MILWAUKEE, Wis. – After playing 16 consecutive games at its home park, the Milwaukee baseball team returns to the road as the Panthers head to Ohio to take on league-leading Wright State.
 
Due to anticipated inclement weather this weekend, the series has shifted to back-to-back doubleheaders. First pitch on both Friday and Saturday is scheduled for 11:00 am CT.
 
All four games will feature live stats while game two of Friday's doubleheader will be on ESPN3. All links for this weekend can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
Capacity at Nischwitz Stadium is being greatly reduced to ensure the safety of those in attendance.  Only individuals from the general public on the COVID-Tracking pass list will be allowed in the venues.
 
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
Wright State was selected as the Horizon League preseason favorite and outside of one series, has shown no signs of slowing down. The Raiders own a 21-3 league mark with all three losses coming in a four-game series against Youngstown State on March 26-28.
 
Since then, WSU has won eight straight Horizon League contests including three consecutive scoring at least 22 runs. During their current eight-game winning streak, the Raiders have outscored their opponents 131-31.
 
Wright State owns the top offense and pitching staff in the Horizon League. The Raiders hit .327 as a team and average over 10 runs per game, both of which ranks in the top two in the nation. WSU also owns a 4.56 earned run average.
 
Five players have an OPS over 1.000 with Alec Sayre leading the way. The freshman leads the league and ranks fourth in the nation with a .440 batting average.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The overall series history has been tight between Milwaukee and Wright State with the Raiders holding a 68-60 edge. The Panthers have won the last two against WSU including a 10-9 triumph to advance to the Horizon League Championship on May 24, 2019. The two teams have split the last 10 contests.
 
WRAPPING UP THE WEEKEND
The Panthers had opportunities to earn a series win against the Golden Grizzlies but lost a couple late leads and finished the weekend 1-3. Milwaukee did get the bats going in game three, putting up season-high 21 runs on 18 hits in a 21-3 route of Oakland.
 
Milwaukee hit three home runs in the win including a pair of grand slams from Mike Ferri and Zach Nogalski.
 
SULTAN OF SLAMS
In the Panthers 21-3 win over Oakland on Saturday, 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 Luke Seidel also have grand slams for the Panthers.
 
In total, the Panthers have had overall success this season with the bases loaded. Milwaukee is hitting 14-for-34 (.412) when all bases are occupied.
 
POURING IT ON
The 21 runs scored and 18 hits on Saturday were both season-highs for the Panthers. It also marked the first time Milwaukee eclipsed 20 runs since scoring 22 in a 22-2 win over Youngstown State on April 13, 2019.
 
The Panthers had at least 18 hits on five different occasions in the 2019 season including a season-best 23 in the win over the Penguins in the same game.
 
Milwaukee now has 24 20-run games in program history. The most the Panthers ever scored was 28 on April 18, 1993.
 
BACK IN A GROOVE
Over the weekend, Joe Vyskocil found his rhythm at the plate and finished 6-for-13 with a home run and three RBI. The senior had a pair of three-hit performances on Saturday against the Golden Grizzlies and raised his batting average by over 50 points.
 
MAGIC NUMBER
Sunday marked the first time the Panthers scored at least six runs and lost this season. Prior to that, Milwaukee was 11-0 when plating at least six runs and much of that credit is due to the pitching staff.
 
MKE ranks third in the Horizon League with a team ERA of 4.82. The Panthers have held the opponent to five runs or less on 23 occasions this season.
 
MAHONEY MOWIN' EM DOWN
Jack Mahoney set a career-high with 11 strikeouts on Saturday against he Golden Grizzlies. He worked 6.0 innings allowing six hits and three earned runs.
 
The junior now has 64 strikeouts this season which is tied for fifth in the Horizon League.
 
Mahoney is averaging 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings which puts him third in the league and 78th in the nation.
 
For his career, Mahoney has 136 strikeouts in 116.2 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 SMALL FREY
Consistency has been key for Riley Frey and Friday was no different. The freshman pitched seven innings, striking out five and walking one while allowing just two earned runs.
 
Frey now has five straight outings with at least 5.0 innings pitched and two earned runs allowed or less. The freshman 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 (56.1), and ninth in strikeouts (52).
 
His 52 strikeouts already set a new Milwaukee record, topping Mike Schneider's mark of 47 from 2011. His strikeout to walk ratio of 2.4 ties him with Rob Erickson (2000) for fourth all-time among Panthers' freshmen.
 
SHUTTING THE DOOR
AJ Blubaugh entered in another tough situation on Sunday, with two on and no one out in the seventh inning against Oakland. The freshman got back-to-back outs before the Golden Grizzlies put up a couple unearned runs.
 
Blubaugh finished the game and ended with zero earned runs in 3.0 innings pitched, lowering his ERA to 1.40 which leads the league for relievers who have pitched at least 10 innings.
 
The freshman has 26 strikeouts in 19.1 innings pitched this season. With six saves, Blubaugh ranks second in the Horizon League and ranks 39th in NCAA Division I.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 will then host one final series at The Frank on May 14-16 against Northern Kentucky. The Panthers will then wrap up the regular season with a four-game series at Youngstown State on May 21-23. Live coverage links for all games can be found on MKEPanthers.com.