WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Milwaukee baseball team scored six runs over the final three innings to complete an impressive comeback and hand #17/#18 Wake Forest an 8-6 loss Saturday evening at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The Panthers (1-2) tied the game in the seventh on a two-run home run by
Joe Vyskocil and then scored the go-ahead runs against the Demon Deacons (2-1) in the top of the ninth.
Following a leadoff baserunner and a wild pitch,
Zach Nogalski came up clutch with a run-scoring single to make it 7-6. Not done there, a triple by
Mitchell Buban plated an insurance run.
"Game two we just kept battling in the box," head coach
Scott Doffek said. "(Zach) Nogalski has been locked in all weekend and (Joe) Vyskocil came up with that big home run. We showed a lot of fight coming back and beating one of the best teams in the country. Proud of our make-up – now we need to compete in all phases moving forward."
Patrick Tomfohrde came on to close it, dancing around a walk and two singles to help Milwaukee claim its first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent since knocking off #25 Texas Tech in February of 2016.
Matt Vanek played a huge role out of the bullpen, coming on in relief with the Panthers trailing, 6-2, in the fifth. He proceeded to throw three scoreless frames, getting out of a huge jam in the bottom of the seventh when Wake Forest had runners on first and third with one out. Vanek got a strikeout and a fly ball to get out of it, which came the half-inning after MKE had knotted the game at 6-6.
That rally came with two outs, with Nogalski driving in a run with a single and Buban following with a double that chased Nogalski in. Vyskocil then stepped to the plate, driving a 3-1 pitch to right field to even the game up at 6-6.
Vyskocil finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI. Nogalski had a locked-in 2-for-2 outing (2 runs/2 RBI/1 BB) and Buban finished with two hits and two runs driven in.
Nate DeYoung scored two runs, including the go-ahead tally in the ninth.
George Swedie (1-0) picked up the victory with a scoreless appearance in the eighth, striking out two batters.
Wake Forest got the best of the Panthers in the opener, helped along by a strong performance by Jared Shuster. He struck out a career-high 12 batters and did not issue a walk, doing all of the damage in just 6.0 innings of work.
"Game one, our immaturity got exposed," Doffek said. "We knew we were going to have some developmental innings and we didn't handle the environment well. Their pitcher was lights out … 95-96 with a plus change up. Impressive."
His offense staked him to a big advantage early – leading 4-0 after two – with the Panthers getting on the scoreboard in the sixth inning on a two-run shot off the bat of
Mike Ferri. They also scored in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk to Buban to round out the scoring in the 19-3 decision.
MKE finished with eight hits, led by two each from Vyskocil and
Jack Cavanaugh.
The team wraps up season-opening weekend with the early game tomorrow, taking on Seton Hall in a contest that is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. CST.
