MILWAUKEE, Wis. - This weekend, the Milwaukee baseball team will take a break from Horizon League play as the Panthers welcome Illinois State to Franklin Field for a four-game series. It marks the first non-conference home series longer than two games in program history.
 
Game one is scheduled for 3:00 pm on Friday followed by a noon doubleheader on Saturday. The Panthers and Redbirds will then wrap up on Sunday with a 12:00 pm first pitch.
 
Both of Saturday's contests will feature an ESPN3 broadcast with Scott Warras providing play-by-play. It marks the first time the Panthers have hosted a game on the network. Live stats will be available for all four games with links available on MKEPanthers.com. 
 
Fans can purchase single game tickets online for only $7 on MKEPanthers.com. General admission tickets can be bought in pods of two to four tickets and seating will be physically distanced.
 
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
Illinois State, members of the Missouri Valley Conference, has had the opportunity to play a solid non-conference schedule of 22 games. The Redbirds have played three ranked opponents, facing off against No. 17 Oklahoma State, No. 7 East Carolina State, and No. 25 Indiana State.
 
The team opened MVC play with a 3-1 series win over Southern Illinois before dropping three of four against the Sycamores of Indiana State and currently sit at 12-18 overall.
 
After splitting the title in 2019, Illinois State sits as reigning MVC Champions and was predicted to finish second this season behind Dallas Baptist.
 
A trio of power hitters leads the way for the Redbirds, each with a .340 or better batting average and a slugging percentage of at least .480. Tyson Hays paces Illinois State hitting .389 while Ryan Cermak is hitting .344 with 11 extra-base hits. Jordan Libman has totaled 39 runs, 17 RBI, and 23 runs scored for ISU.
 
On the mound, Colton Johnson has been the ace for the Redbirds, owning a 1.81 earned run average with 48 strikeouts in seven starts. Jordan Lussier has been impressive as well, going 4-1 with 35 strikeouts in seven starts.
 
SERIES HISTORY
It has been a tight all-time series between Milwaukee and Illinois State with the Redbirds holding a slight edge 8-7. The Panthers won the most recent matchup, a 6-3 triumph on March 26, 2019. MKE also picked up four wins over ISU in 2016.  
 
WRAPPING UP THE WEEKEND
The Panthers bounced back from dropping a Friday doubleheader to Youngstown State, earning a pair of comeback victories on Saturday and Sunday.
 
On Saturday, the Panthers pushed across five runs in the seventh inning to pull ahead 7-6 and AJ Blubaugh worked a six-out save, his fourth of the season.
 
Jack Kraus provided the fireworks on Sunday, belting a walkoff grand slam in the 10th inning to send the Panthers to a 12-8 victory.  Kraus finished the series 3-for-6 with a pair of home runs.
 
MAKING HISTORY
-First season of Milwaukee baseball: 1957
-First season in NCAA Division I: 1991
-First season in Horizon League: 2002
-First home non-conference series: 2021?
 
This weekend marks what is believed to be as the first home non-conference series in Milwaukee's program history. The Panthers have hosted plenty of non-conference doubleheaders but no official series until now.
 
KRAUS IN THE KLUTCH
Jack Kraus played an integral part in the Panthers series split with Youngstown State, spending all 35 innings behind the dish and driving in nine runs at the plate. In the four games, Kraus slashed .313/.353/.750 with a double and a pair of home runs.
 
On Saturday, Kraus capped a five-run seventh inning with a two-run single which helped MKE earn a comeback victory after being down 6-2 through six innings. On Sunday, Kraus hit a walkoff grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to help Milwaukee complete another comeback victory.
 
In conference play, Kraus is hitting .333 and ranks sixth in slugging percentage (.632), eighth in on base percentage (.473), and third in RBI (21). The junior has a hit in 13 of the last 14 games.
 
WALKOFF WONDER
Kraus' walkoff grand slam was a rare feat but oddly enough, it is not the first time this year an NCAA Division I game has ended with a slam.
 
Alabama's Owen Diodati belted a walkoff grand slam on March 9 to top South Alabama 11-9 and Southern Mississippi's Reed Trimble emptied the bases to beat Louisiana Lafayette 6-3 in 11 innings on March 14.
 
SHUTTING THE DOOR
AJ Blubaugh has anchored the bullpen this year and this last weekend, picked up a save and win against Youngstown State.
 
In Saturday's victory, Blubaugh picked up a six-out save, striking out three. The following day, the freshman entered in the top of the ninth and struck out the Penguins' leadoff batter with runners on the corners. He then struck out two more in the top of the 10th, pitching a scoreless inning to earn his first collegiate victory.
 
Blubaugh is tied for second in the Horizon League and 50th in Division I with four saves this year and has struck out 16 in 10.1 innings.
 
He has already broken the Milwaukee freshman saves record which was held by Jake Sommers (2) and Josh Justman (1995) with two each.
 
NO SMALL FREY
Despite being credited for the loss on Friday, Riley Frey once again put together a solid start for the Panthers. The freshman tossed his first collegiate complete game and surrendered just two runs while striking out six.
 
In Horizon League action, Frey ranks fourth in earned run average (2.63), seventh in strikeouts (31), and seventh in opposing batting average (.228).
 
This season, Frey has recorded 35 strikeouts in 37.1 innings pitched with just 14 walks.
 
CLOSING OUT STRONG
Thanks to the walkoff grand slam on Sunday, the Panthers moved to 5-0 in Horizon League series finales.  The Panthers topped UIC 5-4, Northern Kentucky 19-2, Purdue Fort Wayne 15-2, Oakland 14-13, and most recently, 12-8 against Youngstown State.
 
In those five games, Milwaukee is hitting .358 with 12 doubles eight home runs, and 12.8 runs per game.
 
DARE YOU TO RUN
Jack Kraus has been a sniper behind the dish with eight runners caught stealing this season which is tied for the Horizon League lead. Opposing runners are just 12-for-20 against Kraus.  
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Marcus Cline has put together a solid freshman campaign, working his way into a starting role. The Fall Creek, Wis. has reached safely in 13 straight games. During that stretch, Cline is hitting .327 with 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, and seven walks. He is also 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.
 
Cline has played in 20 games his freshman campaign and owns a .300 batting average this season.
 
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORE
Luke Seidel continues to pace the way for Milwaukee, leading the Panthers and ranking fifth in the Horizon League with a .360 batting average. The sophomore leads the league with nine doubles and ranks seventh in slugging percentage (.558).
 
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.
 
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.
 
THE BOYS OF (NOT QUITE) SUMMER
The Milwaukee Athletic department announced that it will broadcast select home baseball games this spring on ESPN+ or ESPN3. 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
Milwaukee returns to Horizon League play with a four-game series against UIC beginning on April 23. First pitch from Franklin Field is scheduled for 4:00 pm with live coverage links available on MKEPanthers.com.