MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Following a series win over Illinois State last weekend, the Milwaukee baseball team returns to Horizon League action as the Panthers welcome UIC to Franklin Field.
 
Game one of the four-game series is scheduled for 4:00 pm on Friday, April 23. The Flames and Panthers will meet for a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 12:00 pm and wrap up the series on Sunday at noon.
 
The final three games of the series will be on ESPN3 with Scott Warras provided play-by-play. Live stats will be available for all four games with links 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.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Led by an impressive pitching display, UIC just wrapped up a four-game sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne to improve to 13-10 in Horizon League action. The Flames finished the weekend with a 1.59 earned run average, allowing just six earned against the Mastodons.
 
Jacob Key is the anchor of the UIC staff, ranking top three in the Horizon League in ERA (3rd, 2.47), opposing batting average (2nd, .176), innings pitched (2nd, 54.2), and wins (t-2nd, 4).
 
Offensively, the Flames are solid with five regular starters hitting at least .300. Bryan Rosario leads the group and ranks fourth in the league with a .364 batting average while Thomas Smart leads the league with a .508 on base percentage. Matt Bottcher provides the power with a .618 slugging percentage, seven doubles, two triples, and four home runs.
 
SERIES HISTORY
UIC and Milwaukee have had storied matchup since 1992, meeting 150 times. The Flames have held the recent edge, winning 17 of 21 matchups since 2017.
 
The Panthers 63 victories over the Flames are the second most wins against Division I opponents in program history.
 
Earlier this season, UIC and Milwaukee split the series at Curtis Granderson Stadium in Illinois with the Panthers winning the final two against the Flames. Jack Mahoney threw 7.2 shutout innings to lead MKE in game three of the series.
 
WRAPPING UP THE WEEKEND
The Milwaukee pitching staff put together a solid performance last weekend, allowing just six runs in the first three games as the Panthers took three of four.
 
Riley Frey won the pitcher's duel on Friday, matching a season-high with eight strikeouts across 6.0 innings pitched. Mike Edwards and Jack Mahoney also had solid outings for the Panthers.
 
Offensively, Milwaukee struggled to get anything going at the plate as the Panthers hit just .204 in the four games. Mitchell Buban upped his season average after hitting .417 (5-for-12) but no one else hit above .300.
 
BANKING ON THE BULLPEN
Milwaukee currently ranks second in the Horizon League with a 4.76 team ERA and a large part of that is due to the impressive numbers out of the bullpen.
 
Over the last eight games, the Panthers 'pen has a 2.67 ERA with a 2-0 record, four saves, and 33 strikeouts. This year, the Panthers have totaled 10 saves which leads the Horizon League.
 
SHUTTING THE DOOR
AJ Blubaugh picked up two more saves in the Illinois State series and is now tied for the Horizon League lead with six this season. That number also ranks him 16th in NCAA Division I.
 
The freshman has now gone four straight appearances without giving up a run. Blubugh has allowed just two hits while walking one and striking out nine across 5.1 innings during that span.
 
This season, Blubaugh owns a 1.26 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitched.
 
He has already broken the Milwaukee freshman saves record which was held by Jake Sommers (2) and Josh Justman (1995) with two each. The program record for saves in a season is 15 which was set in 2002 by Matt Freisleben.
 
NO SMALL FREY
Freshman Riley Frey logged his third straight outing of at least 5.0 innings pitched and two earned runs allowed or less.
 
Against Illinois State, Frey earned his second win of the year as he matched a season-high eight strikeouts, allowing just one run in 6.0 innings.
 
Frey currently ranks fourth in the Horizon League in earned run average (2.70), eighth in opposing batting average (.238), eighth in innings pitched (43.1), and ninth in strikeouts (43).
 
The freshman has 43 strikeouts with just 17 walks in 43.1 innings pitched.
 
Frey's 43 strikeouts currently rank third among Milwaukee freshman all-time while his 2.5 strikeout to walk ratio ranks fourth.
 
FINDING HIS GROOVE
Mitchell Buban finished the weekend 5-for-12 and has now reached safely in eight straight games dating back to April 9. The junior is piecing together a career-year with highs in batting average (.306), on-base percentage (.409), and slugging percentage (.378).
 
Buban has reached by HBP eight times, tied for the league lead. He also has seven stolen bases, tied for seventh in the Horizon League.
 
MAHONEY MOWIN' EM DOWN
Jack Mahoney added six more strikeouts to his total this season and now has 50 this year. The junior is tied for fifth in the Horizon League with the 50 Ks.
 
Mahoney is averaging 12.05 strikeouts per nine innings which puts him fourth in the league and 69th in the nation.
 
For his career, Mahoney has 122 strikeouts in 105 innings pitched, a strikeout per nine inning ratio of 10.5 which would ranks first all-time in Panthers' history. Jason Crawford (1999-2001) currently holds the Milwaukee record at 10.30 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
 
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.
 
WALKOFF WONDER
Kraus' walkoff grand slam on April 11 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.
 
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 14-for-22 against Kraus.  
 
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.
 
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
Milwaukee wraps up its 16-game homestand with a four-game series against Oakland on April 30 to May 2. The Panthers then hit the road for two of their final three series of the regular season. Live coverage links for all games can be found on MKEPanthers.com.