NILES, Ohio – Youngstown State scored 11 runs over the span of four innings, which proved to be enough in an 11-8 win over the Milwaukee baseball team on Sunday afternoon.
 
After the Panthers had fought back to tie the game at five in the top of the fifth, Youngstown State scored six times in the sixth inning, including a grand slam by Matt Thompson as the Penguins took back the lead for good.
 
"I was disappointed with the way we looked from the start, including how we attacked our pregame," head coach Shaun Wegner said after the game. "I didn't have our guys prepared well enough to be successful today, so that's on me."
 
After a scoreless first inning, Carson Hansen led off the top of the second with a home run to give the Panthers the early lead.
 
Starting pitcher Owen Rice made it through the first two innings without issue and struck out the first two Penguins he saw in the third, but a pair of singles, followed by a pair of walks, and a wild pitch chased the Panther starter. Keagon Kaufmann allowed a pair of inherited runners to score as YSU took a 4-1 lead.
 
"When you give up 13 freebies on a hitter-friendly day, it's going to be tough to overcome." Wegner added. "In key spots, we weren't able to get ahead and Youngstown took advantage of middle-zone pitches and did damage."
 
The Panthers scored two in the fourth as Thomas Otto got a two-out rally started with a double, and later scored on an Andrew Jimenez single to slice the lead in half. Sean Tillmon got in on the offense as well with an RBI base knock as the Panthers trailed by one at 4-3.
 
 After a leadoff hit batter in the bottom of the fourth resulted in another Youngstown State run on a sacrifice fly, Milwaukee got another two runs in the top of the fifth as Zach Lane plated a pair as Tyler Bickers and Hansen walked to lead off the inning.
 
With the score level at five, Kaufmann breezed through the Youngstown order in the fifth, but was not as fortunate in the sixth as YSU scored six runs on a two-run double by Brett Stanley, followed by Thompson's grand slam as the Penguins took an 11-5 advantage.
 
Milwaukee scratched across a run in the eighth as Teige Lethert had a pinch hit double and scored on a Jimenez sacrifice fly. The Panthers scored two more in the ninth as Q Phillips and Gabe Roessler had RBI singles.
 
The late rally was not enough as the Penguins hung on for the three-run win, sinking Milwaukee to a 5-10 record through the first round of Horizon League regular season play.
 
"We're halfway through the conference season and we are not where we need to be," Wegner concluded. "We need to attack the second half starting next weekend at home."
 
Milwaukee will be home for 10 of its next 11 games, which begins on Tuesday afternoon at Franklin Field, when the Panthers welcome UIC for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch.