FRANKLIN, Wis. – In the team's regular season finale, the Milwaukee baseball team fell to the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons by the score of 9-3 on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field.
 
The Panthers end the regular season with a 23-30 record overall and an 11-18 mark in the Horizon League, placing them fifth place in the final standings and setting up a first-round matchup against fourth-seeded Youngstown State on Wednesday at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio at 11:00 a.m. (CT).
 
"Today was a positive in that we were able to get some guys that don't get to play too much," said Scott Doffek after the game. "They were productive as well, so from that standpoint and did well."
 
The Panthers and Mastodons were even through four full innings before Purdue Fort Wayne broke through with two runs in the fifth before adding five more runs in the seventh inning, and another pair in the eighth. The Panthers were able to avoid the shutout by scoring three runs in the ninth.

"You have a 0-0 game in the fifth," added Doffek. "But throughout the course of that game we beat ourselves in the batter's box by expanding the strike zone and we were chasing. We had some opportunities to put some pressure on and we left them off the hook."
 
Prior to the game the Panthers recognized 16 members of the team playing in their final home collegiate game at Franklin Field. The day was also alumni day as the Panthers welcomed back several baseball alumni, including members of the 1973 team celebrating their 50th anniversary.
 
"This was a special group of graduates and they're just amazing people," Doffek noted of his graduating group. "We appreciate everyone that came out, it was a great crowd. It was disappointing we couldn't play a little better for them."
 
Adrian Montilva got the start for the Panthers and put up a season-best four scoreless innings, as he and the Mastodon starter matched zeroes through the first four innings.
 
In the top of the fifth, Purdue Fort Wayne broke through first with a pair of one-out singles before a two-run double ended the deadlock.
 
Milwaukee's offense was unable to get much going through the opening half of the game aside from a pair of singles in the first and a solo baserunner in both the third and fourth innings.
 
Sam Mathews got out of a jam in the sixth with a tapper back to the box to leave a pair on base. However, Mathews was touched up for five runs in the sixth as the Mastodons extended their lead to seven. Purdue Fort Wayne tacked on two more runs in the eighth to take a nine-run lead.
 
After Nate DeYoung pitched a hitless ninth inning, Mark Connelly walked in the bottom of the frame before Jack Thelen pinch hit and connected on a two-run home run over the left field fence to break the shutout for the first two Panther runs.
 
Andrew Jimenez continued the inning with a single and moved up on a throwing error on the play before Jacob Kaiser walked after reaching on a pair of singles earlier in the game. On ball four to Kaiser a wild pitch was thrown allowing Jimenez to get to third. The next play resulted in Jimenez scoring the third and final Panther run.