MILWAUKEE, Wis. - After 15 games on the road, the Milwaukee baseball finally gets a chance to play on its home diamond as the Panthers are scheduled for 10 straight games at Franklin Field.
 
The home opener is scheduled for Wednesday, March 30 against Concordia Wisconsin at 3:00 pm.
 
This weekend, the Panthers will continue Horizon League action as they welcome Northern Kentucky to Franklin Field for a three-game series. Game one is scheduled for Friday at 3:00 pm followed by a 2:00 pm first pitch on Saturday. The two will wrap up the series on Sunday at 12:00 pm.
 
Friday's game will feature the first of 13 home ESPN+ broadcasts with Scott Warras on the call. Additional live coverage links for this week can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Concordia Wisconsin got its season started on March 1-2, splitting games with Carroll University before heading to Tucson where the Falcons played eight contests. Most recently, CUW dropped a doubleheader to Bethel at US Bank Stadium in Minnesota and enter Wednesday's game at 6-7 overall.
 
The Falcons were predicted to finish third in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference preseason poll after finishing 25-17 overall and 12-8 in the NACC a season ago.
 
Senior third baseman Sam Beers was named to the D3Baseball.com Preseason All-American Third Team and is off to a solid start this year with a .333 batting average, 10 RBI, and 16 runs scored.
 
SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky sits at 6-16 overall and is off to a 1-4 start in league play but boasts one of the best offenses in the Horizon League. The Norse lead the league with a .280 batting average and 75 extra-base hits. NKU has scored 133 runs in 21 games.
 
Michael Hall has led that high-powered offense, hitting .420 with nine RBI and 11 runs scored. Manny Vorhees has also been a major factor on offense with 14 extra-base hits, 18 RBI, and 17 runs scored.
 
NKU has struggled keeping teams at bay, however, and are last in the Horizon League with a 8.92 ERA. The Norse have given up nearly 10 runs per game.
 
CAN'T ESCAPE SCHEDULE CHANGES
Midwest March baseball has gotten the best of the Panthers, who have already had plenty of schedule adjustments.
 
MKE had a series in Dayton but could only get one game in, a 6-2 victory on March 11.
 
Last week, the Panthers were forced to push their midweek game against Valparaiso to April 5 as part of a home doubleheader. That weekend, MKE and UIC could only get one of three games in before the cold took over.
 
With multiple games canceled, Milwaukee just added a midweek contest in hopes to get more innings in. The Panthers will play at MSOE on April 20 at 4:00 pm.
 
Stay up to date on all schedule adjustments at MKEPanthers.com.
 
RETURN TO AMFAM FIELD
The Panthers have a long-standing tradition of playing at the Brewers' Major League park, which was renamed from Miller Park to American Family Field on January 1, 2021, and return to the field this year.
 
Milwaukee will host MSOE at American Family Field on Wednesday, April 27 at 6:00 pm.
 
With the exception of the last two seasons due to a canceled schedule and reconfigured COVID-19 schedule, the Panthers have played on the Brewers' home field every year since 2002. Milwaukee is 18-11 in its games at American Family Field.
 
RACKING UP THE RUNS
Milwaukee opened league play with a bang on Friday, totaling 12 runs on 13 hits to top UIC 12-5.
 
The victory marked the Panthers' third in the last four Horizon League openers.
 
It also marked the fourth time this season that MKE has posted a double-digit run total. Last year, it took the Panthers 23 games to reach at least 10 runs that many times. Milwaukee finished with at least 10 runs on 10 occasions in 2021.
 
WHEREVER, WHENEVER
It doesn't matter where or when AJ Blubaugh enters the game, he's been lights out this season.
 
The 2021 Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year has appeared in five games this season with four starts under his belt. He's earned three victories and save this season striking out 23 batters in 26.2 innings.
 
Blubaugh has three scoreless outings to his credit including a pair of quality starts. Most recently, the sophomore earned a win at UIC, holding the Flames to two earned runs. He struck out three in the win.
 
Blubaugh currently leads the league in wins (3), opposing batting average (.177) and is second in the Horizon League in ERA (2.03).
 
PULLING IN WEEKLY AWARDS
The Panthers have earned some Horizon League recognition this season with three different players collecting weekly awards.
 
Mitchell Buban got it started for the Panthers as he was named Horizon League Batter of the Week on February 22 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.
 
On March 9, Nick Gilhaus collected a Pitcher of the Week honor, leading the Panthers to a 2-0 win at BYU. Gilhaus struck out five and scattered just four hits in 6.0 scoreless innings.
 
One week later, Riley Frey earned the award. Frey was lights out against Dayton, tossing 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball. He struck out eight and allowed just three hits to lead MKE to a 6-2 win against the Flyers.
 
NO SLOWING DOWN
Transfer Aaron Chapman quickly settled into a starting role at Milwaukee and has not slowed down since. In the win over UIC, Chapman reached base five times, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two walks. He capped the outing with his first home run for the black and gold, an eighth-inning grand slam.
 
Chapman has reached base in all 15 games this season and has at least one hit in 14 of 15 contests.
 
The sophomore leads the team and ranks second in the Horizon League with a .397 batting average. Chapman also ninth in on base percentage (.435), sixth in hits (25), fifth in RBI (17), and fourth in stolen bases (6).
 
THE FREYDAY STARTER
Riley Frey got comfortable as the Panthers' ace a year ago and has earned the right to be in that spot again this season.
 
The sophomore had another solid outing at Penn State, battling through 5.1 innings and allowing just two earned runs.
 
Through five starts, Frey leads the team in innings pitched (27) and strikeouts (26).
 
Outside of one slipup at No. 11 Arizona, Frey owns a 3.0 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 24 innings.
 
PERFECT ON THE PATHS
Milwaukee added another stolen base against UIC and remains perfect on the paths, going 29-for-29 this year.
 
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 ranks second in the Horizon League and 22nd in NCAA Division I with 1.93 stolen bases per game. The Panthers 29 total stolen bases puts them 96th in the nation.
 
Luke Seidel is second in the league with eight stolen bases while Aaron Chapman (6 steals) and Mitchell Buban (5 steals) are also in the top 10.
 
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.
 
A GRAND MILESTONE
Last season, 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 with over 1,400 victories while volleyball has over 1,100 victories under its belt.
 
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 CUW.
 
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 46 hit by pitch for his career, trailing Clay Schwartz (1994-97) who recorded 68 which was a NCAA record upon his graduation.
 
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
Milwaukee remains at home with a Tuesday doubleheader against Valapraiso followed by a weekend series with Purdue Fort Wayne beginning on Friday, April 8. All updates and live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.