MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Milwaukee Baseball's
Mitch Buban capped off game two with a walk-off single winning 3-2 in extra innings, but not before the Panthers took care of business in game one defeating Northern Illinois 13-2 Tuesday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field.
Milwaukee (22-25) scored 16 total runs on the day while pounding out 24 hits against Northern Illinois (13-34). Meanwhile the Panther pitching staff held the Huskies to just 14 hits and four runs.
Elijah Goodman got the nod in game one and pitched five solid innings, scattering four hits while allowing just one run and
good enough for the win.
"In game one, Goodman struggled a little bit with is command, but gave us a good start and made some big pitches when he needed to," said head coach
Scott Doffek. "Hitting wise, we stacked quality at-bats together."
Said quality at-bats came up in three key innings by the Panthers. Milwaukee scored single runs in the first and second innings, but back-to-back four run innings in the fourth and fifth and a three-run sixth, allowed the Panthers to run away with the contest.
Milwaukee has been clutch throughout the season coming up with some big hits with two outs, and the Panthers continued model in the fourth inning. The Panthers scored three runs after two outs thanks to a single and two doubles provided by
Devin Rybacki, Trevor Schewecke and
Colin Kreiter.
In the following two innings, Milwaukee tacked on seven more runs on five hits for a commanding 13-2 victory.
Game two took a turn scoring wise for the Panthers, but the result still ended in a Panther win.
Northern Illinois scored its first runs in the first inning against Panthers'
Mike Edwards. Edwards struggled from the mound early on but found his grove and settled nicely sitting the next six Huskies down in order after the first.
In relief,
Nick Winter came in and although he gave up a couple hits and a walk in the fourth, Winter rebounded by sitting the next six Huskies down in order in the fifth and sixth innings.
"Both Mike (Edwards) and Nick (Winter) struggled with their command and didn't necessarily have their best stuff today, but when they needed to make pitches they did," said Doffek.
Milwaukee split the score in half in the second inning when freshman
Zach Nogalski tripled to right center and
Tyler Bordner doubled to left center scoring Nogalski.
In the third inning,
Colin Kreiter extended his hit streak to 10 games after an RBI double to center field to tie the game up at two.
With runners on at first and second, the Panthers finished the game in dramatic fashion when
Mitch Buban hit the game winner to left center, scoring pinch hitter
Matt Quartel ending the game 3-2.
"Mitch (Buban) was clutch both defensively and offensively for us today," Doffek said. "He saved a run in the top of the seventh diving for a ball in the 5-6 hole, and then comes up and hits the game winner – he did a great job today."
Devin Rybacki combined for a 5-for-8 performance leading all hitters.
Trevor Schwecke chipped in with four hits on the day as well.
MKE will close out the regular season at Henry Aaron Field with a three-game series against Oakland beginning Thurs., May 17. First pitch on Thursday is slated for 3 p.m., followed by 3 p.m. start Friday (May 18), and 12 p.m. start Saturday (May 19).
