one," Doffek said. "Pretty good AB's all day, really. Game one, once we scored three or four runs, it was going to be tough to come back on Brian."
 
That would be all Keller would need once again, but Milwaukee kept tacking on, plating two in the fourth on a John Boidanis sac fly and an Oakland error and another in the sixth, once again by Boidanis, who singled in Cole Heili.
 
The Panthers ended with 12 hits in game one, led by a 3-for-4 day at the plate by Quirke, who added two RBI and scored a run. Boidanis finished 2-for-3 with two RBI while Dan Barwick was 2-for-3.
 
Milwaukee got behind in the nightcap right away when Oakland scored twice in the first. But, the contest was tied quickly, with Daulton Varsho doubling in a run in the first and Boidanis crushing his first home run of the season to left in the second to make it 2-2.
 
Luke Meeteer gave UWM its first lead, singling home Quirke to make it 3-2 in the third. Oakland tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth, but it was Meeteer again in the fifth, legging out a potential double-play ball to drive in a run and give Milwaukee what turned out to be a short-lived advantage.
 
The Grizzlies rallied in the sixth, sending 10 men to the plate in scoring six runs on seven hits, with four of the runs scoring after the Panthers emptied the bases with a double play.
 
"Going to be tough to win a game when you give up six runs in one inning," Doffek said. "It's just that simple. We didn't execute enough pitches in that game. I give them a lot of credit, they did a good job, but we have to do a better job of executing."
 
Milwaukee got one back in the seventh inning on an RBI-single off the bat of Nick Unes, but that was as close as they would get.
 
Varsho led the UWM offense with a 3-for-4 day, doubling twice. Aaron Buban (2-for-4) and Heili (2-for-4) added multi-hit days and Meeteer stole bases number 20 and 21 on the season.
 
Ian Yetsko had a big day for the Grizzlies, going 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Tyler Pagano finished 3-for-5 with two runs batted in.
 
Jay Peters (3-5) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits in 5-plus innings. He walked one and struck out four. Mason Pingel closed out the contest with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, adding a strikeout.
 
The Panthers are right back at it tomorrow, hosting Youngstown State in a doubleheader starting at noon. It will also be "Senior Day", with the team honoring its eight-member class in between games.