MILWAUKEE, Wis. – With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Jack Kraus hit a walkoff grand slam to give the Milwaukee baseball team a 12-8 victory over Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon.
 
"This team continues to play through the whistle every single game and never stops," head coach Scott Doffek said. "Credit goes to the back end of the bullpen to keep them down and give us a chance because that could have easily been over. Then we chipped away and got some big hits and obviously Kraus picked us up in the 10th."
 
Kraus took the first pitch he saw deep over the left field fence to give the Panthers the win.
 
"For the last three weeks to a month, Jack has really been on the baseball. He's had some big hits and giving us a good at bat every time up," Doffek said.
 
Cherokee LeBeau got things going for the Panthers (12-15, 12-8 Horizon League) in the 10th, reaching on an error and pinch-runner Joey Scaffidi moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.
 
After Marcus Cline was intentionally walked, Luke Seidel beat out an infield single to load the bases. Youngstown State (16-15, 11-9 Horizon League) got a strikeout for the second out of the inning before Kraus laced the walkoff grand slam.
 
The back end of the bullpen was brilliant for the Panthers as James Severson, Nate DeYoung, and AJ Blubaugh combined for 10 strikeouts over the final 4.2 innings pitched to keep Milwaukee in it. Blubaugh picked up the win, striking out three in 1.1 innings.
 
"I thought Nate did a nice job," Doffek said. "He gets some credit for sure but obviously AJ has been lights out over the last few weeks."
 
The Penguins got on top early, scoring seven runs in the first four innings and adding another in the sixth to make it 8-4.
 
With the bullpen holding, Milwaukee climbed back in. Kraus singled in a run in the seventh and another scored after Mitchell Buban was hit by a pitch.
 
Then, in the eighth, Seidel doubled in Nick Winter who singled to lead off the inning which set up extras.
 
Kraus finished the day 3-for-6 with six RBI and the game-winner. Seidel also had three hits in six at-bats including the game-tying double.
 
Conner Goodman went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Winter added a pair of hits as well.
 
Milwaukee will return to Franklin Field next weekend for a break in Horizon League action. The Panthers will host Illinois State beginning on Friday, April 16. First pitch of the four-game series is set for 3:00 pm. Live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.