MILWAUKEE – A nine-run third inning for Wright State propelled the visiting Raiders to a 16-8 win in the middle game of a three-game set against the Milwaukee Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Raiders sent 12 batters to the plate in the third inning and connected on five home runs including two-run home runs by Sammy Sass, Ben Vore, Drew Baker, and Julian Greenwell. Three players had three RBIs each for WSU including Greenwell, Sass, Baker, and Patrick Fultz.
 
"We had some trouble today with the strike zone at times," said head coach Shaun Wegner post game. "When you give away 15 walks, a couple of hit batters and some wild pitches, it's hard to keep a good offense like that down for that long."
 
Carson Hansen was a bright spot for the Panthers on Saturday, with a three-hit day as he tied the program record for the second time this season with three doubles in a single game. Hansen also led the Panthers with five runs driven in and also scored a run.
 
"He just has a different kind of strength when he hits the ball," Wegner added on Hansen. "He's seeing the ball well right now … the double that kept the game going in the seventh inning was huge for us, because it would have been easy to fold but I was proud of our guys for showing resilience there."
 
Wright State scored a run in the second inning on a walk and a double into the gap for the opening run of the game before the Raiders put up nine in the third. During the nine-run frame, WSU had six hits, a pair of walks, and took advantage of a Panther error to extend its lead to 10.
 
Milwaukee fought back in the bottom of the inning as Gabe Roessler walked, Teige Lethert doubled, and Dallan Quigley hit a sacrifice fly for the first Panther run. Hansen came up with the bases loaded and cleared the bags with a three-run double to centerfield to slice into the lead at 10-4.
 
The Raiders got a run in the fourth and scored another four runs in the sixth to extend their advantage to 11.
 
Hansen hit his second double of the day leading off the sixth and later came in to score on a ground ball by Q Phillips.
 
After Wright State scored one more in the top of the seventh to take a 16-5 lead, the Panthers answered with three in the seventh including an RBI single by Justin Hausser to score Thomas Otto before Hansen added another two RBIs with an opposite-field double into the corner.
 
Adrian Montilva took the loss for the Panthers, as he was only able to get through 2 2/3 innings, Camden Kuhnke and Logan Dobberstein combined to get through the sixth inning. Tyler Deleskiewicz pitched the final three innings to finish out the game as he struck out four.
 
Garret Simpson picked up the win as he went the first six innings, while two relievers closed out the game including Warren Hartzell, who pitched the final two innings without allowing a hit.
 
Milwaukee and Wright State will play the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Franklin Field with first pitch slated for 1:05 p.m.