MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Behind 23 hits and 17 runs, the Milwaukee baseball team earned a crucial sweep of Northern Kentucky on Sunday's Senior Day.
 
Milwaukee worked a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in the opener on Sunday and then got the bats going in an 12-7 victory in game two.
 
With the win, the Panthers improved to 16-20 in Horizon League play and move one and a half games in front of Northern Kentucky for the No. 4 seed in the standings.
 
"We had some timely hits today," head coach Scott Doffek said. "Have to give credit to [Matt] McCarty when the game was about ready to get away from us, he settled it down. Then [Luke] Seidel picks us up and jumpstarts a flat dugout and then gets a really big hit in the bottom of the sixth."
 
Seidel provided the fireworks in game one of Sunday's doubleheader, finishing 3-for-3 with three runs batted in.
 
Trailing 4-1, the sophomore laced a two-run homer to left field, bringing the Panthers within one.
 
One inning later, Joe Vyskocil singled in Mike Ferri before Seidel followed with an RBI single to center to put MKE on top 5-4.
 
AJ Blubaugh toed the rubber in the seventh for his first save opportunity in nearly a month and shut down the heart of the NKU lineup in order. The freshman needed just nine pitches as he worked a pair of flyouts and a groundout for his seventh save of the season.
 
In the nightcap, Milwaukee jumped ahead early and never looked back. The Panthers tacked on four runs off of four hits in the opening frame and added another in the second for a 5-0 advantage.
 
Northern Kentucky responded with two runs in back-to-back innings, but the Panthers took advantage of the Norse's wayward pitching in the fourth to plate four more.
 
After two more in the fifth to make it 11-4, Jack Kraus drilled his second homer of the series, a solo shot to left center for a final insurance run.
 
The Norse scored three runs late, but the bullpen hung on to give MKE the victory.
 
Nick Gilhaus made his first collegiate start and was solid on the hill, scattering three hits in 3.1 innings pitched while striking out a pair.
 
Matt McCarty entered and picked up his second win of the day, striking out two and allowing three hits and a pair of earned runs in 3.2 innings out of the pen. McCarty also earned the win in game one, striking out two in 1.1 innings.
 
It marks the first time a Panthers' pitcher earned two wins in a single day since April 5, 2014 when Tyler Thicke was credited with both wins of a doubleheader against Oakland.
 
The seniors showed out on Sunday with Vyskocil going 5-for-7 with three RBI. Ferri was on base five times going 2-for-4 with three walks and George Swedie struck out the final batter of the day to close out the win.
 
Nick Winter added four hits while Mitchell Buban was also on base four times in the wins.
 
The Panthers will wrap up the regular season at Youngstown State with a four-game series beginning on Friday, May 21. Live coverage for all four games can be found on MKEPanthers.com.