The Milwaukee baseball team closes February with a trip to Florida for a weekend stop at the Russmatt Baseball 2016 Central Florida Invitational. The Panthers will play four games in the event, starting with a 1:30 p.m. CST matinee Friday against Bethune-Cookman.

Milwaukee will play a second game Friday, taking on Ball State at 5 p.m. CST. Saturday brings another matchup with the same Cardinals, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. CST as well. Both of those contests are scheduled to feature live statistics and live audio courtesy of the Ball State Sports Information Department. Lastly, the Panthers play Kent State Sunday in a 10 a.m. CST first pitch.

The RussMatt Central Florida Invitational hosts over 200 colleges annually in all divisions (NCAA D I, II, III, NAIA and JUCO), more college teams than all other Florida spring break tournaments combined. It features two former Major League spring training stadiums (Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers) plus the addition of four more fields at Lake Myrtle Park.

The 2016 campaign marks the 52nd season of baseball at UWM. It is also the 46th season of varsity play (the program was played at the club level from 1982-1986) and the 26th in the Panthers NCAA Division I era.

As a northern team that cannot practice outdoors before the start of the season, it is no surprise that Milwaukee does not have a great record in season openers. It is now 5-21 in such contests at the Division I level, but did post an impressive 10-0 victory over Maine a season ago.

SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers do not have much history against any of the three opponents they will take the field against this weekend. They have never played Bethune-Cookman or Kent State before and have taken on Ball State just once - a 3-1 loss in the 2014 season.

THE WEEK THAT WAS
Milwaukee headed to Lubbock to open the season against a very good Texas Tech team that was ranked No. 25 in the country by Perfect Game. The Panthers managed to knock off the Red Raiders in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday, claiming a 10-3 victory to mark the second season in a row where the team beat a nationally-ranked opponent. Sophomore Daulton Varsho got off to a hot start, batting .333 with a pair of home runs and four RBI. The victory was the program's sixth against a ranked foe all-time, last topping No. 15 Iowa a year ago.

THE 200 CLUB
In the history of the Milwaukee baseball program, 11 players have now recorded over 200 career hits at the NCAA Division I level. Mike Porcaro and Sam Koenig are the most recent, both joining last season. Not only will Luke Meeteer join the list in 2016, but he has a realistic chance to break the all-time record of 267.

Below is the current list of the "200 Club".
1. Jesse Hart (2005-08): 267 career hits
2. Doug Dekoning (2008-11): 260
3. Cole Kraft (2008-11): 250
4. Darin Haugom (1997-2001): 245
5. Paul Hoenecke (2009-12): 242
6. Sam Koenig (2011-15): 233
7. Ross McCoy (2004-07): 220
8. Mike Porcaro (2012-15): 215
9. Charlie Reschke (2002-05): 213
10. Jonathan Capasso (2010-13): 211
11. Nick Wichser (2004-08): 206
12. Meeteer (2012-16): 197 (started season at 194)

HE GONE
Senior Luke Meeteer entered the 2016 campaign tied with Darin Haugom (1997-2001) for the career stolen base mark with 73. His first swipe this season will establish a new mark.

1. Meeteer - 73
1. Haugom - 73
3. Andy Bjornlie (1994-98) - 49

BASEBALL SEASON ALREADY?
The February 19th opener to the 2016 campaign may sound early, but it does not even rank in the top six anymore following the past few seasons. In fact, five of the top six all-time earliest starts to the season have taken place in the past 10 years.

1. 2006: February 10
2. 2015: February 13
2. 1999: February 13
4. 2014: February 14
5. 2013: February 15
6. 2007: February 16

YES, "THE" MILWAUKEE BREWERS
One look at the 2016 schedule and the opponent on March 2 jumps out immediately. The Panthers will once again be taking on the Milwaukee Brewers in a contest that will open Spring Training competition for the 2016 Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park. The matchup will mark the second straight year that the Panthers have made the trek to Phoenix to take on their Wisconsin MLB counterparts.

Last season's game marked the first time the Brewers had faced a collegiate team in an exhibition game since 1983 when they played Arizona State University. It was also the first time the Brewers had ever played the Panthers in an exhibition. The game was scoreless after three innings when both teams had their starting lineups on the field. UWM's Derek Peake recorded the first hit of the contest in the fourth, with the Brewers eventually earning the 8-0 decision.

PRESEASON NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Various publications and websites came out with their annual college baseball previews and players from the Milwaukee roster have earned a handful of mentions. D1Baseball.com lists seniors Luke Meeteer (No. 2) and Brian Keller (No. 10) as part of its "Top Prospects, 2016 MLB Drafts" chart. Sophomore Daulton Varsho (No. 4) and junior Jay Peters (No. 5) are listed in the 2017 draft chart, while Jake Sommers is one of 10 "Impact Freshmen".

Four players did earn a spot on the 2016 "College Sports Madness" Preseason All-Horizon League squad. Leading the way was Meeteer as a first-team outfielder. Rounding out the list was a trio of players named to the second team in seniors Keller (P) and Nick Unes (IF) as well as junior newcomer Ian Ross (OF).

LET'S HIT THE ROAD...
As usual, the Panthers will be busy waiting for the snow to melt away and Henry Aaron Field to be ready for them to play in Milwaukee. While that happens, they will be playing 22 (21 regular-season contests plus the exhibition against the Milwaukee Brewers) straight road games to open the 2016 slate. That will seem a touch easier compared to other seasons, as the record for longest season-opening road trip was set at 30 games in 2008. However, the past few Wisconsin springs have not been kind. Postponements and cancellations have been the norm most of the past three years, with the Panthers having to play their "home" opener in Chicago in 2014. Also, in 2013, the team ended up playing 29 in a row on the road (losing 12 contests to the weather overall) before finally playing a home game April 24.

The Panthers will travel over 11,400 miles over the course of the first six weeks of this season via plane or bus, visiting seven different states (Texas, Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois and Ohio) before playing their home opener April 1 against Valparaiso. To put that in perspective, that would be equivalent to circling the bases 167,200 times.

PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was picked to finish fourth in the 2016 Horizon League preseason baseball poll. Wright State was the favorite to win the title in balloting by the conference's seven head coaches. The Raiders received all six possible first-place votes and topped the poll with 36 points after claiming the conference's bid to the NCAA Tournament and a 43-17 record a season ago.

UIC, the 2015 regular-season champion, was second with 27 points in what was a three-way mix behind WSU. Valparaiso (25 points) and the Panthers (24) were the other teams ranked 2-3-4. Youngstown State was fifth with 15 points, Northern Kentucky sixth with 13 and Oakland rounded out the poll in seventh place with seven points.

Wright State's Sean Murphy was voted as the Preseason Player of the Year and UIC's Jake Dahlberg was named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in voting of the coaches. For the fourth straight year the league has also announced a preseason all-conference team and the Panthers had senior outfielder Luke Meeteer honored.

2016 Horizon League Preseason Baseball Poll
1. Wright State (6 first-place votes) – 36
2. UIC (1) – 27
3. Valparaiso – 25
4. Milwaukee – 24
5. Youngstown State – 15
6. Northern Kentucky – 13
7. Oakland – 7

FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST
The Panthers had a remarkable season in 2015 and one look at the Horizon League leaders would cement that as fact. In addition to tying the school record with 39 victories, the team led the conference (or was second) in average (.298), slugging (.443), runs (396, 2nd), hits (627), RBI (366, 2nd), doubles (136), triples (25), home runs (40), RBI (366, 2nd), total bases (933), hit-by-pitch (79) and stolen bases (102). The pitching staff led the way (or was second) in opponent batting average (.259), innings pitched (529.0, 2nd), strikeouts (426) and was close in ERA, coming in second at 3.93. Some of those numbers ranked high nationally as well - UWM finished 27th in average, seventh in triples, sixth in doubles and 13th in stolen bases.

SENIOR-ITIS IN 2015
The Panthers will be one of the youngest teams around in 2016, with 21 of the 35 players on the active roster set to make their debuts in a Milwaukee uniform this season. One of the main reasons for that? A top-heavy senior class of 14 members a season ago. This year, the roster will feature 11 freshmen, eight junior-college transfers, one sophomore and one graduate student all in their first season at UWM.

STOP THAT THIEF
Luke Meeteer had a season of thievery in 2015 never before seen in Milwaukee baseball history. The speedy senior had 37 stolen bases, enough to lead the conference by a wide margin (second was 19). He broke the school record of 24 against Northwestern April 21 - which was tied by Ryan Solberg in 2014 and set by Darin Haugom in 2000 and 1999. He finished last year eighth in the NCAA in total steals (leader had 41) and 10th in steals-per-game.

TOUCH 'EM ALL
The Panthers finished with a Horizon League-high 40 home runs as a team in 2015, the most since 39 of them back in the 2010 season. Sam Koenig led the way with 15 dingers, making him the first Panther with 10-or-more since Tim Patzman hit 11 in 2010.

GETTING TO 20
The 23 runs scored by the Panthers against Edgewood April 28 marked the first outing of 20-or-more runs in a game since Milwaukee topped Bradley by a score of 20-2 back on April 21 of the 2010 campaign. The total tied for eighth-best all-time, as the school record is 28. The five home runs the team hit that day were a season-high and the most since banging out five dingers against SIU Edwardsville on March 6, 2010.

COMEBACK KIDS
Early last season, the Panthers overcame a five-run deficit March 14 in claiming a 6-5 victory over Youngstown State, one of the biggest comeback victories of head coach Scott Doffek's tenure. For good measure, they came back again the next day, turning a 6-2 YSU lead in the eighth inning into another victory.

That was nothing compared to what happened at Henry Aaron Field against Chicago State April 15. Trailing 10-1 after the top of the fourth inning, the Panthers scored 13 unanswered runs en route to the amazing 15-11 win.

TOP COMEBACKS SINCE 2007
1. Trailed Chicago State, 10-1, fourth inning. Won 15-11 (4/15/15)
2. Trailed Cleveland State, 6-0, third inning. Won 7-6 (4/11/08)
3. Trailed Youngstown State, 5-0, second inning. Won 6-5 (3/14/15)
4. Trailed Butler, 5-0, second inning. Won 13-5 (5/13/12)

ONE OF A KIND
The Milwaukee baseball team had played 1,277 games in its NCAA Division I history prior to its matchup with UW-Superior April 7 that resulted in the first no-hitter in team history. Then-freshman Alex McIntosh, who did not even know he would be the starter until 20 minutes before first pitch, did the heavy lifting with 7.0 innings of work, striking out 11 while walking just one. Senior Mike Schneider, coming off Tommy John surgery, made his first appearance since the 2013 season to close out the final six outs and preserve history for the day. McIntosh earned Horizon League Pitcher of the Week honors for his efforts, certainly making his first collegiate start a memorable one.

FRESHMEN K K K K K K K KLUB
McIntosh joined a small list with the 11 strikeouts, becoming just the fifth freshman at UWM to post double-figures in K's in a game. Current sophomore Justin Langley is on the list with 12 from 2014. Also on the list is Robert Michalkiewicz (10 in 2004), Rob Erickson (10 in 2000) and Chad Sadowski (10 in 1997).

RARE DEFEAT
The 11-10 defeat suffered by the Panthers against Valparaiso April 2 was a rare one for UWM, in that the team lost for the first time when scoring 10-or-more runs in quite some time. The loss snapped a 42-game stretch (41-0-1) of games where the Panthers scored at least 10 runs and claimed victory. The last time they did not? A 20-12 defeat at the hands of Butler in April of 2010. Ironically, the tie in the streak (11-11 in May of 2011) also came vs. Butler.

GOOD OUT OF THE GATES
The Panthers 10-4 start in 2015 was its best through 14 games in program history. That topped the previous best run of 9-5 by both the 2001 and 1995 squads.

MAKING SOME NOISE
The Panthers hot start did get them noticed nationally, with the team receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll in back-to-back weeks (March 9 and 16). The week of March 16, they were also receiving votes in the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll.

ABOUT THAT 2015 START
The opening of the 2015 season was record-breaking from a couple of viewpoints. First off, it marked the first 3-0 start in program history since becoming an NCAA Division I program in the 1990 season. The only other time UWM even began 2-0 was in 1995 when the Panthers topped Youngstown State (16-6) and Bowling Green (6-5). Secondly, the team opened with at least 10 runs in a season opener for just the second time (also 1995, see above). They topped that by making it three in a row when they plated 12 and 11 runs the next day in a twinbill against the Black Bears. That had never even accomplished twice before.

EARLY WHITEWASH
The 10-0 shutout over Maine came as soon as the schedule allowed. The only other time a UWM team ever matched that was in 2006, when the Panthers blanked Saint Mary's (CA), 2-0, in the season opener. The other time the Milwaukee pitching staff was able to record an early-season shutout was 2013, when the Panthers beat New Mexico State, 11-0, in the second game on the schedule that season.

SOCIAL MEDIA
You can also follow the baseball team on Twitter @MKE_Baseball. In addition, assistant SID Chris Zills will be updating game scores and highlights when in attendance all season long on his Twitter account at @sidzills.

ON TAP
The Panthers remain on the road, heading to Arizona to take on the Milwaukee Brewers next. They travel Monday, practice in Arizona Tuesday and take on the MLB team Wednesday.