MILWAUKEE – In a game that saw runs scored in all but one inning, it was the Youngstown State Penguins to pick up a 12-11 win over the Milwaukee Panthers to wrap-up the regular season on Saturday afternoon.
 
Milwaukee trailed 12-8 heading into the bottom of the ninth before Tai Walton connected on his first Milwaukee home run for the final three Panther runs of the game. The Panthers also had a pair of RBIs from both Tyler Bickers and Q Phillips, while Carson Hansen and Gabe Roessler each scored two runs.
 
"We didn't finish the game the way we wanted to … but we knew we were locked into the four seed, so we wanted to get some guys opportunities while also honoring our seniors," said head coach Shaun Wegner after the game. "Ultimately, it was not the outcome we had hoped for."
 
Seven pitchers took the mound for Milwaukee with three pitching at least two innings, led by starter Owen Rice, who went the first 2 2/3 innings and struck out a game-high four batters. Tyler Deleskiewicz pitched 2 1/3 innings and struck out a pair, while Riley Peterson tossed two innings.
 
The Panther pitching staff allowed 11 combined walks while also hitting five Penguins on the afternoon.
 
"We gave away too many freebies leading to a lot of their tack-on runs … we just had too much sloppy baseball today," added Wegner. "As much as we our defense credit on Friday, we did not play clean at all today."
 
Offensively, Milwaukee outhit the Penguins by a 13-10 margin and drew six walks but left nine runners on base.
 
"We didn't do as much damage as we had hoped, we had opportunities there and it was good to see some guys come up like Ben Buehring getting a single in the seventh," added Wegner. "We had some wasted chances, and we end up losing by one."
 
The Panthers scored first with three runs in the bottom of the opening inning as Bickers drove in a pair with a double, while Sean Tillmon plated Bickers with a single into center.
 
As the Panthers scored, the Penguins had immediate responses and kept the game close throughout the early innings.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Phillips hit a pinch hit double to score Luke Smock, who pinch ran for Bickers, and Teige Lethert who drew a six-pitch walk to increase Milwaukee's lead to 7-4.
 
In the top of the sixth, YSU drew even with a three-spot and took its first lead of the game in the top of the seventh on an RBI double by RJ Sherwood, who led the Penguins with three runs scored and was one of four players with multi-hit games for YSU.
 
The Penguins extended their lead to 11-7 in the top of the eighth and took a 12-8 lead into the bottom of the ninth looking to hang on for the win.
 
Andrew Chapman drew a walk before Thomas Otto pinch hit and walked to put two on with one down. Walton was up next and hooked a ball just inside the left field pole to make it a one-run game. The next two batters were retired as the Penguins won, 12-11.
 
Prior to the game, Milwaukee honored nine members of their senior class including Luke Hansel, Johnny Kelliher, Josh Kosky, Zach Lane, Caleb Lorbecki, Adrian Montilva, Dallan Quigley, James Severson, and Sean Tillmon.
  
Milwaukee finishes the regular season with 13 wins in Horizon League play and will enter the Horizon League postseason as the fourth seed. The Panthers will play the opening game of the league championship on Wednesday, May 22 at 10:00 a.m. (CT) against the fifth-seeded Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons.