DURHAM, N.C. – Milwaukee baseball closed out its four-game series with Duke on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Blue Devils at Jack Coombs Field by a 6-1 score.
 
Duke scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning off Panther starter Riley Peterson and doubled its lead with a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Milwaukee scored an unearned run in the ninth to break the shutout.
 
"Today we saw far different conditions than we played in the previous two days," said head coach Shaun Wegner. "It was a pitchers' day with cooler temps and breezes blowing in towards home."
 
Peterson struck out a career-high seven batters while tying his career-best with four innings pitched. He allowed three runs in the second inning but tossed two hitless frames in the third and fourth.
 
"I really thought Riley threw the ball well," added Wegner. "That's a solid outing to build off heading into next weekend at Evansville."
 
After Riley Golden faced one batter in the fifth, Alex Vander Loop came on and tossed two scoreless frames, scattering three walks and one hit.
 
"Vander Loop then gave us two solid innings of scoreless ball and kept the game close," Wegner said.
 
Milwaukee struggled to get its offense going, with just one baserunner through the first five innings and not collecting a hit until Grant Ross delivered a two-out double in the sixth. The Panthers had another hit in the seventh off the bat of Ryan Lemm but were unable to score.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Devils put two on against Lucas Watson before Tyler Andrews came on to face Bobby Marsh, who deposited the ball over the right field fence to make the score 6-0.
 
Ross led off the ninth with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball with two outs. Charlie Marion reached on a throwing error by Duke, allowing Ross to score and break up the shutout.
 
Andy Leon threw four hitless innings with seven strikeouts, while Jack Hedrick allowed just one unearned run over five innings and struck out five.
 
"Give credit to Leon and Hedrick who really filled up the zone and kept our hitters off balance," concluded Wegner. "We need to do a better job of creating opportunities and pressure if we are going to see our offensive numbers jump. I liked some of the at bats, but there were far too many that ended without any real competitive fight."

With the series at Duke behind them, Milwaukee will continue its 20-game season-opening road trip next weekend at Evansville. First pitch on Friday is set for 3:00 p.m. at Braun Stadium.