DAYTON, Ohio – Milwaukee baseball opened its weekend series at Wright State, falling to the Raiders 8-4 on Friday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium.
 
The Panthers trailed 3-0 through three innings but battled back to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth. Wright State responded with two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to pull away for the win.
 
Milwaukee finished with five hits and six walked but stranded seven runners on base. Wright State tallied nine hits, including two from Patrick Fultz, who also drove in a pair of late insurance runs.
 
"We didn't do enough today to come out on top, and it hurts because we mostly did it to ourselves," said head coach Shaun Wenger. "Defensively, we keep allowing the other team to extend innings on us with crucial errors while it's already tough enough to get 27 outs in a ballgame. We have to find a way to take care of the baseball better."
 
Wright State opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the third against Milwaukee starter Gavin Theis. A single and walk set up a triple by Andrew Duncan, who scored on an error to make it 3-0.
 
Dominic Kibler got Milwaukee on the board in the fourth with a leadoff home run, but the Raiders answered with a run of their own in the bottom half.
 
Milwaukee struck again with two outs in the fifth. Grant Ross singled and scored on a Tate Schmidt double to left center. Dylan O'Connell followed with a sharp-hit ball to third, allowing Schmidt. O'Connell was thrown out attempting to stretch to second.
 
"We had a few moments where guys stepped up offensively and gave us a chance when we got it to 4-4," added Wegner. "O'Connell smoked a groundball that got to the outfield off Patrick Fultz's arm, and Schmidt never throttled down, making sure he scored before they threw O'Connell out at second."
 
In the sixth, Milwaukee's first two batters reached before John Hadley VI delivered a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game.
 
"Hadley had a great at-bat that led to the sacrifice fly to tie it 4-4 and give us a chance," Wegner continued. "Those situations were big in that game."
 
Tyler Andrews relieved Theis in the seventh, retiring the first two before issuing a walk. Camden Kuhnke entered and induced a grounder that was misplayed, followed by a two-run double that put Wright State back in front.
 
"We gave up that lead in the seventh with two quick outs, followed by a two-out walk, which gave them life," Wegner said. "Then we ultimately make the untimely error, and they capitalized with a well-placed ball to capture the lead."
 
The Raiders added two more in the eighth on a two-run single by Fultz.
 
Milwaukee had a baserunner in each of the final three innings but couldn't break through against winning pitcher JJ Thompson or Michael Zielinski. Thompson struck out three over three innings in relief of starter Cam Allen, while Zielinski recorded two strikeouts in the ninth.
 
Theis finished with six innings of work, allowing three earned runs and striking out two, but did not factor into the decision.
 
Milwaukee and Wright State continue the series Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (CT).