SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Nick Winter took a no-hitter into the fourth inning but the Milwaukee baseball team came up just short of an impressive victory on Sunday, falling by a final score of 3-2 at Sacramento State.
The Panthers (1-7) led the Hornets (5-2) by a score of 2-1 in the seventh, only to see a rally that plated two runs without the strength of a hit providing the final difference in the outcome.
"Incredible job by Nick today," head coach
Scott Doffek said. "We beat ourselves on both sides of the ball. Failure to execute any type of situational hitting and baserunning mistakes killed us. We should have scored five or six runs in that ball game. We are not good baseball team right now. Confidence is a huge part of the game and right now we are taxed in that way."
Backed to a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI-double off the bat of
Zach Nogalski, Winter worked quickly and effectively over the first four innings. He worked easily around a pair of walks and did not allow a hit until a one-out home run in the fifth tied the contest.
Just one inning later, he was back ahead, given a 2-1 advantage on a home run off the bat of
Mitchell Buban.
Winter (0-2) worked into the seventh before leaving with two runners on base and no outs. Back-to-back strikeouts looked like the needed momentum to get out of the jam, but a pair of walks and a hit batter gave the Hornets the 3-2 advantage. He ended his day allowing just three hits, walking two and striking out six batters.
Milwaukee had the tying run in scoring position with no outs in the eighth, only to see six consecutive outs at the plate end the potential to send the game to extra innings.
Nogalski led the way with a 2-for-4 effort, with Buban scoring twice while adding his first home run of the season.
Joe Vyskocil,
Jack Thelen and
Ty Olejnik also added base hits. On the mound,
Jake Armstrong closed out the afternoon with 1.1 scoreless frames.
Up next, the Panthers will head to Oregon for a four-game set, with game one getting underway Friday at 6 p.m. CST.
