NILES, Ohio – Milwaukee's offense had 28 hits including nine for extra bases and outscored the host Youngstown State Penguins by a 22-11 margin in a doubleheader sweep to open Horizon League play. The Panthers took the opener by a 7-4 margin, before taking game two by a 15-7 score.
 
Charlie Marion and Justin Hausser each had five hits on the day, with three of Marion's knocks coming for extra bases. Gabe Roessler had two home runs including a grand slam in game two and led the Panthers with six RBIs. Q Phillips also hit a home run in game two and had five RBIs during the doubleheader.
 
Teige Lethert reached base seven times with four hits and three walks as he drove in two on the afternoon. Tyler Bickers drove in a pair with three hits, while Tate Schmidt also had a three-hit day.
 
Gavin Theis got the start in the opener and picked up his second win of the season allowing just two earned runs and striking out five over six frames. Logan Schulfer got his first win of the year as he threw the first five frames for the Panthers in game two with a season-best seven strikeouts.
 
Milwaukee's bullpen saw four pitchers combine to allow three earned runs over seven innings.
 
Game One
Youngstown State scored a first-inning run off Theis, who was able to settle down and got a 1-2-3 inning in the second with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Milwaukee got going as Lethert singled before the Panthers got two on with one down. Schmidt leveled the score at one with an RBI double before Bickers came through with a two-run single to put the Panthers ahead.
 
Theis yielded one in the bottom of the third and allowed the game-tying run in the fifth but battled through the sixth as he eclipsed 100 pitches for the first time in his collegiate career.
 
"Gavin did a good job of keeping us in the game as our offense continued to try to get to [Youngstown State starter Jacob] Gehring," said Milwaukee head coach Shaun Wegner. "To his credit, their bullpen was up early but he was able to hold us in check until the seventh."
 
After the first two Panthers were retired in the seventh, Schmidt and Bickers had back-to-back singles ahead of a double pulled down the right field line off the bat of Marion to score a pair and put Milwaukee up 5-3. Lethert had a knock in the next inning to give MKE a three-run lead, before Roessler hit a leadoff home run in the ninth to give the Panthers their final run.
 
"Offensively, we kept chipping away and eventually broke through with some big swings to find ourselves on the right side of the scoreboard," said Wegner.
 
Mason Weckler and Logan Snow combined to close out the game for the Panthers, with Snow earning the save over the final 1 1/3 innings without allowing a hit and striking out a pair of Penguins.
 
"Weckler and Snow gave us competitive innings to help close out the first game and get us the victory," Wegner added.
 
Game Two
After 13 hits in the opener, Milwaukee had a season-best 15 hits in game two while scoring as many runs in the lopsided affair.
 
The night cap saw the Panthers score first with a bases-loaded walk by Phillips in the top of the first, but Milwaukee was unable to break through despite loading the bases with one out.
 
Schulfer allowed a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second and allowed four more runs over the next two innings as the Penguins took a 5-2 advantage into the sixth.
 
"Schulfer came out dominating and then YSU was able to touch him up a bit with some hard barrels," said Wegner on his starter. "He and Coach [Cory] Bigler were able to make an adjustment, and he got us through five before our bats made some noise."
 
In the top of the sixth, Milwaukee put together its largest inning of the young season with an eight-spot to take a 10-5 lead. Phillips and Hausser singled before Lethert walked to load the bases, John Hadley scored the first run with a single and kept the bases loaded. The biggest hit of the game came from Roessler, who drilled a grand slam to left field and tilted the game in favor of MKE.
 
Bickers walked and Marion singled to keep the line moving and two batters later, Phillips blew the game open and gave the Panthers a five-run advantage at 10-5.
 
"We found early foot traffic but didn't necessarily capitalize like we could have against a power arm that located well," Wegner noted. "I was proud of the guys' fight and intent as we got into the bullpen and created some chaos with all facets."
 
Aric Ehmke came on and allowed a leadoff double that turned into a run on a sacrifice fly but worked his way through the seventh and eighth. Ehmke's three innings were his longest relief outing of the season as he allowed just one run and struck out three.
 
Milwaukee added three more insurance runs in the eighth as Marion was hit by a pitch and Caden Headlee singled to put the first two Panthers on. Phillips hit a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI knock by Hausser and a run-scoring double off the bat of Lethert to put the Panthers ahead 13-6.
 
In the ninth, Bickers reached with a leadoff walk and came around to score on Marion's fourth home run of the season. Aiden Fishnick allowed an inconsequential solo home run to Kyle Fossum in the ninth before closing out the doubleheader sweep for the road team.

"Ehmke and Fishnick pounded the strike zone and allowed us to come away with the Friday sweep," Wegner concluded.
 
Fossum was key for Youngstown's offense all afternoon leading both teams with seven hits including three doubles and the late home run. He had a team-best three RBIs and was tied for the team lead with two runs scored. Jacob Gehring took the loss in the opener allowing five runs over seven innings of work. JJ Tylicki started game two and struck out nine over five innings, while six relievers finished off the night game of the twinbill.
 
Up Next
Milwaukee and Youngstown State will wrap up the three-game series on Saturday afternoon, with the first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. (CT) at Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio.