DAYTON, Ohio – The Milwaukee baseball team dropped the third and final game of a weekend series against Horizon League foe Wright State by a 9-5 margin at Nischwitz Stadium.
 
The Panthers once again found themselves trailing early, down by a seven-run difference after five innings. The offense came to life in the latter innings, spearheaded by a three-run home run off the bat of Ty Olejnik in the sixth, but the lead proved to be too much to overcome as the Raiders held on for the four-run win.
 
"I'm proud of the way we fought back again today," noted head coach Scott Doffek postgame. "We just did not execute enough on the mound to beat that team."
 
Adrian Montilva made his first conference start of the season and allowed one run over the first two innings. Eliot Turnquist was touched up for six runs over three innings, as the Panther pitching staff was unable to keep the Raider offense in check.
 
Aside from Olejnik at the plate with his three-run home run, Carson Hansen had a team-best two hits on the day including an RBI single late in the contest. Aaron Chapman also had an RBI as the Panthers were outhit by an 11-8 margin.
 
Montilva held the Raiders off the board in the bottom of the first inning including his first strikeout of the afternoon. The left-hander faced trouble in the bottom of the second after two of the first three batters reached before he recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning. After a walk and a wild pitch Wright State had an early 1-0 lead but Montilva was able to stem the tide.
 
The Panthers went to Turnquist next on the hill, who was touched up for one run in the third as one runner was left stranded. The Raiders added two more runs in the fourth to open a four-run lead.
 
Milwaukee's offense was held in line until Cline walked with one down in the fifth inning but was later caught stealing for the third out. Wright State added onto its lead in the bottom of the inning with a three-run home run as the Raiders led by seven.
 
Hansen got the offense started in the top of the sixth inning with a one-out walk, before Jack Thelen had Milwaukee's first hit of the day with a single to put a pair of baserunners on. As the lineup turned over, Olejnik was down 0-2 in the count but connected on a three-run home run over the right field fence for his fifth home run of the season.
 
Mark Connelly followed with a double before Nate DeYoung moved him up with a ground ball out. Chapman connected on an infield single to plate Connelly with the fourth Panther run to slice into the lead at 7-4.
 
Wright State got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a walk, wild pitch and single to regain a four-run advantage.
 
Jake Novak led off the top of the seventh by reaching on a fielding error followed by Tommy Benson getting hit by a pitch. The train kept moving as Hansen singled to bring around Novak and pull Milwaukee back within three again. After a pitching change, the next three Milwaukee batters were retired and ended the Panther rally.
 
Andy Neu pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning to bring the Panther bats back up to bat, but the offense stalled out. A solo home run in the bottom of the eighth increased Wright State's lead to 9-5 heading into the ninth inning.
 
Benson was first pitch swinging with one down in the ninth and singled to center, before Hansen reached on a single as well. The Panthers were unable to string together any more offense with the potential tying run on deck as the Raiders ended up with the four-run victory.
 
Milwaukee will finish up the road trip on Tuesday afternoon, when the Panthers pay a visit to Northern Illinois for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch in DeKalb, Illinois.