Milwaukee Athletics

CHICAGO – Milwaukee's offense recorded 15 hits, including three home runs, as the Panthers doubled up host UIC, 12-6, on Wednesday evening.
 
Charlie Marion, Dominic Kibler, and John Hadley VI all had three-hit games, while Kibler, Hadley VI, and Cade Palkowski each homered in the win. Kibler and Hadley VI led the team with three RBIs apiece, while Palkowski and Dylan O'Connell each drove in two runs.
 
In addition to the offensive outburst, Milwaukee got five innings from Alex Vander Loop, who earned his first career win. Mason Weckler came on for the final four innings, earning the first save of his Panther and second of his collegiate career.
 
"Tonight was a really good non-conference win on the road," said head coach Shaun Wegner. "Our offense really set the tone, and we were able to find contributions up and down the lineup. We saw a couple of big blasts from Hadley, Kibler and Palkowski while also doing a great job of extending innings with freebies to pile up the runs."
 
Milwaukee got on the board right away as Tate Schmidt drove in Marion on a well-struck ball to centerfield. UIC responded with a solo home run off the bat of Ashton Kampa in the bottom of the first.
 
The Panthers put up a crooked number in the second, all with two outs. Connor Harvie walked, Grant Ross reached on an infield single and Marion singled to load the bases. O'Connell followed with a double into the left field corner to score a pair before Kibler sent a double into the gap in right center to put Milwaukee up 5-1.
 
After UIC inched closer with a solo home run in the third, Milwaukee pulled away with three more runs in the fourth. Marion led off the inning with a single, and stole second, Schmidt walked, and Hadley's three-run blast put the Panthers ahead 8-2.
 
The stolen base by Marion in the fourth inning was the 104th of the season by the Panthers, setting a new single-season mark. The previous record had stood since the 2016 season at 103 stolen bases.
 
Kampa homered again in the bottom of the fourth and then hit his third home run of the game in the fifth with a runner on to trim the Panther advantage to three.
 
Milwaukee got another three runs in the sixth as Kibler led off the frame with a single and eventually scored on a squeeze play by Christian Holmes. With a runner on, Palkowski sent a ball over the fence to increase the Panther lead to 11-5.
 
Kibler added another insurance run in the top of the seventh with a solo home run, and UIC scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning to close out the scoring.
 
Weckler stranded a pair in his first inning of work and incduced double plays in both the eighth and ninth innings before getting the final out on a ground ball to Schmidt at second base.
 
"I thought Mason did an outstanding job tonight in his outing, and he really allowed us to save some innings for our bullpen as we head into a big conference weekend with Youngstown," Wegner said. "He was able to find his sink and pitched with good intent. It was a great outing for him to continue to build on."
 
Eight of Milwaukee's nine starters had at least one hit, while Harvie reached base three times via walks and scored a run. The Panthers drew eight walks as a team, marking the eighth time this season they have drawn at least that many.
 
"A couple of the younger guys who haven't seen maybe as much time recently really took advantage of their opportunities," Wegner said. "That's huge for building depth and options as we get closer to the tournament."
 
Kampa led the Flames offensively with his three home runs and four RBIs. Will Flanagan also homered for UIC, while Lucas Smith also had an RBI.
 
The Flames used seven pitchers, with starter Mason Buss taking the loss after allowing the first five Panther runs over two innings. Charlie Taczy was the most effective pitcher for the home team, throwing 1 1/3 hitless innings.
 
Milwaukee returns to Horizon League play for the first time since April 26 as the Panthers will travel to Ohio for a three-game series with Youngstown State. The series begins on Friday at 10:00 a.m. (CT).