FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Milwaukee baseball team had 26 hits on the day and scored 22 runs as the Panthers swept a key conference doubleheader against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons on Mastodon Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
In the opener, the Panthers had seven runs on as many hits in a 7-6 win over the home team. Later in the day, Milwaukee had a season-high 15 runs and 19 hits in downing the Mastodons by a 15-8 final.
 
For Milwaukee it was the team's first doubleheader sweep since the season-opening 5-0 and 6-4 sweep over North Alabama on February 18 earlier this year, while it was the team's first conference doubleheader sweep since May 16, 2021, when the Panthers swept Northern Kentucky, 5-4 and 12-7.
 
Marcus Cline led the offense on the day with six hits, including two doubles, and five RBIs. Aaron Chapman was 4-for-8 on the day and had a solo home run while scoring four runs. Tommy Benson and Jake Novak each had home runs on the day. Justin Hausser was tied for the team lead in runs scored with four (Chapman and Benson), while he also connected on two doubles and drove in three.
 
Carson Hansen and Jack Thelen each had three RBIs on the day, while Mark Connelly and Ty Olejnik each had three-hit afternoons. Milwaukee stole four bases, including a pair by Olejnik.
 
On the hill, Luke Hansel improved to 5-1 on the year with a game one win as he allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings while striking out seven Mastodons. Eliot Turnquist got the start in game two and was the beneficiary of the Panther offensive outburst as he improved to 3-2 while striking out four batters in his five-inning outing.
 
Game 1 Summary
After a scoreless first, Milwaukee jumped on the board early with a run in the second as Chapman singled and moved up to third on a groundout and a balk. Hausser picked up the RBI with a groundout to shortstop.
 
Purdue Fort Wayne tied the game with one run in the bottom of the third on two hits, but Hansel limited the damage and left a pair of Mastodons on base.
 
The Panthers put up a crooked number in the fourth with four runs as Connelly led off the inning with a single, followed by Chapman getting hit by a pitch. Thelen was up next and doubled to chase Connelly home and give Milwaukee the lead for good. Hausser picked up another RBI on a ground ball out, before Cline had the big knock of the inning with a two-run double to give Milwaukee a 5-1 advantage.
 
Hansel allowed a leadoff walk in the fourth and a leadoff double in the sixth but did not give up a hit as the game progressed to the seventh inning.
 
Benson led off the seventh with a home run while behind in the count to give Milwaukee a key insurance run for a five-run lead. It proved necessary as the Mastodons scored three runs in the bottom of the inning and chased Hansel in the process. Mike Sullivan was able to get the final out of the inning as he stranded one runner on base.
 
As the game continued to the final inning, Hausser got the ninth started off with a leadoff double, three batters later it was Cline with the clutch base knock to chase Hausser home to put Milwaukee up by a 7-4 score.
 
The run in the top of the ninth proved to be vital as the Mastodons threatened in the bottom of the inning off of Nate DeYoung and connected on a two-run home run to pull back within one run. However, DeYoung was able to get out of the inning and lock down his seventh save of the year.
 
Game 2 Summary
Milwaukee kept its offense cooking in the second game of the doubleheader as Olejnik led off the game with a first-pitch single and stole second but was stranded there. Turnquist also allowed a leadoff walk but got a double play by his infield defense. After an error allowed the next batter to reach, Turnquist left him stranded at second after getting the third out of the frame.
 
Hausser was first pitch swinging to lead off the top of the second and moved up to second base on a wild pitch. Thelen sacrificed Hausser to third ahead of a Benson walk. Hansen singled through the infield to bring Hausser home with the first run of the game before Cline singled to load the bases. Olejnik got an RBI with a groundout to put Milwaukee up by a pair.
 
After Turnquist retired the side in order in the bottom of the second, Milwaukee put together one of their best innings of the year with six runs on six hits. Novak led off the frame with a solo home run before Chapman walked with one down. Hausser added another RBI on the day with a double to chase the Purdue Fort Wayne starter from the game while chasing Chapman home to make it 4-0.
 
Thelen reached on a bunt single and took second on a wild pitch. Two batters later it was Hansen to get back in on the action with a two-run triple to increase Milwaukee's lead to six. Cline brought Hansen home with a base hit through the right side of the infield, and later scored on a wild pitch to cap off the six-run inning and put the Panthers ahead by eight.
 
Milwaukee added two more in the fourth as Thelen had a two-run single to bring Hausser and Connelly home. During the fifth, the Panthers tacked on one more run as Olejnik singled and stole second before being brought home by Connelly to give Milwaukee 11 unanswered runs to start game two.
 
Purdue Fort Wayne scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth on three hits, including back-to-back doubles and a two-run home run.
 
Milwaukee continued to score as the game progressed with Benson being hit by a pitch and seventh as Olejnik and Connelly scored on an error on a ball batted by Chapman.
 
Nick Gilhaus, who pitched a scoreless sixth did so again in the seventh but was unable to retire a batter in the eighth as Johnny Kelliher and Sam Mathews were needed to get out of the eight with Purdue Fort Wayne scoring four runs on three hits to make it 14-8 in favor of Milwaukee.
 
The Panthers had the finishing knock-out punch in the top of the ninth as Chapman connected on his fourth home run of the year for the 15th Panther run of the game.
 
Mathews, who got the final two batters in the eighth, retired the side in order in the ninth to cap off his 1 2/3 hitless innings to seal the series win and doubleheader sweep for the Panthers.
 
Up Next
Milwaukee looks to get back over the .500 mark on Tuesday, when the Panthers pay a visit to Illinois State on April 18 with a 5:00 p.m. first pitch in Normal, Illinois. There will be live video on ESPN+ and live stats available of the game available at the links on MKEPanthers.com.