FAIRBORN, Ohio – The Milwaukee baseball team scored nine unanswered runs after trailing and then held on for an 11-10 victory over Wright State Friday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium.
The Panthers (8-6, 1-0 Horizon League) outhit the Raiders (9-5, 0-1 Horizon League) by a count of 15-to-8 and used the mid-game rally to turn a 6-2 deficit into an 11-6 lead before sweating out the ninth inning in the conference opener for both teams.
Devin Rybacki connected for three hits and drove in a pair of runs in the seventh inning when the Panthers batted around and turned momentum of the contest, played on a cold and windy day with temperatures in the low 40's.
"Those were some tough conditions to pitch in today," head coach
Scott Doffek said. "I thought Rek (Reklaitis) did a great job in the middle innings holding them down. That got us to the point where our offense was able to come up with some great at bats in some critical situations."
Five other players collected two hits:
Trevor Schwecke (3 RBI/2 R), Tyler Border (RBI to tie game at 6-6 in the fifth),
Joe Vyskocil (RBI/R),
Matt Quartel and
Oakland Scanlan, who finished the day 2-for-3 with a home run and a pair of runs scored.
Down 2-0 after one inning, Scanlan got one up into the wind to the opposite field to get MKE on the board in the third. Vyskocil's single to right then knotted the game, 2-2, in the fourth.
WSU, the reigning Horizon League champion and unanimous preseason favorite, answered quickly, plating four of its own to forge ahead, 6-2.
Milwaukee made it a new game in the fifth, getting one on an error, two on the base hit by Schwecke and the fourth run of the inning on the single from Bordner.
The pivotal seventh saw 10 batters go to the plate, with five runs scoring on five hits.
Jared Reklaitis (2-3) recorded the win with a workhorse effort, throwing 114 pitches through 6.0 innings. He walked four, allowed the six runs and struck out eight.
Patrick Tomfohrde picked up the save, working the final three innings. After getting WSU 1-2-3 in both the seventh and the eighth, the ninth inning got a bit interesting. A two-out home run drew the Raiders within one at 11-10, but Tomfohrde collected himself to get the final out and secure the victory.
Game two of the series will get underway tomorrow at 1 p.m. CST.
