FLORENCE, Ala. – The Milwaukee baseball team began its season on Saturday afternoon, with a strong showing as the Panthers swept the opening doubleheader of a three-game set with the North Alabama Lions, winning game one by a 5-0 margin, before taking game two by a 6-4 score.
 
Pitching and timely hitting were key in the early season sweep for the Panthers, as MKE held the Lion bats in check from the hill with a combined 1.50 ERA on the day.
 
Riley Frey got the start in the opener and tossed six innings of shutout ball with seven strikeouts and scattered three hits and three walks through his outing. Luke Hansel made his Panther debut in the night cap and struck out nine Lions over his five innings of work while allowing five hits and one walk.
 
"Riley was really great for us today, he did what he does and did a great job of battling", said head coach Scott Doffek on his starters. "Luke was dynamic on the mound at times and really made some big pitches in key situations."
 
Offensively the Panthers had 18 hits, including a pair of doubles as a team, and connected on their first home run of the season as Ty Olejnik had a line drive homer in the first game over the right field fence.
 
"In game one we did just enough and found some holes at the right time," added Doffek on the offense. "Olejnick and Aaron Chapman [who each had four hits] swung the bats well and carried the offensive load."
 
Justin Hausser led the team with three RBIs on the day, while Nate DeYoung had an RBI in each game of the doubleheader and picked up the save in game two with two strikeouts including the final out of the game with the bases loaded with the go-ahead run on base for North Alabama.

"It got tight in the end of game two, but it came down to execution on the mound to finish it off," concluded Doffek.
 
Game 1 Summary
Milwaukee got on the board in the first inning as DeYoung singled home Luke Seidel, who reached on an error to start the rally.
 
The offense added another run in the fourth inning as Chapman singled, and DeYoung walked to put a pair on with nobody down before Hausser chased home Chapman to make it 2-0.
 
On the hill, Frey stranded a runner in the first and third and used his defense behind him to turn a double play in the second. He allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth but retired the next three batters as he exited with a 2-0 lead.
 
In the top of the seventh, Olejnik connected on his third career home run to give Frey an insurance run as the score was 3-0.
 
Johnny Kelliher came on in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a one-out single but got out of the inning. Sam Mathews made his Panther debut in the eighth and did not allow a run.
 
Milwaukee added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, before junior Nick Gilhaus came on to get the final three outs including a pair of strikeouts.
 
Game 2 Summary
Milwaukee again took an early one-run lead in the first inning as Seidel singled and moved up to second on an error and third on a groundout. DeYoung chased Seidel home with a base knock to put the Panthers up by one early.
 
Hansel went to work and retired the first three batters he faced before running into trouble in the second. After the first three batters reached, Hansel induced a pop up and got the next two via strikeout to end the threat.
 
The Panther lead held at 1-0 until the fifth as Olejnik singled but was retired on a fielder's choice. Seidel stole second after erasing Olejnik, and later stole third. Two batters later, Seidel scored on a wild pitch, before a hit batter loaded the bases with one down. Hausser singled in a pair to make it 4-0, before an error allowed DeYoung to score to put MKE up by five.
 
Ryan Hoerter came on in the sixth and walked the leadoff batter but was able to rely on his defense for an inning-ending double play. North Alabama was able to touch Hoerter for two runs in the bottom of the inning as the Panther lead shrunk to 5-2.
 
Milwaukee got one back in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Seidel allowing Jack Thelen to score after reaching on a one-out walk. Gavin Theis pitched the bottom of the eighth to send the game to the ninth.
 
Things got dicey in the ninth for the Panthers as the Lions scored twice. Theis was lifted for DeYoung in the middle of the inning, and after a wild pitch and a walk, DeYoung was able to retire the final batter via strikeout to end the game.
 
Up Next
Milwaukee wraps up its trip to Alabama with game three of the series on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch slated for 12:00 p.m. Eliot Turnquist is the expected starter for the Panthers in search of the sweep.