FRANKLIN, Wis. – Joey Spence had the game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th inning with the bases loaded, lifting the Milwaukee baseball team to a 6-5 victory over Northern Kentucky to open the weekend series.
 
Dylan O'Connell walked to begin the bottom of the inning and stole his program record-setting fifth stolen base of the game to move into scoring position. John Hadley VI was hit by a pitch, and after a bunt advanced both runners, Charlie Marion was intentionally walked to load the bases.
 
After falling behind 3-0 in the count, Northern Kentucky reliever Jared Teke battled back to run it full. With the outfield drawn in, Spence lined a single over the head of centerfielder Mark Nowak to secure Milwaukee's third win of the season over the Norse.
 
"Our guys did their parts in different scenarios today," said head coach Shaun Wegner. "It wasn't the big hits throughout the whole game, when someone came through, it was someone different every time."
 
Milwaukee built an early lead in the game against starting pitcher Tannis Lange. Dominic Kibler delivered a two-run single in the first inning, and Grant Ross doubled to lead off the third. The Panthers took advantage of an error, and a groundout by O'Connell pushed the lead to 4-0.
 
Gavin Theis held the Norse scoreless through the first six innings, aided by three double plays. However, he ran into trouble in the seventh with two runners on and one out before being lifted.
 
"Gavin gave us a chance and kept us in that ballgame," Wegner said. "Ultimately, we weren't able to finish the job in the first nine innings, which is something that we need to be better at, but I was proud of us hanging in there."
 
Northern Kentucky scored twice in the seventh, but Milwaukee answered in the bottom half. O'Connell singled and swiped his fourth base of the game and later scored on an opposite-field single by Bradyn Horn to make it 5-2.
 
The Norse added a run in the eighth, and after Camden Kuhnke escaped a bases-loaded jam in that inning, Northern Kentucky tied the game in the ninth with a wild pitch and an RBI double by Josh Williams.
 
Cullen Riel entered in the 10th and worked out of a bases-loaded situation by inducing Milwaukee's fourth double play of the game to keep the score even.
 
"We really try to just preach the importance of taking care of the baseball," Wegner added. "If you don't give extra outs and if you don't give free passes, you'll get rewarded. Double plays are huge because you get two-for-one and get out of those big innings."

After Milwaukee stranded a runner in the 10th, Sotaro Ishida set the Norse down in order to set up the walk-off.
 
O'Connell again walked and stole his record-setting fifth base, followed by Hadley VI reaching and a Horn sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. Marion was intentionally walked, and Spence delivered the decisive hit to draw Milwaukee even with Northern Kentucky in the league standings at 6-7.
 
"Dylan is almost a cheat code at times, he's just fast," said Wegner. "A lot of times he's faster than the math equation on the other side. It's a blessing to have him out there because he puts pressure on the defense and can even help us get better pitches to hit by distracting pitchers."
 
Ishida earned his third win of the season. Theis went the first 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs while striking out two. Lucas Watson and Kuhnke each pitched 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout, and Riel added one strikeout in the 10th.
 
Lange went four innings for NKU, followed by another four innings of one-run ball from Elijah Green. Gabe Stout pitched two scoreless innings, while Teke took the loss, falling to 2-1.
 
Marcus Harrison led Northern Kentucky with four hits, while Alex Brazer added three hits and drove in two runs.
 
O'Connell, Kibler, and Spence all had multi-hit games for Milwaukee, which was outhit 13-11. Both teams drew seven walks, with Milwaukee leaving 12 runners on base and Northern Kentucky stranding 13.
 
The two teams continue the series on Friday afternoon, with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. at Franklin Field.