MILWAUKEE – Carson Hansen drove in four runs to pace the Panther offense as the Milwaukee baseball team downed visiting Youngstown State on Thursday afternoon by a 6-3 score at Franklin Field.
 
Hansen connected on a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and later added some insurance runs in the fifth as he finished the day with two of Milwaukee's seven hits.
 
The Panther pitching staff allowed just one earned run over nine innings of work and were able to rely heavily on their defense as the Penguins ended the game stranding 14 runners on base. YSU collected 10 hits and drew three walks, while also getting a pair of runners on via errors, and a trio of Penguins getting hit by pitches.
 
"We didn't have enough energy that I was hoping we'd have today," commented Shaun Wegner after the game. "We worked ourselves into quite a bit of trouble but were able to get out of some of those situations."
 
Luke Hansel pitched the first three innings and struck out five Penguins, followed by four innings of work from Logan Snow. James Severson and Johnny Kelliher did not allow a run as the veteran staff held Youngstown State in check throughout the game.
 
"Youngstown had opportunities against our pitching, but we did a good job when it mattered of making pitches and letting our defense do the work," added Wegner.
 
After Hansel allowed a first-inning home run, Milwaukee answered right back as Hansen connected on his 11th long ball of the year to put the Panthers ahead by a 2-1 score.
 
Sean Tillmon doubled to open the second inning and scored on a run-producing knock by Q Phillips to give Milwaukee a 3-1 lead. Later in the inning, Teige Lethert sent his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall to increase the Panther lead to three.
 
Youngstown State got an unearned run back in the third inning to slice the lead in half, before Snow came on in the fourth and stranded the bases full for the second consecutive inning after Hansel had done the same in the third.
 
Dallan Quigley reached on an infield single to lead off the fifth before Gabe Roessler drew an eight-pitch walk. After the next two batters were retired, Hansen sent a ball to the opposite field into the left field corner to extend the Panther lead to 6-2.
 
With his four RBIs, Hansen now has 62 on the year as he became the first Panther to drive in 60 runs in a season since the 2008 campaign when Jesse Hart finished that year with 64. He also becomes just the fifth player in program history with a 60 RBI season.
 
"He's only a sophomore which makes it that much more outstanding," Wegner noted of Hansen. "Having that many RBIs throughout the season means you're routinely getting the job done when the moment calls for it."
 
The Penguins scored an unearned run in the seventh inning but were unable to draw any closer as Severson got a double play ball to end the eighth, while Kelliher closed the game out in the ninth as he stranded the bases full for his fourth save of the year.
 
Trey Law had three hits out of the leadoff spot for Youngstown, while Alejandro Covas homered in the top of the first and had two hits on the afternoon. Jacob Gehring only needed 50 pitches to get through four innings allowing the first four Panther runs. Nick Perez pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the Penguins.
 
With the win, Milwaukee secured either the fourth or fifth seed in next week's Horizon League Championship and will play in the opening game of the double-elimination bracket at 10:00 a.m. (CT) on Wednesday, May 22.
 
The Panthers will play the Penguins in game two of the series on Friday afternoon, with first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m. at Franklin Field.