MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Riding a five-game winning streak, the Milwaukee baseball team heads to Michigan for a series against Oakland University. Due to a poor weather forecast on Thursday, the two teams will play consecutive doubleheaders on April 2-3. Game one is set for 12:00 pm CT both days with game two to follow shortly after. 
 
Spectators will be allowed grass seating at this weekend's series in Michigan.
 
The first game of the series will be featured on ESPN+ while all four games will have live stats available on MKEPanthers.com.
 
The 2021 campaign marks the 57th season of baseball at MKE. It is also the 51st season of varsity play (the program was played at the club level from 1982-1986) and the 31st in the Panthers NCAA Division I era.
 
LOOKING AT THE OPPONENTS
The Golden Grizzlies have dropped seven in a row to fall to 8-15 overall and 2-10 in Horizon League action. Oakland struggled to get its offense going in Chicago as the Golden Grizzlies were held to two runs in three of the four games at UIC.
 
Tyler Trovinger leads a trio of Oakland batters with a batting average of at least .300 as he is hitting .333 with a team-high four home runs in 22 games this season. Cam Post leads the Golden Grizzlies with 25 hits while Lorenzo Elion is hitting .311 with 12 runs and nine RBI.
 
Brandon Deans has been Oakland's ace on the mound, leading the team and ranking second in the Horizon League with a 2.53 earned run average. The sophomore has 34 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched and is 3-1 in six starts for the Golden Grizzlies.
 
Behind one of the youngest coaches in the country, Jordon Banfield, Oakland was selected to finish sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll, totaling 14 points ahead of Northern Kentucky's 13.
 
The first-year head coach has plenty of experience on his roster with 25 upperclassmen including 11 seniors and two graduate students.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers own a 22-13 all-time record against Oakland after splitting the season series in 2019. Milwaukee dominated the matchups early with 11 wins in the first 14 games against the Golden Grizzlies. In the last 10 matchups, the series is knotted at 5-5.  Milwaukee has dominated Oakland at home, owning a 14-3 record against the Golden Grizzlies. 
 
WRAPPING UP THE WEEKEND
Highlighted by a pair of comeback victories, the Panthers earned a weekend sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne in their new home and have now won five in a row to move to 7-5 in conference play. 
 
Milwaukee got the bats going against the Mastodons, hitting .326 as team with 31 runs scored in the four games. Jack Kraus was on base 13 times, going 5-for-11 at the plate with three walks and five hit by pitches.
 
STACKING WINS
With the sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne, Milwaukee has now won five straight, marking the first five-game winning streak since April of 2019. The Panthers' 7-5 start to the Horizon League season is its best through 12 games of the league schedule since going 8-4 to open the 2013 campaign. That year, finished in first place with a 14-7 mark.
 
CLOSING OUT STRONG
Through three Horizon League series, Milwaukee is 3-0 in the final game of the series. The Panthers beat UIC 5-4, Northern Kentucky 19-2, and Purdue Fort Wayne 14-3.
 
In those three games, the Panthers are hitting .357 with 40 hits and 38 runs scored.
 
KRAUS DOING IT ALL
Not only did Jack Kraus catch 31 of 34 innings against Purdue Fort Wayne this past weekend, but he also found a way on 13 times. Kraus finished with a .455/.684/.727 slash line with five hits, three walks, five hit by pitches, and three RBI. With a hit in each game, Kraus extended his hitting streak to five games.
 
GOOD TO BE BACK
After missing the non-conference schedule, Zach Nogalski returned to the lineup for Horizon League play and has picked up right where he left off in 2020. The junior is hitting a team-best .366 with seven RBI and 11 runs scored in 12 games. Nogalski has a hit in nine of the 12 games he's appeared in.
 
SOLID START FOR SZAJKOVICS
Freshman Dylan Szajkovics recorded his first collegiate start on Saturday and had his best outing of the season thus far. Szakjovics tossed four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five in a 5-2 victory. The Plainfield, Ill. native has not allowed an earned run in the last 6.2 innings pitched.
 
MOWING DOWN THE MASTODONS
The Panthers bullpen was brilliant in the series sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne, helping Milwaukee lock down wins. In those four games as a whole, the MKE bullpen totaled 17.1 innings pitched, scattering seven hits, and just three earned runs with 19 strikeouts.
 
NO SMALL FREY
In just his first season with the Panthers, Riley Frey has already proved he can compete at the Division I level. Frey had another solid outing this past weekend, striking out four across 5.2 innings to keep Milwaukee in the series opener against Purdue Fort Wayne. He has allowed just eight earned runs in a team-high 25.1 innings pitched. Frey ranks sixth in the Horizon League in ERA (2.84), fourth in hits allowed (22), and second in earned runs allowed (8).
 
BACK FOR MORE
A group of core seniors will be back for their final go-around as a Panther following the shutdown of the 2020 season. Joe Vyskocil, Mike Ferri and George Swedie are all back on the diamond to finish up their MKE careers this spring. The program went through an unprecedented stretch last year, playing just 15 games before the season was shut down March 13 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
CLOSING IN ON A GRAND MILESTONE
The Panthers start the season with 982 all-time victories in program history and will join a small list of teams in the department once they cross the 1,000-win plateau. MKE men's basketball was the first and opened the 2020-21 school year with 1,376 wins. Women's volleyball was next and upped its total to 1,092 after a successful fall campaign in 2019.
 
THE TIME HAS FINALLY ARRIVED
The Panthers have waited ... and waited ... and waited to get into their new stadium and will make Franklin Field their home in 2021 and beyond. Following missed opportunities due first to construction delays and then to a global pandemic, the Milwaukee baseball team officially cut the ribbon on March 26 against Purdue Fort Wayne and did not disappoint, sweeping the Mastodons in a four-game series.
 
Franklin Field opened in the summer of 2019, seats 4,000 fans and is also home to the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. It is 330 feet down the lines and 408 to center field.
 
PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was picked to finish fourth in the 2021 Horizon League preseason baseball poll. Wright State picked up all seven first place votes, earning 49 total poll points as the Raiders were picked first. UIC, the 2019 Horizon League Tournament Champion, earned 38 poll points as they were predicted second.
 
Youngstown State (34 poll points) was picked third while the Panthers earned 31 poll points for fourth. Purdue Fort Wayne (17), Oakland (14), and Northern Kentucky (13) rounded out the preseason poll.
 
2021 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll
1. Wright State – 49 (7 first-place votes)
2. UIC – 38
3. Youngstown State – 34
4. Milwaukee – 31
5. Purdue Fort Wayne – 17
6. Oakland – 14
7. Northern Kentucky - 13
 
FAMILIAR NAMES ON AN IMPRESSIVE LIST
The NCAA.com website put out a press release last season at the end of January with a list of "The top 150 hitters in college baseball, according to D1Baseball analytics". The list was compiled using statistical analysis, focused on three major areas: Plate Discipline, Hit Ability, and Game Power. The players were then graded from 1-100.
 
A pair of Panthers appeared on the list, with Jack Thelen leading the way at No. 123 (overall grade of 81.1). He was joined by Joe Vyskocil, who checked in a few spots later at No. 129 (81.0). Milwaukee and Wright State (2 players) were the only Horizon League schools on the list.
 
IT'S MILLER TIME
Through a marketing agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Panthers had played at Miller Park every season since 2002 (their scheduled game in 2020 was missed after the season was cancelled). The team has posted a record of 18-11 in games at the major league park, following a convincing 13-1 victory over Oakland in 2019.
 
THE BOYS OF (NOT QUITE) SUMMER
The Milwaukee Athletic department announced that it will broadcast select home baseball games this spring on ESPN+. Additionally, all 24 of the Panthers home games will feature either live audio or video for the first time. Milwaukee has never had the ability to broadcast baseball games on ESPN+, but with the move to Franklin Field for the 2021 season, that is now possible. Scott Warras will handle all broadcasts for the Panthers.
 
ESPN+, which will host the Horizon League baseball championships, offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content, and original programing not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $5.99 a month (or $59.99 per year) and cancel at any time. Launched in April of 2018, ESPN+ is an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App.
 
ON TAP
After the series in Michigan, Milwaukee returns home to Franklin Field for a stretch of 16 straight home games from April 9 to May 2. The Panthers welcome Youngstown State on April 9-11 and take a break from Horizon League action with Illinois State on April 16-18. UIC and Oakland then visit MKE to close out the homestand.