MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee baseball team next gears up for a weekend road trip to Pennsylvania to take on Penn State.
 
Game one of the three-game series is set for 4:00 pm CT on Friday, March 18. The two will then meet at 12:00 pm CT on Saturday before wrapping up on Sunday at 10:00 am CT from Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
 
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State most recently wrapped up a series win over UMass, taking two of three games including a 1-0 victory on March 13 where it held the Minutemen to just one hit.
 
The Nittany Lions sit at 5-9 overall and will play at home for the first time this weekend after canceling two home midweek games against Niagara.
 
Penn State has a tall task this year, replacing a 2021 rotation that featured three MLB draft selections in Conor Larkin, Kyle Virbitsky, and Bailey Dees. The Nittany Lions new rotation features three newcomers while their roster has 16 total newcomers including 12 freshmen.
 
Matt Wood, a Second Team All-Big Ten award winner in 2021, leads the team this season with a .340 batting average and 12 RBI. The junior was tabbed as the top catcher in the Big Ten and 16th-best in the country.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This weekend marks the first all-time matchup between Milwaukee and Penn State. The Panthers have history of scheduling Big Ten opponents but have not yet faced the Nittany Lions.
 
BACK-TO-BACK
For the second consecutive week, a Panthers' pitcher earned Horizon League Pitcher of the Week honors. Riley Frey collected his first weekly award on Tuesday following an solid outing at Dayton.
 
The sophomore was lights out on Friday, leading the Panthers to a 6-2 win over Dayton. He earned the win, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while scattering just three hits and striking out eight.
 
The award comes one week after Nick Gilhaus was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week behind an impressive win at BYU. Gilhaus threw six scoreless innings and struck out five while allowing just four hits to lead MKE to a 2-0 shutout win against the Cougars.
 
EARNING THE FRIDAY SLOT
Riley Frey got comfortable as the Panthers' ace a year ago and has earned the right to be in that spot again this season.
 
Through four starts, Frey has struck out a team-best 24 batters in 21.2 innings.
 
Outside of one slipup at No. 11 Arizona, Frey owns a 2.97 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.
 
Frey currently ranks third in the Horizon League in strikeouts and leads the league with two victories.
 
PERFECT ON THE PATHS
Milwaukee added four more stolen bases in the win over Dayton last weekend to improve to 28-for-28 this season.
 
The Panthers stole all over the base paths in the season's opening series, going 17-for-17 in Alabama. In game three of the series, the Panthers were a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases. The 11 swipes set a new program record, topping the previous mark of 10 which was set against Butler on April 10, 2010.
 
Milwaukee currently leads the Horizon League and ranks 39th in the nation with 28 stolen bases. The Panthers' number of 2.6 stolen bases per game ranks 10th among NCAA Division I opponents.
 
Luke Seidel leads the league with eight stolen bases while Aaron Chapman (6 steals) and Mitchell Buban (5 steals) rank second and fourth, respectively.
 
CLEAN SHEET
After totaling 10 fielding errors in the four-game series in Arizona, Milwaukee has cleaned up the defense and has not had one error in the last 34 innings of play.
 
The Panthers improved their fielding percentage to .963 which ranks third in the Horizon League.
 
GETTING COMFORTABLE
Transfer Aaron Chapman has quickly settled into a starting role with the Panthers and is finding his groove offensively. At BYU, Chapman led the team going 5-for-14 from the plate with three runs and three RBI.
 
Chapman has a hit 10 of 11 games and is hitting .333 this season. The junior ranks seventh in the Horizon League in batting average and is sixth with 16 hits.
 
Additionally, Chapman has already played three different positions for the Panthers and has recorded 10 putouts and 18 assists with just one error. 
 
POWER IN THE 'PEN
In the Panthers 2-0 win over BYU on March 3, the bullpen duo of Ryan Hoerter and AJ Blubaugh preserved starter Nick Gilhaus' gem, tossing two scoreless.
 
Hoerter worked around a single in the seventh and struck out a pair. He added another strikeout in the eighth before the Cougars got to him for a walk and double to bring on Blubaugh.
 
Blubaugh got out of the jam with a groundout and after a leadoff single in the ninth, the sophomore struck out three straight batters to earn the save and give the Panthers a victory.
 
Blubaugh already has 16 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work this season, holding opponents to a .180 batting average.
NOVAK NUKES
Jake Novak made the most of his first start of the season on February 19, finishing 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs.
 
The sophomore got the scoring going in the fifth inning for MKE with a solo homer and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and another solo shot in the ninth.
 
The final home run was the eventual game-winner as Milwaukee hung on to top Alabama A&M 8-7.
 
Novak's two-homer game is the first by a Milwaukee player since Conner Goodman blasted two in a 14-13 win over Oakland last season on April 3.
 
He has recorded at least one hit in all four games since and leads qualified batters with a .389 average.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE HONOR
Mitchell Buban was pegged Horizon League Batter of the Week thanks to an impressive start to the year in Alabama. Buban finished the weekend 7-for-14 (.500) at the plate with a home run and five RBI. He reached base a total of 10 times, recording with a slash line of .500/.588/.714. The Kenosha, Wis. native also scored five runs and was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases.
 
2022 RECAP
Milwaukee closed the regular season 22-33 but made a solid run in the Horizon League Tournament, ultimately finishing runner-up for the second consecutive tourney. After falling to top-seeded Wright State in the opener, MKE earned wins over Youngstown State and UIC to reach the title game. The Raiders won the crown and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
 
MKE also was Horizon League Tournament runner-up in 2019 and 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.
 
The Panthers have finished fourth or better in the Horizon League standings in 12 of the last 13 full seasons.
 
LOOKING AT THE LEAGUE
The 2022 Horizon League Preseason Baseball Coaches' poll was released on Thursday and with 30 poll points, the Panthers were predicted to finish third. MKE trailed defending regular season and tournament champions Wright State (42) and UIC (34).
 
Youngstown State was selected fourth in the preseason poll with 24 poll points while Northern Kentucky (15), Oakland (13), and Purdue Fort Wayne (9) rounded out the poll.
 
D1 BASEBALL TOP PROSPECTS
In D1Baseball.com's Horizon League preview,a trio of Panthers' pitchers were recognized as top prospects.
 
AJ Blubaugh was listed as a top prospect for 2022 while Riley Frey made the list for 20212 and newcomer Logan Schulfer was named an impact freshman. The nationally recognized publication also predicted Frey as Horizon League Pitcher of the Year.
 
PLENTY TO LEARN
The 2022 Panthers are relatively light on experience with just two position players having appeared in over 100 games and two pitchers with at least 100 innings logged.
 
Mitchell Buban has been a mainstay in Milwaukee's lineup since 2018, having started 169 of 172 possible contests. With consistency this season, Buban could crack the top five in games played. Sam Koenig (2011-15) is fifth with 207 games played while Luke Meeteer (2012-16) and Doug Dokoning (2008-11) own the program record with 222 games played.
 
Zach Nogalski is the other Milwaukee starter with a load of experience, having played in 122 contests.
 
Mike Edwards (175.1 innings pitched) and Jack Mahoney (140.1) are the Panthers' most experienced on the hill but beyond this group of four, Doffek's roster has plenty of room to learn. In total, 24 of 39 Panthers on the roster are considered underclassmen.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
The Panthers are no strangers to beginning the season on the road, opening with 21 consecutive contests away from Milwaukee. It marks the most road games to open a season since 2018 when the Panthers played a program record 34 consecutive road games to being the year.
 
Milwaukee is scheduled to open the home schedule on Wednesday, March 30 against MSOE.
 
TAKING ON TOP COMPETITION
The Panthers are no strangers to top competition and this year is no different as Milwaukee took on Arizona, who was pegged No. 15 on the USA TODAY baseball coaches poll. The Wildcats finished 45-18 in 2021 reaching the College World Series before falling to Vanderbilt and Stanford to end their season.
 
Milwaukee has posted a handful of wins over ranked opponents including topping No. 17/18 Wake Forest in 2020. The Panthers' first and biggest ranked win came in 1999 when MKE knocked off then-No. 1 Rice in the NCAA Regionals. In total, Milwaukee has recorded eight wins against ranked opponents.

• February 15, 2020: W, 8-6 at #17/18 Wake Forest
• February 20, 2016: W, 10-3 at #25 Texas Tech
• April 8, 2015: W, 4-3 at #15 Iowa
• February 27, 2009: W, 19-11 vs. #25 Michigan
• March 5, 2006: W 7-2 at #20 Missouri
• April 25, 2000: W 9-7 at #15 Nebraska
• March 29, 2000: W 14-3 at #21 Notre Dame
• May 28, 1999: W 8-4 vs. #1 Rice

ANY WAY ON
Last year, Mitchell Buban ranked second on the team with a .380 on base percentage. The senior finished the season with 50 hits and 14 walks while reaching 18 times via hit by pitch.
 
That number tied for fourth all-time for a single season in program history.
 
Buban currently ranks second in program history with 43 hit by pitch for his career, trailing Clay Schwartz (1994-97) who recorded 68 which was a NCAA record upon his graduation.
 
BANKING ON BLUBAUGH
It was a year to remember for freshman AJ Blubuagh, who was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-League thanks to an impressive season out of the bullpen.
 
Blubaugh earned two wins in relief and struck out 37 batters in 27.1 innings, locking in a 2.63 ERA in 19 appearances. He held opponents to a batting average of .188 and led the Horizon League with eight saves.
 
During the season, Blubaugh had an impressive run from March 26 to April 10 where he allowed just one earned run across nine appearances, pitching 13.0 innings total.
 
At the Horizon League Tournament, Blubaugh picked up the save against Youngstown State when he struck out three straight batters after the Penguins loaded the bases.
 
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
The Milwaukee Athletic department announced that it will broadcast 13 select home baseball games this spring on ESPN+. Additionally, all 22 of the Panthers home games will feature either live audio or video. 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 $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) and cancel at any time. Launched in April of 2018, ESPN+ is an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App.
 
For road games, visit MKEPanthers.com for live coverage links.
 
WHAT'S ON DECK
The Panthers will head to Valparaiso for a midweek contest against the Beacons on Wednesday, March 23 before getting into Horizon League play with a three-game series at UIC. MKE's first home game is set for March 30 against Concordia Wisconsin at 3:00 pm. All updates and live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.