The Milwaukee baseball team begins the 2019 season this weekend, traveling to Kissimmee, Florida, to participate in the D9 Sunshine State Classic. The Panthers will play one game each day Friday through Sunday, with the season opener scheduled Friday against Marshall, set for a first pitch of 5:30 p.m. CST.

The D9 Sunshine State Classic is held annually at Osceola Heritage Park (home of the Florida Fire Frogs, the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) and draws teams from all over the country to open the new campaign. Parents or fans interested in more information can find all they need at www.d9events.com.

Milwaukee will play three games in the event against three different teams. In addition to the opener against the Thundering Herd, the Panthers will play Villanova Saturday at 2 p.m. CST. The three-game visit will wrap up with a contest against Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon, beginning at 12:30 p.m. CST. Live statistics will only available for the game against Pitt.

The 2019 campaign marks the 55th season of baseball at MKE. It is also the 49th season of varsity play (the program was played at the club level from 1982-1986) and the 29th 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 just 5-23 in such contests at the Division I level, but did post an impressive 10-0 victory over Maine to open the slate in 2015. Friday will mark Scott Doffek's 13th opener as head coach. A year ago, the Panthers dropped an 11-7 decision to Ohio State in game one.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS
Marshall went 19-32 overall last season, which included a 7-23 ledger in Conference USA action. Catcher Reynaldo Pastrana was named to Conference USA's preseason all-league team as well as to the NCBWA All-Preseason Third-Team. Pastrana was the All-C-USA first-team catcher and a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award last season after he led the Thundering Herd in batting average (.355), home runs (13), hits (71), and RBI (50). He was also a Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalist.

Third-year head coach Kevin Mulvey leads Villanova into 2019 after posting a 9-39 record a season ago (1-17 in league play). It returns 21 players from the 2018 season, including its primary starting infield. First baseman Ryan Toohers earned a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, while the Wildcats were picked to finish seventh. Toohers was a first team All-BIG EAST selection as a sophomore, batting a team-best .298 and leading the Wildcats in eight different offensive categories.

Mike Bell is entering his first season as head coach at Pitt after a seven-year stint as the associate head coach at ACC powerhouse Florida State. Pittsburgh went 29-26 overall a year ago, which included an 11-19 mark in league play. Reliever Chase Smith was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List.

SERIES HISTORY
Each game in Florida will be a first-time meeting with all three opponents.

HOW MANY?!?
Milwaukee played 34 games in a row on the road to open the 2018 season (prior to its home opener April 26), becoming the final NCAA Division I team to accomplish the "feat" (North Dakota State was also in the running for the title, but did play April 25). Needless to say, it was a rough spring and all bets were off, as the 2018 campaign officially went down as the "toughest" in regards to both the total amount of road games played prior and the latest date for a home opener in program history.

2018: 34 regular-season games on road prior to first home game
2016: 31
2008: 30
2017: 29
2013: 29
2001: 26

2018: April 26 marked latest home opener
2013: April 24
2016: April 20
2008: April 15
2017: April 13

The trek in 2019 is scheduled for "just" 22 games. The Panthers will, however, still travel almost 13,000 miles over the course of the first six-plus weeks of this season via plane or bus, visiting seven different states (Florida, Mississippi, Arizona, Utah, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky) before playing their scheduled home opener April 29 against UIC.

KEEP 'EM COMING
Scott Doffek joined some rare company in 2017 when the Panthers topped Youngstown State in late April, giving Doffek career victory No. 300 as the Milwaukee head coach. He is just the second coach in program history - dating all the way back to 1957 - to reach that level. The only coach ahead of him? Jerry Augustine, who holds the record of 347 wins in his time at Milwaukee from 1995-2006 (347-297-1 /.539). Doffek enters the 2019 season at 335 victories.

1. Augustine (1996-2006): 347
2. Doffek (2007-present): 335
3. Jim Burian (1982-1990): 143
4. Bill Ritter (1957-1970): 122

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. Baseball America picks the Panthers for third place and lists Trevor Schwecke as the No. 4 entry on BA's "Top Prospect List" in the conference.

The Perfect Game website also lists Milwaukee No. 3, and it's Schwecke again as a member of their Preseason All-Conference Team, where he is described by the site as a "good overall athlete with speed". He is joined on the squad by Tyler Bordner ("offensive-minded catcher with pop") and Jared Raklaitis ("FB/SL 1-2 punch leads to K's").

PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was picked to finish third in the 2019 Horizon League preseason baseball poll, just two points out of the runner-up spot.

The 2018 regular season and tournament champions Wright State gained the most votes and all six first-place votes for the top spot with 36 total points. 2017's tournament and regular season champion UIC was tabbed second, followed by Milwaukee, Youngstown State, Oakland and Northern Kentucky.
 
2019 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll
1. Wright State (6 first-place votes) 36
2. UIC 28
3. Milwaukee 26
4. Youngstown State 15
5. Oakland 12
6. Northern Kentucky 9

ROCKET RYBACKI
Devin Rybacki enjoyed a breakthrough season a year ago after returning from injury in mid-March, ending the campaign with a team-best .336 average to earn Horizon League Second-Team All-League honors. He hit safely in 26 of the final 31 games of the season, raising his average over 200 points while batting .373 (44-for-118) in the stretch. He ended the year fifth in conference in batting average, while also hitting at a .384 clip in Horizon League play. He also added his first MKE home run against Northern Kentucky May 4.

IT'S SPELLED RE"KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK"LAITIS
Jared Reklaitis made his first start of the 2018 season a memorable one, allowing just one hit and no runs in 5.0 innings against Sacramento State March 4. Although he had to work around six walks, he also recorded a then career-high eight strikeouts, including the fourth inning where he struck out the side following a leadoff triple. He was just getting started.

Just after earning a spot in the weekend rotation, Reklaitis picked up victories in back-to-back starts against YSU March 18 (8 K's) and Wright State March 25 (season-high 7.0 IP) before tallying a career-best 10 strikeouts against Oakland March 31. It marked the first 10+ K game for a Panther last season and just the 33rd in program history. He claimed his third win of the season at Northern Kentucky April 8.

He closed the season with the biggest gem of them all, earning a spot on the Horizon League All-Tournament Team and a spot on Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week for his performance against Youngstown State during the Horizon League Tournament May 24. Reklaitis tied the school record and set a tournament record when he struck out 15 batters in a complete-game effort with his team facing elimination, allowing one unearned run

FOR KREI-YING OUT LOUD
Newcomer Colin Kreiter put together an impressive MKE debut season a year ago, finishing second on the team in batting (.320) while knocking in 31 runs. He put together the longest hitting streak of any Panther last season (11 games from March 4-23 where he raised his average from .263 to .313). He also had a 10-game hitting streak come to an end May 17 that saw him bat a sizzling .441 (15-for-34) that took him up to seventh in the Horizon League in batting. He also ranked second in HBP, fifth in triples, seventh in hits and 10th in doubles in the conference.

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS
Colin Kreiter had quite the day against Oakland May 18 last season. More specifically, he had quite the inning. In finishing 4-for-5 with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored, Kreiter accomplished something NEVER done before in school history. In the 11-run seventh inning, Kreiter became the first player to hit two home runs in the SAME inning in school history, recording the 60th multi-home run game all-time in the process. His 5 RBI in one inning were just one off the school record as well. Jesse Hart had 6 RBI in that 9th-inning outburst against Wright State in 2008, driving in two with a double before piling it on with a grand slam.

JUNIOR JAM
A pair of infielders put together solid sophomore seasons a year ago and look to make another jump this season. Trevor Schwecke repeated as a Second-Team All-Horizon League honoree after a spectacular campaign in which he reset career highs in every category. Schwecke batted .318 on the year as one of just two Panthers to start all 54 games, leading the team with 39 runs batted in (8th in Horizon League), 217 at bats (4th), 69 hits (4th), 43 runs scored (6th) and 19 stolen bases (4th). His batting average was eighth-best in the Horizon League and included a .343 clip with runners in scoring position.

Classmate Mike Ferri played his way into being a regular starter in 2018 and also topped most marks from his freshman season. At the end of the day, he set collegiate-bests in hits with 50 (was 20), doubles with 11 (3), runs with 19 (10), home runs with 3 (0), RBI with 15 (10) and stolen bases with 8 (4). His .299 average finished fourth on the team, which included a .319 clip in Horizon League play.

FAB FROSH
The Panthers got contributions from numerous freshman a season ago, with Zach Nogalski and Patrick Tomfohrde topping the list with Horizon League All-Freshman Team accolades. Nogalski earned his spot after batting .333 in 29 games (15 starts), hitting .352 off RHP. He recorded 21 hits and drove in 11 runs, while scoring 16 more and added a .400 OBP.

Tomfohrde posted a 3.13 ERA in a team-high 21 appearances out of the bullpen, going 2-2 overall, striking out 29 batters in 31.2 innings of work. He tied for 11th in conference with game total, posted a 2.70 ERA in Horizon League action and put his name in the freshmen record book: his ERA the fifth-best and appearance total third.

Mitchell Buban also quickly worked his way into the starting lineup as a freshman, finishing with 43 starts among his 46 games played. He batted .262 overall, recording 39 hits, scoring 26 runs and adding 11 RBI.

SOME WOULD CALL IT EPIC
The Panthers accomplished two impressive feats in their come-from-behind, 15-9 victory over Oakland May 18. First off, let's talk comeback. The team fell behind 5-0 before they even had the chance to bat and the deficit moved to 6-0 in the top of the second inning. Winning the contest gave Scott Doffek's team it's second-largest comeback under his watch.

TOP COMEBACKS IN SCOTT DOFFEK ERA
1. Trailed Chicago State, 10-1, fourth inning. Won 15-11 (4/15/15)
2. Trailed Oakland, 6-0, second inning, Won 15-9 (5/19/18)
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)

Now let's talk offense. Milwaukee sent 15 batters to the plate in a fun-filled 11-run seventh inning, recording five hits while walking three times and getting hit by a pitch four times. In fact, the team put up five consecutive runs at one point with the bases loaded without swinging the bat when they went walk/HBP/HBP/HBP/walk. Trevor Schwecke had a pair of doubles in the frame with the highlight being the power display from Colin Kreiter.

The 11 runs marked the first inning of 10-or-more since plating 10 against Edgewood in a 23-2 win April 28, 2015. The last time MKE got to 11? That was the ninth inning against Wright State in a 20-3 Horizon League Tournament victory over Wright State May 22, 2008. The school record for those wondering? That would be the 14 runs in the fifth against WSU on April 15, 2000 (a 17-2 win).

LEAGUE PREMIERES
Milwaukee is now 14-11 all-time in affiliated conference openers since becoming an NCAA Division I team. Head coach Scott Doffek has posted a 7-5 ledger in his 12 openers, including a 12-4 victory over Youngstown State March 17 of last season.
 
IF THEY BUILD IT ...
After more than two decades calling Henry Aaron Field home, the Milwaukee baseball program is moving to a new stadium at some point during the 2019 season (final date is TBA at this time due to construction being finished). Milwaukee baseball head coach Scott Doffek and Milwaukee Athletic Director Amanda Braun were part of the press conference unveiling the "Ballpark Commons" project at City Hall in Franklin last yeaer, highlighted by the 4,000-seat stadium.

Doffek and Braun were present to announce the department's partnership with ROC Ventures, one in which the Milwaukee baseball team will play all of its home games at the new stadium. Ground has been broken and the new facility is scheduled to be ready during the 2019 campaign. The Panthers have spent the past 25 seasons with Henry Aaron Field as their home park, putting together an impressive 275-116 (.703) winning percentage in home games in that span. The ballpark in Franklin will also host a new professional baseball team, one set to join the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.

IT'S MILLER TIME
Through a marketing agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Panthers have played at Miller Park every season since 2002. The team has now posted a record of 17-11 in games at the major league park, following a 4-3, 10-inning defeat by Wright State in 2018. Milwaukee welcomes Oakland for the event this season, set for May 11.

ON TAP
A trip to Mississippi is next, with the Panthers set to take on Jackson State in four games over three days.