HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Despite a three-run home run off the bat of Carson Hansen, the Milwaukee offense was unable to keep pace with the Northern Kentucky Norse on Friday afternoon, falling by a 9-3 score.
 
The Panthers led 3-1 after four innings, but the Norse tied the game at three in the fifth before scoring six runs in the latter innings to pull away with the victory.
 
Hansen led the Panthers with his second home run of the season as he drove in all three runs on one swing of the bat. Q Phillips had two hits, with Justin Hausser and Sean Tillmon adding singles to Milwaukee's five hits on the afternoon.
 
Luke Hansel got the start for the Panthers and allowed one earned run over five innings of work and walked six Norse while striking out five. Logan Snow finished the game for the Panthers and allowed the final six runs for NKU. Milwaukee committed three errors behind its two pitchers, as four of the nine Norse runs were unearned markers.
 
"We had a breakdown in fundamental baseball and allowed the game to speed up on us," commented head coach Shaun Wegner. "We persisted and fought through some of adversity in the middle innings but ultimately came up short."
 
Milwaukee allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the third but answered right back in the top of the fourth as Hausser and Tillmon led off the inning with a pair of singles. Hansen was up next and pulled a ball over the right field fence to put Milwaukee ahead, 3-1.
 
Hansel worked through traffic in the bottom of the fourth but was not as successful in the fifth as the Norse leveled the score at three aided by a Milwaukee error before stranding the bases full of Norse.
 
After a scoreless sixth, Northern Kentucky scored an unearned run off Snow in the seventh before pouring on five more runs in the eighth, capped off by a two-run home run by Tyler Shaneyfelt.
 
With two hits on the day, Shaneyfelt led the Norse offense while he was one of three players with multi-RBI efforts. Logen Devenport drove in three runs, while shortstop Brennan Rowe drove in a pair including his solo home run in the third. Liam McFadden-Ackman walked three times and scored three runs.
 
Starter Tanner Gillis struck out five Panthers over his 6 2/3 innings of work, while Nick McClanahan earned the win as he closed out the game by getting the final seven outs as the duo combined to strike out nine batters.
 
Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky will meet for game two of the series at a new scheduled time of 1:00 p.m. (CT) on Saturday afternoon at Bill Aker Baseball Complex in Highland Heights.