Following a strong start to Horizon League play that has the Milwaukee baseball team at 4-2 and tied for first place - and with cooperation from Mother Nature - the Panthers will look to get the home season underway this weekend when they host UIC at Henry Aaron Field.

Up first is a midweek game at Illinois State, which will also serve as head coach Scott Doffek's first attempt to break the all-time wins record, now that he sits tied atop the list with Jerry Augustine (1995-2006) at 347 victories in his MKE career.

All four games this week will feature live stats. In addition, Tuesday's tilt against the Redbirds will feature an audio broadcast (103.3 FM WZND) as well as a live ESPN+ stream for those who have subscriptions. First pitch at ISU is set for 5 p.m.

Home games on the weekend will get underway at 3 p.m. Friday, followed by 1 p.m. starts for contests Saturday and Sunday.

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.

ON THE DOORSTEP
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 who was 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 entered the 2019 season at 335 victories and starts the week tied for the top spot.

T1. Augustine (1996-2006): 347
T1. Doffek (2007-present): 347
3. Jim Burian (1982-1990): 143
4. Bill Ritter (1957-1970): 122

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS
Illinois State is 13-9 this season and coming off a 22-30 (9-12 MVC) record a year ago. The Redbirds, led by first-year head coach Steve Holm, were picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. Illinois State welcomed back seven position starters and also returned a very experienced pitching staff - the Redbirds return 49 of 52 starts as well as pitchers who threw 378.2 out of 451 innings in 2018. John Rave was voted to the preseason All-MVC baseball squad. Rave hit .347 with 48 runs scored, 19 doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 49 RBIs a year ago, earning second-team All-MVC honors. Rave is hitting .326 this spring, one of an impressive seven players at .300 or better, with the team hitting .294 overall. Ryan Hutchinson paces the squad at .405.

UIC finished second in the Horizon League preseason poll after winning 30 games (30-18 overall) and posting a record of 18-6 in Horizon League play in 2018. The Flames return several familiar names to the lineup, including the team's top two run producers from 2018 in Dominic Smith and Scott Ota. The Flames are 7-11 so far this spring, also sitting in the current three-way tie for first place in the Horizon League standings at 4-2. Matt Bottcher leads the offense with a .315 average, recording 23 hits. Ota has scored 12 runs and is batting .292, while Joshua Figeroa leads the way with 10 runs batted in. The always-strong pitching staff leads the conference with a 3.23 earned run average.

SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers are 6-8 all-time against Illinois State, with six of the 14 games having been played since the start of the 2016 campaign when Milwaukee swept a four-game set at ISU. The Redbirds have claimed victories in the single games played each of the past two years, winning 8-7 in 2017 and 5-3 in 2018.

The Panthers hold an all-time mark of 60-79 against the Flames. The series has gone back-and-forth over the years, but the Flames have owned it of late, claiming wins in 12 of the past 14 meetings - including all five played in 2018 (two in the postseason).

THE WEEK THAT WAS
Milwaukee played very well, going 4-0 which included a weekend sweep at Northern Kentucky to improve to 4-2 in league play. The team batted an outstanding .344 on the week, led by four players at .444 or better. Tyler Bordner was at the top of the chart at .533 (8-for-15), driving in seven runs with the help of three doubles and a home run. Joe Vyskocil slugged 1.063 and batted .500 (8-for-16), cracking three home runs while driving on five and scoring five more. Matt Quartel (.455/5-for-11) and Trevor Schwecke (.444/8-for-18/8 R/6 RBI) also impressed.

Vyskocil's week was honored by the Horizon League with Batter of the Week honors. It's the second award for the Panthers this season (Mitchell Buban was honored earlier this season).

QUICK ADJUSTMENT
Trevor Schwecke has certainly found his rhythm at the plate. After recording three hits and a .130 average over the first two weekends of 2019, Schwecke appears locked in. Since then, he has batted .422 (19-for-45), driving in an impressive 17 runs in just 11 games. His three RBI at Purdue March 12 helped the Panthers snap the Boilermakers 13-game home winning streak in a 6-1 win.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore Mitchell Buban is off to a great start in 2019, with a 10-game hitting streak already to his credit while also driving in 16 runs to rank sixth in the Horizon League in the category. More impressively, he already eclipsed his season-RBI total from 2018 (of 11) less than 10 games into the new campaign. A year ago, Buban recorded multi-RBI performances three times in 46 games. This season he knocked in two or more in a game (with a career-high of three coming against both Pittsburgh Feb. 17 and Arizona March 2) on five separate occasions through the first nine contests of the spring.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
Milwaukee is currently tops in the Horizon League with its .285 batting average as a team. One look at the individual leaders shows a big chunk of Panthers on the Top 10 list as well. Tyler Border enjoyed his first 4-hit day as a Panther at BYU March 7 and started the week atop the leaderboard with his .397 average and also first with 29 hits. Joe Vyskocil (.356) is third and has a league-best four home runs. Devin Rybacki is fifth (.325) with a 27 hits and team-best 22 runs scored, and recently enjoyed a 14-game hitting streak. Not done there, Trevor Schwecke (.324) is eighth in average and batting .400 in league play.

LEAGUE PREMIERES
Milwaukee is now 15-11 all-time in affiliated conference openers since becoming an NCAA Division I team. Head coach Scott Doffek has posted an 8-5 ledger in his 12 openers, including an 11-10 win at Wright State this season and a 12-4 victory over Youngstown State in 2018.

AN OPENING STATEMENT
The Panthers made the trip to the D9 Sunshine State Classic an impressive one, topping Marshall, Big East foe Villanova and ACC opponent Pittsburgh. It marked just the second 3-0 start in program history since becoming an NCAA Division I program in the 1990 season. The other came against Maine (all three games) to open the 2015 campaign, so the Panthers hope it's a good sign - the team won a school-record 39 times that year. The only other time MKE even began 2-0 was in 1995 when the Panthers topped Youngstown State (16-6) and Bowling Green (6-5). Despite dropping the series at Arizona, the 6-3 start through nine games was the best since the same mark in 1995, a year in which the team posted a 7-3 ledger through 10 games (for best start through 10).

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 openers. It is now 6-23 in such contests at the Division I level. The 2019 version marked Scott Doffek's 13th opener as head coach.

HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!
Senior Jake Sommers recorded two saves in the series against Jackson State, but the unique part of it was that they both came on the same day, pitching a final shutdown inning in both the 3-1 and 2-0 victories Feb. 24. That marks a first for an MKE reliever since Craig Meier achieved the feat April 28, 2009 against Northern Illinois. It's also just the second time in the past 15 years it's been done, with Rob Brockel also picking up saves against Youngstown State and UIC in back-to-back games of the Horizon League Tournament back in May of 2005.

WHO NEEDS SPRING WHEN WINTER LOOKS LIKE THIS?
Nick Winter made quite the 2019 debut against Jackson State Feb. 24. The Panthers were resuming a ballgame from the prior day, leading 3-1 in the third inning. Winter took to the mound and responded with six straight outs - needing just 28 pitches to get through the appearance. He put up an impressive four K's - including the side in the fourth - getting two looking and two swinging.

RING 'EM UP
Jared Reklaitis struck out 9 batters in the season opener against Marshall, picking up the win with 7.0 innings of work. The nine K's is the most-ever for a starter in a season opener since MKE began NCAA DI play.

Reklaitis just missed the earliest date for a 10-K outing as well. If he would have rung up one more, he would have set the record by a wide margin - the current earliest date for 10-or-more K's is March 5, when Brian Keller had 10 against Arkansas State in 2016.

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.

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 Reklaitis ("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 REKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKLAITIS
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).

IF THEY BUILD IT ...
After more than two decades calling Henry Aaron Field home, the Milwaukee baseball program is planning to move 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 year, 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 busy week of five games - four on the road - awaits next week. The Panthers will remain at home first, welcoming Lakeland Tuesday. Then it's off to Northern Illinois Wednesday before heading to Oakland for the league series on the weekend. First pitch Tuesday is penciled in for 3 p.m.