ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Milwaukee baseball team dropped the rubber match of a three-game set with the Oakland Golden Grizzlies by the score of 4-2 on Sunday afternoon.
 
"It was a disappointing result for sure," said head coach Scott Doffek. "I thought we played well enough to win but sometimes things don't go our way. It was a tie game, and they got a swinging bunt and a bloop double and we're down by two."
 
"We just hit into some hard luck and lined out a bunch today," added Doffek on the offense.
 
Milwaukee was led by Jack Thelen, who drove in both runs for the Panthers on the day with a solo home run and an RBI groundout. Aaron Chapman had two hits and scored a run while also stealing one base on the afternoon.
 
Owen Rice got the start and went the first three innings allowing three runs in his first conference start. Nick Gilhaus went the distance for the remainder of the game as he allowed just one run over five innings of work to close out the game. Milwaukee struck out nine batters with Rice recording five and Gilhaus striking out four.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Thelen put the Panthers on the board with a leadoff solo home run in the top of the second inning. The lead didn't last long as the Golden Grizzlies connected on a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.

Nathan Ebersole had a leadoff single in the third but was erased on a fielder's choice as the game moved to the bottom of the inning and Rice set down Oakland to send the game to the fourth.
 
Chapman got another leadoff hit for the Panthers in the top of the fourth and then stole second before moving up to third as the throw went awry. Thelen grounded out allowing Chapman to score the tying run.
 
After walking the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth, Rice was lifted for Gilhaus who allowed the inherited runner plus one of his own to score as the Panthers trailed by a pair at 4-2.
 
Chapman reached on a leadoff single in the top of the sixth but was erased on a double play, while Ebersole was hit by a pitch with two down in the seventh but was caught stealing. Milwaukee got solo baserunners in the eighth on a Mark Connelly walk and a Tommy Benson single with one down in the ninth, but the Panthers struggled to string together the offensive effort in the 4-2 loss.
 
Milwaukee will return home on Tuesday, when the Panthers welcome Valparaiso to Franklin Field with first pitch slated for 3:00 p.m. The current forecast for Tuesday does look ominous, so fans are encouraged to check back to MKEPanthers.com or @MKE_Baseball on Twitter for up-to-date scheduling news.