IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Milwaukee baseball team overcame a late deficit to draw even, only to see Iowa scratch across a run in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off with the 4-3 victory Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field.
 
The Panthers (13-25) held an early lead on the Hawkeyes (24-15) and had the game even at 2-2 and 3-3 before suffering the tough loss. Iowa improves to 13-3 at home with the victory.
 
"We did a lot of good things tonight, but broke down in the ninth," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "We will win when we're ready and not before. The game is 54 outs and we need to execute on both sides of the ball without breakdowns. We swung the bats well for the most part with a lot of hard contact, but also struck out too much."
 
Tied at 2-2, Milwaukee fell behind in the third inning on Jake Adams 15^th home run of the season. It stayed that way for a while as the teams traded zeroes, with the Panthers once again making it a new game as the night hit the seventh-inning stretch.
 
Ian Ross led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. He came home on a single to left off the bat of Dylan Detert but that was all UWM would get.
 
The team had another crack at it in the eighth, but left the potential go-ahead run stranded at third base. The UWM ninth went 1-2-3 before Iowa found a way to win it. A leadoff walk went to second after a hit batter. A sac bunt attempt turned into a base hit to load the bases and Mason McCoy won it with a single to left.
 
Daulton Varsho had given Milwaukee a 1-0 lead in the first with a home run to left field, only to see Iowa take back the momentum with two in its half of the frame.
 
Ben Chally led the offense, finishing 3-for-4. Ross went 2-for-4, with Cole Heili, Detert and Billy Quirke all finding their way into the hit column. Varsho had the home run and a walk in four at bats.
 
Alex Fischer started the game, allowing three runs in 3.0 innings. He walked one and struck out five. George Swedie followed with three scoreless frames, giving up just one hit, walking one and fanning four.
 
Reed Blake (0-2) suffered the loss despite not giving up a hit in 2.0 innings. Iowa used six pitchers. Drake Robinson earned the win with four strikeouts and no walks in 2.0 hitless innings of work.
 
Up next, the Panthers welcome Oakland University to Henry Aaron Field. Game one of the series Friday is set for a 3 p.m. start and will be televised live on Spectrum Sports in the Milwaukee area with Bob Brainerd and Don August on the call.