MILWAUKEE, Wis. - With a win last weekend, the Milwaukee baseball team wrapped up the No. 4 seed for the Horizon League Tournament and will begin play on Thursday, May 27.
 
The Panthers will face overall No. 1 seed Wright State with first pitch scheduled for 10:00 am CT. The game will feature live stats and a broadcast on ESPN+ with all links available on MKEPanthers.com.
 
The winner of game one will advance to Friday to take on the winner of game two which features No. 2 UIC vs. No. 3 Youngstown State. The loser of game one will play Thursday evening at 6:00 pm CT against the loser of game two.
 
Tickets for the 2021 Horizon League Baseball Championship are $25 for a tournament pass and $10 for a day pass while Horizon League students and kids five and under are free of charge. Capacity for the 2021 Horizon League Baseball Championship will be limited to 400.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Wright State claimed the overall No. 1 seed for the Horizon League Tournament for the second straight season and fourth of the last five excluding 2020 when the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
 
The Raiders finished the regular season 32-11 overall with a 28-4 mark in league play. Three of the four losses came in one series against Youngstown State while Milwaukee handed the Raiders a loss on Friday, May 7.
 
Wright State boasts not only the top offense in the Horizon League, but the NCAA as well leading the nation in batting average (.336), on base percentage (.446), slugging percentage (.567), and scoring (10.4 runs per game).
 
As a team, the Raiders totaled 11 Horizon League honors including Player of the Year in Quincy Hamilton and skipper Alex Sogard being named Horizon League Coach of the Year.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The overall series history has been tight between Milwaukee and
Wright State with the Raiders holding a 71-61 edge. The two teams have split the last six contests.
 
Earlier this season, Milwaukee took one of three from Wright State, just the second league team to win a game against the Raiders.
 
The last time the two met in the Horizon League Tournament, MKE topped WSU 10-9 on May 24, 2019, to advance to the Horizon League Championship.
 
WRAPPING UP THE WEEKEND
The Panthers dropped the first two against Youngstown State but hung on for a 14-12 victory in game three to secure their playoff spot. Jack Mahoney put together a solid outing with five strikeouts in four innings and the bullpen bent but didn't break to fend off the Penguins.
 
Luke Seidel had an impressive weekend offensively, hitting .583 with seven base knocks and five runs scored in three games. Jack Cavanaugh ripped a solo homer and finished the weekend 5-for-15 (.333) with two RBI.
 
PANTHERS IN THE POSTSEASON
Milwaukee is no stranger to success in the postseason, winning the title in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2010 to go along with four additional runner-up finishes. Last season's tournament was canceled but the prior season, the Panthers went 3-3 and took down No. 1 seed Wright State to advance to the Championship before falling to No. 2 UIC.
 
The team went 4-1 to win it all in 2010, topping Wright State twice in the Championship and Valparaiso twice on the way to the title to head to the NCAA Tournament. In 1999, MKE bounced back from a game-one loss to win four-straight contests and advance to the NCAA Regional. For the back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002, Milwaukee went a perfect 4-0 in the tournament each season. The first and last of the four crowns came as a No. 2 seed, while the middle pair were as the No. 1.
 
YOUNG GUNS EARN ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
The Horizon League announced its All-League honors on Tuesday and a trio of Panthers' pitchers collected hardware.
 
AJ Blubaugh was named Reliever of the Year and First Team All-League while Riley Frey picked up a Second Team All-League nod. Frey also joined James Severson on the All-Freshman team.
 
A GRAND MILESTONE
Earlier this year, the Panthers picked up their 1,000th victory as a program to become just the third team in Milwaukee history to accomplish that feat. The MKE men's basketball team was the first and currently sits at 1,386 victories. Women's volleyball was next and has 1,100 victories under its belt.
 
NO SMALL FREY
Another weekend, another impressive start for Riley Frey. Despite taking the loss, the freshman notched his third complete game of the season, striking out four and scattering seven hits in a season-high eight innings against Youngstown State.
 
Frey has had one of the best freshman campaigns for the Panthers in recent program history as he ranks in the Horizon League's top 10 in earned run average (6th, 3.37), innings pitched (4th, 74.2), and strikeouts (8th, 63).
 
The lefty has eight outings with at least 5.0 innings pitched and two earned runs or less.
 
He also set a new Panthers' freshman record in starts (13) and strikeouts (63) while ranking second in complete games (3) and fifth in strikeout to walk ratio (2.3).
 
BANKING ON BLUBAUGH
Despite Youngstown State getting to him in his last outing, AJ Blubaugh has been dominant out of the bullpen for the Panthers. 
 
The righty has recorded seven saves, ranking him second in the Horizon League and 49th among NCAA Division I pitchers.
 
Blubaugh has pitched 23.0 innings this year and owns an ERA of 1.96 which leads the league for relievers who have pitched more than 11 innings. The freshman has 30 strikeouts to just nine walks this year.
 
He has already broken the Milwaukee freshmen saves record which was held by Jake Sommers (2016) 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 also averaging 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings which would be a new Panthers' freshmen record.
 
MONEY MAHONEY
Jack Mahoney finished with a no decision on Saturday but has continued to turn it on as of late. The junior struck out five in four innings against Youngstown State, allowing just five hits and a pair of earned runs.
 
Mahoney now allowed less than four runs in four consecutive starts and four or less in seven straight.
 
Mahoney is averaging 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings which ranks third in the Horizon League and 81st in NCAA Division I.
 
For his career, Mahoney has 154 strikeouts in 132.2 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.
 
ANY WAY ON
Over the weekend, Mitchell Buban reached base two more times via hit by pitch, bringing his season total to 15 which leads the league and ranks 33rd in the nation. It marks the most for a Panthers' batter since Luke Meeteer totaled 16 in 2015. Buban also reached 14 times via hit by pitch in 2019.
 
The junior is hitting .274 this season but leads the team with an on-base percentage of .378 with 15 HBP and 13 walks.
 
Buban is the only Panther to play all 51 games, making every start at shortstop.
 
HE'S HEATING UP
Senior Joe Vyskocil is heating up at the right time for the Panthers, dominating in the month of May.
 
Through April 31, Vyskocil had been struggling with a .136 batting average (9-for-66) and nine RBI in 20 games. Since May 1, he's turned it on, going 21-for-53 (.396) with 10 RBI and 10 runs scored in 16 contests. Vyskocil has eight multi-hit games during that stretch including three three-hit performances.
 
With the recent burst, Vyskocil has raised his batting average by over 100 points and sits at .252 in 36 games this year.
 
SULTAN OF SLAMS
In the Panthers 21-3 win over Oakland on May 1, 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 19-for-53 (.358) 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 14-1. Much of that credit is due to the pitching staff as well.
 
MKE ranks fourth in the league with a team ERA of 5.74. The Panthers have held the opponent to five runs or less on 28 occasions this season.
 
WALKOFF WONDER
Jack 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.
 
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.
 
ON TAP
With a win, the Panthers would play on Friday at 11:00 am CT. If MKE were to lose, it would play at 6:00 pm CT on Thursday. All updates and live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.