BEAUMONT, Texas - Austin Schulfer allowed just one earned run and struck out eight to help lead the Milwaukee baseball team to a 4-2 victory over Illinois Saturday afternoon at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
 
The Panthers (1-2) got some revenge on the Fighting Illini (1-1), who had beaten them Friday night in game one of the Cardinal Classic.
 
"It was good to get that first win against a good opponent," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "Austin Schulfer was really good today and that was exactly what we needed."
 
Schulfer (1-0) picked up the victory, scattering five hits in his 5.0 innings of work. Newcomer Brandon Parr did the rest, with the junior picking up the four-inning save in his UWM debut. He gave up a run on three hits, walking none while adding three strikeouts.
 
"We got a couple of big hits in the middle of the game and then I thought Brandon Parr did a great job of pounding the zone," Doffek said. "And we played good defense behind him."
 
A three-run fifth inning turned the game around, with Milwaukee scoring runs via an RBI-groundout from Mike Jordahl to make it 1-1, a balk to go ahead 2-1, and topping it with Ian Ross' single plating another and giving the team a 3-1 advantage.
 
Daulton Varsho added an insurance tally with a home run in the sixth inning to help Milwaukee put away its first victory of the 2017 campaign.
 
Schulfer made just one mistake in his outing, allowing a home run to lead off the fourth. He worked out of any other trouble the rest of the way, stranding six Illini baserunners.
 
In the first game of the day, Milwaukee could never get going against host Lamar, falling 6-0. The Panthers lined into a double play and also made some outs on the basepaths over the first few innings to prevent the offense from sustaining any rallies.
 
"In game one, we just beat ourselves and that's just not going to work against a good team like Lamar," Doffek said. "I thought their arms were really good and we gave them a few outs on the bases that killed a couple potential rallies. I thought Varsho was good behind plate and fought his tail off on a long hot day."
 
The offense collected just five hits, with Ben Chally and John Boidanis each recording 2-for-3 efforts. Chris Kelly also had a base knock.
 
On the mound, Elijah Goodman (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs in 5.0 innings. He walked four while striking out just a pair. Reed Blake struck out the final two batters of the contest and now has four K's in 1.2 innings of work over his first two appearances.
 
Milwaukee wraps up the Cardinal Classic tomorrow, once again taking on Lamar. The game will get underway at 12:30 p.m.