MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Milwaukee baseball team overcame one-run deficits on three different occasions but fell on a walkoff double to Minnesota in the ninth inning, dropping a 5-4 contest Wednesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
 
The Panthers (6-6) had tied the game in the top of the eighth on Daulton Varsho's home run, only to see the Golden Gophers (8-4) escape with the victory on a two-out double to centerfield that plated the winner.
 
"That was a very disappointing loss," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "We beat ourselves in so many ways. To come up here against the defending Big Ten champs and play with that kind of focus is disappointing. We need to be better on Friday and we will be."
 
Varsho finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Five other players added base hits with Billy Quirke and Devin Rybacki scoring runs and Ban Chally and Jeremy Wright knocking in runners.
 
Minnesota took the first lead at 1-0 in the third, but UWM responded quickly, tying the game with a run in the fourth on a well-timed double steal, with Chris Kelly stealing second and Varsho racing 90 feet with a swipe of home plate.
 
The Panthers were unable to hold the Gophers, who went ahead again on an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth.
 
Chally's RBI-single plated Rybacki and it was 2-2 in the sixth, with Milwaukee taking its only lead of the night in the seventh with a bases-loaded, two-out rally. Quirke came up with the first two-out hit and Wright followed, sending Quirke racing around the bases with a double to left center and a 3-2 advantage.

The Gophers then took a 4-3 lead in their half of the frame. Varsho made quick work of that deficit, launching a leadoff home run to left to lead off the eighth, his fourth of the season.
 
Looking at extra innings, the home team rallied in the ninth to escape with the win when a two-out double ended it.
 
Elijah Goodman started and worked into the seventh, allowing just two earned runs while walking two and striking out five. Jared Reklaitis (1-1) suffered the loss, giving up a run in 2.1 innings of relief.
 
The Panthers are back on the road on the weekend, heading south again for a weekend series at UT Arlington. Game one of the series starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.