The offensive malaise continued for Valpo at Henry Aaron Field on Saturday. For the second straight day, Milwaukee held the Crusaders scoreless as the Panthers claimed the series with a 5-0 win.
Milwaukee did most of its damage in the bottom of the first.
Ryan Solberg drove in the Panthers' first run with an opposite-field single that plated Mike Porcaro. Tyler Hermann extended the home team's lead to 3-0 later in the inning when doubled in two runs. First baseman Pat Wilson kept the hit parade going with a knock to right that brought in Hermann.
Trailing 4-0 after the first, Valpo was unable to muster anything against starter Justin Langley. The left-hander struck out 12 batters over seven innings of work.
Porcaro added to Milwaukee's lead in the fourth when he singled home Tell Taylor.
Spencer Mahoney (La Grange Park, Ill./Lyons Township), Jeff Edwards (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson), Michael Morman (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Catholic), Kyle Schneider (Mishawaka, Ind./Penn), and Jake Hanson (Yorkville, Ill./Aurora Christian) each tallied hits for the Crusaders in the losing effort while Mark Johnson (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) reached base in the 7th via a walk.
Ellis Foreman (Round Rock, Texas/Stony Point) settled in after a rocky first inning to give the Brown and Gold six innings on the hill. The redshirt freshman surrendered ten hits and five runs while striking out one and walking a batter.
Trevor Haas (Mount Prospect, Ill./Hersey) and Jason Condit (Putnam, Ill./Henry-Senachwine [Illinois Central College]) each tossed a scoreless frame in relief of Foreman.
Valpo (14-18, 6-6 Horizon) heads home to begin a ten-game homestand starting on Monday. The Crusaders will face Kalamazoo on Monday before turning around to play Ohio Northern Tuesday. Both contests begin at 3:00 pm CT and will be broadcast on WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso).