MILWAUKEE – Justin Hausser hit an eighth-inning grand slam to cap off a 13-run effort for Milwaukee as the Panthers downed the visiting River Falls Falcons by a 13-5 score on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Hausser finished the day with a career-best five RBIs as he also had a double to go along with his grand slam. Ben Buehring also had a career day with a multi-hit effort, finishing the day with a pair of doubles and three hits overall.
 
The Panthers outhit the visiting Falcons by an 11-5 difference, which included a pair of doubles off the bat of Tristan Ellis. Gabe Roessler and Caden Headlee drove in two runs apiece, as Headlee picked up his second home run of the season.
 
Six pitchers took the hill for the Panthers, including starter Tristan Arnold, returning from injury and striking out two batters over the first inning.
 
Eamonn Mulhern struck out one batter over his two innings of work, while Aiden Fishnick, Tyler Andrews, and Parker Bleck all went 1 2/3 innings each. Logan Dobberstein pitched a hitless ninth to finish the game.
 
"I didn't love the way that we competed on the mound, necessarily," said head coach Shaun Wegner after the game. "I think the score looks a little different from Hausser's grand slam, but we just didn't take advantage of opportunities early in the game, and we allowed River Falls to hang around, so a tip of the cap to them."
 
River Falls led 3-1 after the first 2 1/2 innings before the Panthers put up four in the bottom of the third.
 
Roessler walked and stole second and then stole third as Tate Schmidt walked. Hausser plated the first of the inning with a ground ball out. Headlee then continued with a two-run home run to give MKE its first lead. John Hadley reached on a hit, stole second and came around to score on a pair of balks.
 
After scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth, the Panthers put up another crooked number with three runs in the sixth. Bradyn Horn singled to score Buehring, who had doubled to lead off the inning. Ellis doubled to put a pair in scoring position before Roessler singled to drive in the duo, making it 8-3.
 
"A lot of time in your mid-week games you want to win the game, but you also want to give opportunities and work on development," added Wegner. "It's a huge opportunity for these guys to come out here and do some things, and gain some trust, and try to get in that lineup, so it was nice to see a couple of guys perform well today."
 
Ellis added another RBI in the bottom of the eighth and scored on Hausser's grand slam to finish the offensive effort for the Panthers.
 
"He's doing a better job of staying on the baseball and being true to who he is as a player," Wegner said of Hausser. "I think a lot of times when you get to your senior year you try to do a little bit more than you need to do, you turn into someone you're not and he's coming back around to who he needs to be and is finding success."
 
Three of River Falls' runs scored on wild pitches while Max Stocco and Kole Paulsen had RBIs for the Falcons. Seven pitchers made their way to the hill for UW-RF, which included a hitless two-inning outing from Evan Senobe.
 
Milwaukee heads to Northern Kentucky to kick off a three-game Horizon League series on Friday afternoon set to begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex in Highland Heights, Ky.