MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee baseball team scored quickly and six pitchers combined to limit Northern Illinois to just three hits in a 3-0 victory Tuesday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field.
 
The Panthers (22-30) closed out the home portion of the regular season schedule with a victory over the Huskies (15-35), completing a home and home sweep of today's opponent over the course of the season.
 
"When you get these midweek games, especially going into a situation this weekend where our pitchers are going to be on pitch counts, we didn't want to expose anyone or extend anybody," Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek said. "Each and every one of those guys did a good job."
 
Milwaukee looked to start quickly and had a 1-0 lead after four batters when Chris Kelly, Trevor Schwecke and John Boidanis all singled. Mike Jordahl made it 2-0 on a groundout and an unearned run in the second quickly made it 3-0.
 
"I didn't feel like it would be a big offensive day," Doffek said. "Tough day to hit with the wind blowing in pretty hard – I thought it would be tough to score. For us, especially this team, it's critical to jump ahead early. And when we do, we play much more relaxed."
 
That was it for both offenses. The UWM staff put together a great day, totaling seven strikeouts and just those three total hits allowed. Jake Sommers (1-2) earned the win after a solid three-inning start, giving up a lone hit, adding two K's.
 
Matt Vanek and Jared Reklaitis each threw a pair of shutout frames, with Blake Reed (0.1 IP), Alex Fischer (1.0 IP) and Elijah Goodman (0.2 IP) helping to combine on the shutout.
 
The Panthers collected 10 hits, led by a 3-for-4 effort from Kelly that included a pair of steals and a run scored. Boidanis finished 3-for-4, with a fine effort by the NIU defense robbing him of a 4-for-4 day.
 
Schwecke finished with two hits and a run scored. Roderick Bynum had two of the three hits by the Huskies.
 
The last trip of the regular season takes Milwaukee to Indiana, opening a three-game series at Valparaiso Thursday. Game one has a first pitch of 3 p.m. against the Crusaders.