MILWAUKEE – A three-run fifth inning proved to be all Oakland needed as the Golden Grizzlies took the opening game of a three-game series with the Milwaukee Panthers by a 3-1 score.
 
Hunter Pidek led the Golden Grizzlies to the win with six shutout innings, holding the Panthers off the scoreboard despite Milwaukee finishing the game with an 8-3 advantage in hits.
 
The Panthers left 11 runners on the basepaths, with at least one left on the bases in each of the first eight innings.
 
"We had opportunities on the bases today, but credit to Pidek on throwing the ball well," said head coach Shaun Wegner after the game. "Our hitters did a pretty good job of getting some traffic going but we just didn't get those two-out RBIs … on days like today with the wind blowing in and favoring the pitchers, we have to get two-out runs in order to win games."
 
Luke Hansel got the start for the Panthers and was touched up for the three Oakland runs, with one strikeout as he finished the game going 5 1/3 innings. Three relievers combined on 3 2/3 scoreless innings to finish the game.
 
"In general, our pitching was fine, just that one crooked number in the fifth because we let up a lot of freebies stacked on top of each other," Wegner added. "We had a couple of balls squirt away at home plate that ultimately gave them a couple of runs as well."
 
Hansel allowed a leadoff double to open the game but worked out of trouble, while Pidek had traffic on base in the bottom of the first and was able to avoid damage. Milwaukee got at least two runners on in each of the first three innings but could not cash in on its opportunities.
 
In the fifth, the Golden Grizzlies broke the scoreless tie with a leadoff double and hit batter before the pair were bunted into scoring position and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Sam Griffith plated the first Oakland run. Later in the inning, the Grizzlies added two more runs on wild pitches to extend their lead to three.
 
James Severson came on with one down in the sixth and struck out the first two batters he faced, before striking out three more Grizzlies in the seventh to bring the Panthers back up to bat.
 
Justin Hausser reached on an infield single and moved up to second on a ground ball to open the seventh. Carson Hansen continued to stay hot at the plate and doubled to left centerfield to plate the first Panther run and trim the deficit to 3-1.
 
Hausser, Hansen, and Gabe Roessler led the Panthers with two hits apiece on the day at the plate for MKE.
 
Johnny Kelliher pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, before Keagon Kaufmann allowed just a two-out single before retiring the final batter he faced in the ninth.
 
The Panthers only went down in order in the ninth inning, as Brandon Decker closed the door for his second save of the season allowing just the one Milwaukee run in relief.
 
Due to forecasted weather in the Greater Milwaukee area on Sunday, the series has been adjusted and will now feature a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. Game one of the twinbill will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CT).