MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee baseball team dropped a close game to Illinois State, 5-3, Tuesday evening at Henry Aaron Field.
Milwaukee (16-23) rallied the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth looking for a comeback, but Illinois State (16-24) shut the door ending the inning with a strikeout for the victory.
"We had a good ball game, we just unfortunately beat ourselves defensively, on the bases and in the batter's box," said Milwaukee head coach
Scott Doffek. "It was a two run game and we gave them all but one run, and we gave away way too many at-bats and left runners on base – a recipe for a loss."
The Panthers limited big innings from the Redbirds allowing only single runs, but after tying the game up in the fifth inning, Milwaukee was unable to string together a productive inning.
After the Redbirds scored two after two,
Joe Vyskocil and
Mitch Buban came up with back-to-back singles with the threat to score in the third. The Panthers cut the score in half after
Trevor Schwecke singled to center, scoring Vyskocil with runners at the corners. On the first pitch of
Colin Kreiter's at-bat, Milwaukee pulled off a double steal to tie the game at two. Milwaukee attempted to pull another double steal after Kreiter was hit by the pitch, but Schwecke was tagged out at home off the pick off to end the inning.
Both teams scored in the fifth inning, but the Redbirds took the lead for good in the seventh inning after leading off with a double. John Rave scored on the following hit to center after a single and a bobble by the Panthers' center fielder.
Illinois State added an insurance run in the ninth, but Milwaukee looked to put up a fight until the end.
The Redbirds managed to get two quick outs from the Panthers, but Milwaukee loaded the bases just as quick beginning with a
Zach Nogalski single to left field. Next up,
Oakland Scanlan reached base on botched catch in what would have been a routine groundout, but the error kept the Panthers hopes alive. Bases were loaded after
Mike Ferri was hit by the pitch, but all three Panthers were left stranded after Illinois State struck out the next Panther hitter.
Milwaukee will look to rebound Wed., May 2 against Lakeland University. With the projected forecast, the Panthers and Muskies will move up the game time to a 2 p.m. start time at Henry Aaron Field.
