MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Riley Frey struck out eight in six innings and the bullpen did the rest as the Milwaukee baseball team topped Illinois State 2-1 on Friday afternoon.
 
"Riley was really good early and we were fortunate to get a couple of runs right away," head coach Scott Doffek said. "He just did what he's been doing, and I thought his stuff was better today than it's been. That's a good lineup and he did a really nice job."
 
Frey had yet another solid outing for the Panthers (13-15), scattering seven hits across 6.0 innings and matching a season-high with eight strikeouts.
 
Illinois State (12-19) finally broke through in the seventh with a run-scoring infield single but James Severson entered with runners and the corners and worked out of the jam.
 
After a pair of popouts, Severson got cleanup hitter Jordan Libman to ground out to first base and Milwaukee maintained the lead.
 
"The key to that game was Severson coming in harm's way all over the place with first and third and nobody out," Doffek continued. "He found a way to execute and then we're fortunate that AJ just does what he does."
 
Severson came back out and worked around a single in the eighth before AJ Blubaugh entered in the ninth and struck out a pair to pick up his fifth save of the year.
 
The Panthers got on the board in the first inning as Zach Nogalski flipped a single to short right field to score Luke Seidel who singled earlier.
 
One batter later, Jack Kraus made it 2-0 as he crossed following a Redbirds error.
 
Milwaukee totaled six more hits the rest of the way but needed just the two runs behind the impressive outing from the three freshmen on the mound.
 
Nogalski and Mitchell Buban each recorded two hits for the Panthers in the win.
 
Milwaukee and Illinois State will meet again tomorrow for a 12:00 pm doubleheader. Both games will feature live stats along with a broadcast on ESPN3. Links for live coverage can be found on MKEPanthers.com.