MILWAUKEE – Playing at American Family Field on Wednesday evening, the Milwaukee baseball team scored 13 runs on 13 hits en route to a 13-5 win over the MSOE Raiders in their annual contest at the Major League stadium.
 
Zach Lane paced the offense with four RBIs on the game including a two-run home run, while Q Phillips also homered with a runner on for his own two-run blast.
 
Lane and Phillips each had two hits on the day as did Tyler Bickers and Carson Hansen, who finished the game with 2-for-3 efforts with two RBIs apiece. Sean Tillmon also added two RBIs outs of the leadoff spot.
 
"It's a really cool place to be in, everyone dreams of playing in the big leagues and just to have this opportunity and experience for our players is a pretty neat thing," said head coach Shaun Wegner on playing at the home of the Milwaukee Brewers.
 
"To do it against a program with a former player (current MSOE head coach Steve Sanfilippo) and coach in this program with Scott Doffek, it's just a really special thing for everyone here," Wegner added on the experience.
 
The Panthers used six pitchers on the game including a hitless first inning by starter Gavin Theis. Freshmen left-handers Riley Peterson and Cole Spitzer each had three-inning outings and combined for nine of the Panthers' 12 strikeouts on the mound. James Severson threw a hitless eighth, while Tyler Deleskiewicz and Johnny Kelliher finished off the ninth.
 
"I thought we competed well … we didn't play our best baseball, but we came away with a victory and we head into the weekend with Wright State," noted Wegner.
 
Milwaukee broke through in the first inning after Theis' 1-2-3 effort to open the game, Bickers and Hansen each had sacrifice flies to give Milwaukee an early 2-0 advantage.
 
The Panthers added a two-out run in the third as Bickers was first-pitch swinging and connected on a single before stealing second. Hansen went opposite field for a double that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double as the Panthers led by three.
 
After allowing just one baserunner over his first two innings of work, Peterson fought through his third inning of work as MSOE had four hits and took advantage of a Panther error to tie the game at three.
 
MKE took the lead back for good in the bottom of the fourth with a five-run inning started by Thomas Otto getting hit by a pitch and Phillips drawing an eight-pitch walk. Gabe Roessler singled to score Otto before Dallan Quigley singled on a bunt to load the bases. Tillmon was up next and hit a ground ball to second base that was taken by the fielder to the bag, while Roessler sprinted around third base with the second run of the play to make it 6-3.
 
Bickers and Lane added RBI knocks in the inning to extend the Panther lead to five.
 
Spitzer surrendered one run in the fifth but got a strikeout and ground ball to end the Raider rally and strand the bases full. In his next inning, Spitzer struck out the side on 13 pitches to bring the Panthers back up to bat.
 
Justin Hausser reached on an error to open the inning and three batters later came in to score as Lane sent a ball over the left field fence for his first Milwaukee home run. Teige Lethert reached on a pinch single on a nine-pitch at bat before Phillips connected on a two-run blast to right field to put MKE up, 12-4.
 
The Panthers added another run in the seventh on a pair of walks, wild pitch, and a ground ball by Lane for his fourth RBI of the game.
 
MSOE scratched across one more run in the ninth before Kelliher came on to shut the door and lock down the Panther victory.
 
The Raiders were led by Blake Hall and Micah Overley with two hits apiece, as the duo drove in two of MSOE's five runs on the game. MSOE used six pitchers on the game, with Jack Shepski recording a scoreless outing with a hitless frame in the eighth.
 
Milwaukee resumes Horizon League play on Friday afternoon at 3:05 p.m., when the Panthers welcome the Wright State Raiders to Franklin Field for the second half of league competition.
 
"We know we're going to be going against a veteran offense with Wright State, who's looking to do some damage ... if you miss your spots, they're going to punish you," said Wegner on playing Wright State this weekend. "We're going to have conversations about what we need to do to attack them and stay within our plan, and it all comes down to execution … they're the type of program where you can't make too many mistakes and expect to get away with it."