MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee baseball team returns to Franklin Field one last time this season as the Panthers host an important Horizon League series against Northern Kentucky.
The four-game set will begin on Friday with first pitch at 5:00 pm. On Saturday, Milwaukee will host UWM Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day with a 1:00 pm doubleheader. For only $7, UWM faculty and staff can receive a game ticket and a Panthers' hat.
Saturday is also Doubleheader Dog Day, giving fans a chance to bring their furry friend to the ballpark.
The series will wrap up on Sunday as Milwaukee recognizes its senior student-athletes with a pregame ceremony. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
All four games will feature a broadcast on ESPN3 with
Scott Warras providing play-by-play. The series will also have live stats as well as an audio-only broadcast. All links for this weekend can be found on
MKEPanthers.com.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
With a 12-19 Horizon League record, Northern Kentucky is fighting for a Horizon League playoff spot. The Norse are just a game and a half back of Milwaukee for the No. 4 seed.
Last weekend, Northern Kentucky split with Oakland but dropped the bookends in its second straight league series loss.
At .249, the Norse rank sixth in the Horizon League in batting average but have scored the third most runs. Redshirt junior Sam Hedges leads the way with a .311 batting average in 30 starts while Griffin Doersching provides the power. The senior leads the league in home runs with 13 and ranks fourth with a .664 slugging percentage.
On the mound, NKU is last in the league with an 8.72 team earned run average. Outside of one tough start against Wright State, Noah Richardson has been solid for the Norse and leads the team with a 3.72 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 38.1 innings.
SERIES HISTORY
Northern Kentucky took three of four from the Panthers earlier this season, but Milwaukee owns a 19-10 overall record against the Norse. Prior to this season, MKE had won eight in a row against NKU. Despite dropping the series earlier this year in mid-March, the Panthers did pound out 16 hits in a 19-2 victory over the Norse in the finale.
WRAPPING UP THE WEEKEND
Milwaukee earned a split of Wright State on Friday thanks to a strong pitching performance. The Panthers took game two 11-6, handing the Raiders just their fourth Horizon League loss and snapping WSU's streak of 23 straight victories at Nischwitz Stadium which was the longest active home streak in the country.
WSU broke out the bats on Saturday and tagged MKE pitching for 44 runs in two games as the Raiders won the series 3-1.
EYES ON THE POSTSEASON
The top four teams in the Horizon League advance to the postseason tournament which begins on Thursday, May 7. Wright State will host the tournament at Nischwitz Stadium.
With eight games remaining, Milwaukee holds the No. 4 seed in the standings, one in a half games ahead of Northern Kentucky. Following a four-game series with the Norse, MKE will head to Youngstown State for four games, the current No. 3 seed.
NKU will battle UIC to wrap up the regular season.
Wright State sits comfortably in the No. 1 spot with a 24-4 Horizon League record while UIC (20-11) and YSU (21-15) battle for the No. 2 seed.
MONEY MAHONEY
Jack Mahoney picked up a win on Friday over Wright State, his fourth of the year, as he allowed just two earned runs across six innings. The junior struck out six and is now tied for fifth in the Horizon League with 70 strikeouts.
After a few shaky outings, Mahoney now has five straight outings with at least 5.0 innings pitched allowing four earned runs or less. He has struck out 35 in those five outings including a career-high 11 against Oakland on May 1.
Mahoney is averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings which ranks fourth in the Horizon League and 85th in NCAA Division I.
For his career, Mahoney has 142 strikeouts in 122.2 innings pitched, a strikeout per nine inning ratio of 10.5 which would be a new program record just ahead of Jason Crawford's (1999-2001) 10.3.
NO RATTLING RILEY
Despite facing the highest-scoring offense in the nation,
Riley Frey continues to be unphased. The freshman took a loss against Wright State but had one of the best outings of his season, allowing just two hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out five in 6.0 innings.
Frey lowered his ERA to 2.60 which ranks fourth in the Horizon League. Additionally, Frey is fourth in the league in innings pitched (62.1) and 11th in strikeouts (57).
He also extended his streak to six straight outings with at least 5.0 innings pitched and two earned runs or less. The lefty has only allowed more than two earned runs on one occasion, a 6-3 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 26.
Frey currently ranks fourth in the Horizon League in earned run average (2.72), fifth in innings pitched (62.1), and ninth in strikeouts (52). He is the only true freshman starter with an ERA better than 6.50.
His 57 strikeouts already set a new Milwaukee record, topping Mike Schneider's mark of 47 from 2011. Frey also ranks third all-time among Panthers' freshmen in innings pitched (62.1), fourth in ERA (2.60), and fourth in strikeout to walk ratio (2.5).
BACK IN A GROOVE
Joe Vyskocil had another solid weekend at the plate for the Panthers, finishing with a .364 average in four games. Over the last two series, the senior is 10-for-24 (.416) with six RBI and five runs scored. Vyskocil also has four multi-hit games during that stretch.
BLANKING OUT OF THE BULLPEN
Wright State ripped up a majority of the Panthers' pitching staff last weekend, but
AJ Blubaugh continues to prove why he's one of the best relievers in the Horizon League.
The freshman pitched the eighth inning against Wright State on Sunday and struck out a pair.
Blubaugh has pitched 20.1 innings this year and owns an ERA of 1.33 which leads the league for relievers who have pitched more than 10 innings. The freshman has 28 strikeouts and ranks second in the league with six saves.
He has already broken the Milwaukee freshmen 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. Blubaugh is averaging 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings which would be a new Panthers' freshmen record.
SULTAN OF SLAMS
In the Panthers 21-3 win over Oakland, Milwaukee clubbed two grand slams marking what is believed to be the first time MKE has hit multiple grand slams in a game in program history.
Mike Ferri went deep in the first inning to put the Panthers up 4-0 and
Zach Nogalski emptied the bases in the fourth for a 12-1 lead.
Milwaukee now has four grand slams this season, matching what is believed to be a program record from 2006. In addition to Ferri and Nogalski,
Nate DeYoung and
Jack Kraus also have grand slams for the Panthers.
In total, the Panthers have had overall success this season with the bases loaded. Milwaukee is hitting 15-for-37 (.405) when all bases are occupied.
MAGIC NUMBER
Six runs appears to be the number for the Panthers. When Milwaukee scores at least six, it is 12-1. Much of that credit is due to the pitching staff as well.
MKE ranks third in the Horizon League with a team ERA of 5.52. The Panthers have held the opponent to five runs or less on 24 occasions this season.
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 the regular season on the road with four games at Youngstown State beginning on May 21. Live coverage links for all games can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
