EVANSTON, Ill. – Charlie Marion homered twice and drove in five runs, but the Milwaukee baseball team fell to host Northwestern, 10-8, on Tuesday afternoon.
The five RBIs and four hits were both Division I career highs for Marion, who also added a run-scoring double between his round trippers as well as a double late in the game.
Milwaukee trailed 10-4 after six innings and made a push in the seventh inning with a four-run inning, however, the comeback attempt fell short.
"Our offense showed fight and resilience, but we ultimately had too large of a deficit to overcome," said head coach
Shaun Wegner. "Charlie had a breakout performance kind of day, and we just couldn't quite get back to even."
Hits were even at 12 apiece, but a pair of Milwaukee errors proved costly, as the Panther pitching staff was charged with two unearned runs, the difference in the game.
"Defensively once again we kind of shot ourselves in the foot and allowed for extra opportunities, which resulted in crooked numbers," added Wegner.
Sotaro Ishida threw a Division I career-high 4 2/3 innings with two strikeotus.
Tristan Arnold finished the game with 2 1/3 scoreless frames, striking out one.
The top four batters in the Wildcat lineup proved dangerous, accounting for 10 of the team's 12 hits, including a team-high three apiece from Owen McElfatrick and Noah Ruiz. Nick Barron had one hit but drove in three runs for Northwestern.
McElfatrick got the scoring started with a solo home run in the bottom of the first in support of starter Sam Hliboki.
In the top of the third, Milwaukee answered as
Grant Ross reached on a two-out single ahead of Marion's first home run of the game.
Northwestern regained the lead with a two-spot in the bottom half on a pair of sacrifice flies.
Milwaukee drew even as
Tate Schmidt singled on the first pitch he before Marion chased him home with an RBI double. The Wildcats responded immediately with two runs in the bottom half to take a 5-3 lead.
Bradyn Horn homered in the top of the sixth to pull Milwaukee within one once again, however, the Wildcats hit three home runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 10-4.
The Panthers showed resilience in the seventh as Ross singled ahead of Marion's second home run.
Dylan O'Connell walked and scored from first on a
Dominic Kibler double. Horn added an RBI single to right, scoring Kibler to bring Milwaukee within two, but Northwestern reliever Tommy Bridges ended the rally, en route to the win.
Marion tried to spark another comeback in the eighth with his fourth extra-base hit of the game, a two-out double, but was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on O'Connell's single.
Arnold worked around trouble in the eighth with the help of a double play, stranding two runners. Milwaukee was unable to generate offense in the ninth as Garrett Shearer set the Panthers down in order.
"I really thought Arnold did a great job on the mound today," Wegner said. "Hopefully we can see that confidence continue to grow."
Ross, Horn, and Schmidt all had multi-hit games for the Panthers in addition to Marion's four extra-base hits.
Milwaukee returns to the road Wednesday, taking on Notre Dame for the first time since the 2008 season. First pitch at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, is slated for 5:30 p.m. (CT).
