NILES, Ohio – Thanks to a game two victory in Saturday's doubleheader, the Milwaukee baseball team secured a spot in the Horizon League Tournament. The Panthers split with Youngstown State behind a 14-12 win in the nightcap.
 
"We wanted to come out today and win our way into the tournament and that's what we did," head coach Scott Doffek commented. "Jack [Mahoney] gave us a decent start and the lineup top to bottom produced."
 
The Panthers got the jump early with a score in the first and three more in the second for a 4-1 advantage.
 
Milwaukee then scored in the next four innings including four the in the fifth on four hits.
 
Jack Mahoney put together a solid outing, striking out five and allowing just five hits in 4.0 innings.
 
In the eighth, Milwaukee plated three important insurance runs as Nick Winter singled in two and Mitchell Buban followed with a sacrifice fly.
 
The Penguins fought back late as they tagged the bullpen with 10 runs across the last three innings, but AJ Blubaugh escaped with a big strikeout in the ninth.
 
"We hung in there at the end," Doffek said. "AJ made a huge pitch to strike him out when it really mattered. That's just what he does."
 
In game one, Youngstown State did its damage in the third and fifth innings, scoring four in each frame.
 
Milwaukee plated three in the sixth after both Mike Ferri and Mitchell Buban brought in a run after being hit by a pitch. Luke Seidel also singled in one but YSU's Joel Hake entered and closed it out for the Penguins.
 
Mike Edwards took the loss as he allowed six earned runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings.
 
Luke Seidel finished the day with five hits, going 5-for-8 with five runs scored anad two RBI.
 
Nick Winter went 3-for-6 with three RBI in the two games.
 
Milwaukee and Youngstown State will wrap up the regular season tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 11:00 am CT. Live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.