DAYTON, Ohio – The Milwaukee baseball team erased a 7-1 deficit to upend Horizon League-leading Wright State by a 9-7 score on Friday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium.
 
Charlie Marion had three RBIs to lead the way including a two-run home run for his team-leading 10th of the season. Tyler Bickers had a pair of triples on the day, while Justin Hausser drove in a pair on a double in the Panthers' five-run sixth inning.
 
It was a rare hiccup for Milwaukee starter Gavin Theis, who was touched up for seven runs through his four innings of work. Theis struck out six but allowed three walks and seven hits to compound his outing.
 
"Today was a total team effort and programmatic win," said Milwaukee head coach Shaun Wegner after the game. "Gavin has been nails for us all year, especially in conference play, but he didn't have his best today and gave a bunch of freebies that they were able to score seven through four."
 
After scoring a run in the opening inning on an error, Milwaukee's bats fell silent through the fourth. Marion ignited the offense with a two-run home run in the fifth to pull the Panthers within a 7-3 margin.
 
Logan Schulfer came on and struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth to bring the Panthers back around to the plate. Q Phillips and John Hadley reached ahead of a run-scoring knock by Gabe Roessler. Hausser followed with a two-run double to pull MKE within one at 7-6.
 
After a pitching change, Bickers connected on his second triple of the day to bring Hausser around and level the score. Up next was Marion, who hit a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the game to put Milwaukee ahead by one.


"Offensively, our lineup kept chipping away and you could see our team gain confidence as we turned the lineup over," Wegner said. "Bickers gave us two triples which was impressive as well." The two triples in one game tied the program mark and was the first for a Panther in a single game since the 2020 season.
 
After Schulfer shut down the Raiders in the bottom half of the sixth, Riley Peterson did the same in the seventh for the Panthers. Milwaukee added another insurance run in the eighth on an error, while Peterson got the first two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
 
"Credit to our bullpen, five innings of scoreless relief from Schulfer, Peterson, and Logan Snow against an offense like theirs is a tremendous feat," added Wegner. "Seven strikeouts and no walks by that group was really a difference maker."
 
Snow had entered, as did the rain in southwest Ohio forcing a rain delay. After the break, Snow struck out the first batter he faced in the eighth before retiring Wright State in order in the ninth to lock down his fourth save of the season and seal the win for Schulfer.
 
JP Peltier led the Wright State offense with a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, while three Raiders each had two hits apiece on the day. Griffin Paige got the start and allowed the first Panther run but nothing further over his 3 2/3 innings. Mychal Grogan allowed six runs, while Warren Hartzell was saddled with the loss allowing the final two Milwaukee runs.
 
Milwaukee and Wright State will lock up in game two of the weekend set on Saturday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. (CT).