FRANKLIN, Wis. – The Milwaukee baseball team played its first home game of the 2023 season and registered its eighth win of the year as the Panthers knocked off the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons by a score of 4-1 at Franklin Field.
 
"It was good to get a couple of guys in there that we haven't been able to get in there," said head coach Scott Doffek. "DJ Kojis did a good job of handling his first college start."
 
"I'm happy to get the outcome we did," added Doffek. "You could tell our guys had a little more energy to play the game because they're at home for the first time."
 
Offensively the Panthers had nine hits on the day as Justin Hausser and Mark Connelly each had a pair of hits. Hausser led Milwaukee with three RBIs, while Connelly had an RBI to go along with a double.
 
Nate DeYoung and Ty Olejnik each had doubles on the day, while DeYoung, Aaron Chapman, Tommy Benson and Ryan Hoerter all scored runs on the afternoon.
 
Eight pitchers toed the rubber for the Panthers as Kojis got the start and tossed two innings of scoreless ball as he struck out a team-best three on the day. Keagon Kaufmann got the win as he was second in line and threw two hitless innings.
 
Sam Mathews continued his scoreless stretch to start the season with two innings on just 17 pitches. Mathews struck out one while allowing one base hit.
 
Kojis ran into trouble in the first inning but escaped with the bases loaded before stranding a pair of Falcons on in the top of the second.
 
Benson reached on a one-out single in the bottom of the second, before DeYoung was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. The pair advanced on a double steal before Hausser plated the duo with a two-run single into centerfield.
 
Milwaukee threatened in the bottom of the third with two runners on, but the pair were stranded on the corners. Kaufmann faced one over the minimum in his two innings as the game progressed to the fifth.
 
Concordia scored its lone run of the game in the top of the fifth as a one-out walk and a double allowed the Falcons to trim the Panther lead in half.
 
Milwaukee responded right away as Chapman reached on a one-out single followed by a double off the bat of Connelly down the left field line allowing Chapman to score from first.
 
Mathews worked his way through the sixth inning on six pitches and needed 11 more to retire the Falcons in the top of the seventh.
 
After the first two batters reached in the top of the eighth, Nick Gilhaus came on and stranded the pair of inherited runners in scoring position to send the game to the bottom of the inning.
 
Jack Thelen opened the eighth inning with an infield single as Hoerter then ran for Thelen. Two batters later DeYoung doubled to put two on with one down before Hausser added his third RBI of the game with an RBI groundout to add some insurance heading into the ninth.
 
DeYoung came on to pitch in search of his sixth save and retired the first two batters before working around a two-out error to get the last out of the game via popup.
 
Milwaukee returns home on Friday for a 2:00 p.m. start on Franklin Field as the Panthers play host to Horizon League foe Youngstown State to open a three-game series with the Penguins.