MILWAUKEE, Wis. – With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Mike Ferri sparked a four-run rally to help the Milwaukee baseball team secure a 6-3 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in the Panthers home debut.
 
"It was good for us to finally break out and have an inning like that," head coach Scott Doffek commented. "It is just something we haven't done but we found a way. Hopefully this can relieve some tension and we can build off that."
 
Ferri's single chased the Mastodons' starter Justin Miller and the Panthers got to work. After a single from Joe Vyskocil put two on, Quinton Morris pushed a single to left to tie the game 3-3.
 
Marcus Cline then stepped in and laced a pinch-hit single to center to score Vyskocil and Jack Cavanaugh added a pair of insurance runs with two-run triple under the outstretched glove of the right fielder.
 
Purdue Fort Wayne opened the ninth with a leadoff single before AJ Blubaugh entered and worked his first save of the season with three straight strikeouts.
 
Riley Frey struck out four and scattered six hits in the start, allowing just the three-run homer that gave the Mastodons an advantage.
 
"I'm proud of the way he competed even though he didn't have his best stuff," Doffek said. "He never gives in and we always know we'll be in a game with him on the mound."
 
Andrew Neu worked a strong 2.1 innings in relief before Blubaugh struck out the ninth for the save.
 
"Andy did a great job coming out of the pen and stabilizing to give us a chance to chip away or have a big inning and fortunately we did," Doffek said. "And AJ was lights out."
 
For Milwaukee, it was the first win in its new park, Franklin Field.
 
"It's an incredible environment," Doffek continued. "I'm so happy for our guys and our program to be able to do this. To be able to showcase the university and program here in a fist class manner and for us to get a 'W' is icing on the cake."
 
Morris picked up two hits for the second straight game while Cavanaugh also finished 2-for-4.
 
The Mastodons' Miller put a solid outing together, striking out 12 in 7.2 innings of work.
 
With probable rain in the forecast, the Panthers and Mastodons have shifted the remaining three games of the series. Milwaukee will now host one game tomorrow at 12:00 pm while Sunday will feature a 12:00 pm doubleheader. Live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.