Milwaukee Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – The Milwaukee baseball team scored the first 10 runs of the game, stunning the No. 4 overall seed Auburn Tigers in the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, 13-8, on Friday afternoon.
 
The team made history, becoming the first No. 4 seed in an NCAA Regional to score at least 10 runs against a No. 1 seed since regional seeding began.
 
The Panthers connected on 16 hits, their third-most this season, including 12 over the first four innings as Milwaukee built up its early advantage.
 
"This was a really good program win," said head coach Shaun Wegner. "I'm proud of our guys. We came out on the attack. We knew we had to jump out early and get some swings off, and Bradyn Horn and Charlie Marion got those big swings."
 
Horn and Marion paced the offense as each connected on a three-run home run. Marion finished the game with four RBIs, while Grant Ross, John Hadley VI, and Joey Spence all registered three hits apiece. All nine players in the Panthers' lineup scored at least one run.
 
"Gavin Theis was able to put up a couple of zeros for us to start and keep the momentum in our dugout," said Wegner. "Once we had that done, Riley Peterson had a heck of a performance to keep it close, and our offense just stayed on it.
 
Milwaukee needed just two pitchers to get through the Tiger lineup, with Theis allowing three runs over four innings while Peterson surrendered five runs over the last five innings. Theis struck out a pair, and Peterson recorded four strikeouts.
 
Milwaukee jumped out early with four runs in the first inning against Auburn ace Jake Marciano. Dominic Kibler singled to open the scoring as Marion came around to score, followed by a three-run home run over the 37-foot wall off the bat of Horn.
 
Spence doubled to lead off the second before Christian Holmes doubled off the wall in left center to increase the lead to five. After Ross singled on a bunt to put runners, Marion hit a ground ball that scored Holmes.
 
Theis retired the first six batters he faced but allowed a pair of baserunners in the third before escaping the jam to keep the Tigers off the board.
 
In the fourth, Connor Bozak and Spence reached base and were sacrificed into scoring position. Marion attacked the first pitch he saw and connected on his team-leading 13th home run to make it 10-0 in favor of the Panthers.
 
Auburn got back within three with a home run in the bottom of the inning before Milwaukee responded with a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by Spence. The Tigers scored two more runs in the fifth and trimmed the Panthers' lead to 11-5.
 
After the Panthers went down in order in the sixth, a 36-minute weather delay halted the game before the bottom of the inning. The pause did not affect Peterson, who retired Auburn in order in the sixth inning.
 
Kibler was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh and later came around to score as Hadley VI connected an opposite-field double. Eric Guevara had a two-run home run in the seventh for Auburn and finished the game with a team-high four RBIs.
 
Milwaukee stranded the bases loaded in the eighth but added an insurance run in the top of the ninth as Marion drew a bases-loaded walk. The Tigers once in the bottom of the ninth before Peterson induced a flyout to end the game.
 
Peterson earned the win for the Panthers, improving to 6-4 on the season. Marciano took the loss for Auburn, falling to 5-6. The Tigers used eight pitchers on the game, with six of the eight throwing at least 19 pitches.

The win was Milwaukee's second NCAA Tournament victory in program history and its first since the 1999 season, when the Panthers defeated Rice, 8-4.
 
With its victory, Milwaukee became the seventh team in NCAA Division I Tournament history to knock off a top-four national seed. The most recent occurrence came in 2017, when Davidson defeated North Carolina.
 
Later Friday, Saint Mary's (Calif.) defeated top-seeded UCLA, 3-2, making it the first time in NCAA Division I history that two top-four seeds lost on the same day.
 
Milwaukee will await its opponent for Saturday's 7:00 p.m. contest, as the game between UCF and NC State was suspended on Friday evening due to lightning in the Auburn area. That game is scheduled to resume at 11:00 a.m. at Plainsman Park. The elimination game between Auburn and the UCF/NC State loser will take place prior to Milwaukee's next contest.