NILES, Ohio – The Milwaukee baseball team put up a pair of 10-run games on Saturday afternoon to sweep a Horizon League doubleheader from the Youngstown State Penguins by scored of 10-3 in the opener and 10-2 in the second game.
 
The Panthers recorded 29 hits on the day overall including seven extra-base hits. Justin Hausser led the Panthers with seven hits on the day, while scoring four runs, he hit one of two Milwaukee home runs on the day with a game-one blast in the opening inning.
 
Q Phillips and Zach Lane each had five hits on the day, including a double apiece, while Phillips drove in four and Lane brought three runners home. Carson Hansen had a three-run home run to open the scoring in the nightcap, as both he and Tyler Bickers each scored three runs on the day.
 
Teige Lethert had a big opening game with a 3-for-4 effort, including a pair of doubles while driving in three runs.
 
"Our guys came out hungry to play and we set the tone early on with our at bats," commented head coach Shaun Wegner after the 18 innings of baseball. "I thought in the conditions our hitters did a good job attacking pitches in the zone."
 
Not to be outdone by the offense, Milwaukee's pitching staff was just as effective and held the Penguins to five runs on the day. The Panthers had a combined 2.50 ERA and struck out 17 batters over 18 innings of work, while allowing 17 hits, five walks, and a pair of hit batters.
 
Luke Hansel got the start in the opener and went the first seven innings, yielding just one Penguin run and striking out seven. Logan Dobberstein pitched a hitless eighth inning while Gavin Theis and Keagon Kaufmann finished the job in the ninth.
 
"Hansel was good once again and set the pace for the day," Wegner added. "He has such a composure and passion that he pitches with. We were able to get both Dobberstein and Theis some work with Kaufmann finishing off the game."
 
Adrian Montilva got the start in game two and went the first 4 2/3 innings, striking out five batters and allowing both Penguin runs in game two. Logan Snow was a force out of the bullpen and did not allow a run over his 4 1/3 innings in relief as he picked up the win while striking out four.
 
"In game two, Montilva again created some peril at times but found ways to minimize the damage, and hang onto the lead," Wegner noted. "Snow finished the game off and showed why he has been so dependable for us."
 
Game 1 Recap
Milwaukee scored early and frequently in the opener, scoring runs in all but one inning. Hausser's first-inning blast gave Milwaukee a lead it did not relinquish.
 
Lane led off the second inning with a single, and later came home on a Lethert double to increase the Panther lead. Lane did more damage in the third with a two-run single to score Hausser and Bickers with the third and fourth MKE runs.
 
Sean Tillmon brought home the fifth run of the game in the fourth inning, while Gabe Roessler and Lethert drove in the next two as the Panthers led by a 7-0 score midway through the game.
 
After making his way through the Penguin lineup with limited baserunners, Hansel faced some adversity in the fifth with the bases loaded and two down before getting the third out via a fly ball to end the threat and strand the bases loaded.
 
The only inning Milwaukee was held off the scoreboard was the sixth but got right back to work in the seventh as Hansen led off the frame with a double and scored on a base hit by Phillips to give MKE an eight-run cushion. Dallan Quigley came on and walked in the eighth and later scored Milwaukee's ninth run on a wild pitch.
 
Hansel was touched for one run in the seventh before getting out of the inning. Dobberstein was up next in the eighth and set down the side on a trio of fly balls needing just six pitches to get the job done.
 
Lane reached on an error to open the ninth inning and moved up to third on a single by Phillips and ground ball out. Lethert picked up his third RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to give Milwaukee its 10th run.
 
Theis was touched up for two runs and got the first out of the ninth, before Kaufmann to lock down the 10-3 Panther win.
 
Game 2 Recap
The Panthers only scored in three different innings in game two but came out with the same result using their crooked-number innings to sweep the afternoon.
 
Hausser and Bickers had back-to-back singles with one out before Hansen put Milwaukee ahead in the first with a three-run home run to right centerfield.
 
Montilva put three runners on with one down in the bottom of the inning but stranded the bases full with a strikeout and ground ball.
 
The biggest inning of the day came in the top of the third for the Panther offense, as MKE scored five runs. Milwaukee sent 10 batters to the plate, and had run-scoring hits by Lane, Phillips, Thomas Otto, and Roessler as the lead swelled to eight.
 
Youngstown State got a run back in the bottom half, but Montilva allowed nothing further as he pitched into the fifth inning. The Penguins scored their second run in the fifth on an infield single as Snow came on to retire the final two batters of the frame.
 
After the scoring had settled down for both sides, Milwaukee put together the knockout blow with two more runs in the ninth as Phillips drove in his third run of the game with a double down the right field line, before a ground ball by Roessler plated Lane with the final Milwaukee run.
 
Snow polished off the game with a tidy 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to seal the 10-2 victory for the Panthers.
 
Up Next
Milwaukee will look for the series sweep over the Penguins in the final game of the set at 11:00 a.m. (CT) on Sunday.