The No. 14-ranked UA baseball team broke open the game with five runs in the seventh inning and went on to beat Milwaukee 9-1 on Friday night at Hi Corbett Field.
TJ Nichols (1-0) earned the win, allowing one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out a career-high nine, including the final two hitters in the sixth inning after the Panthers had pulled within 2-1 earlier in the frame.
Garen Caufield had a two-run single in the seventh to put the Wildcats (5-1) up 6-1. He finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Daniel Susac, Noah Turley and Tanner O'Tremba also had two hits in the win, and Susac drove in two runs.
Jack Grant scored on a passed ball in the seventh to make it 3-1, and Chase Davis then walked with the bases loaded to put the Wildcats up three.
Caufield drove in UA's first run with an RBI triple in the second.
The Wildcats have won the first two games of the four-game series by a combined 23-4. The teams meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday, and will wrap up the series at 10 a.m. Sunday.
