MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee baseball team will head to Dayton, Ohio for a weekend series with the Flyers. Due to inclement weather, the series has been altered and will be three games instead of four.
 
Game one between the Panthers and Flyers will take place on Friday at 1:00 pm CT. Saturday will no longer have games due to frigid temperatures and the doubleheader will be played on Sunday with first pitch of game one at 11:00 am CT from Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium.
 
Live stats for the series can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton has had a solid start to the 2022 season with series wins over North Carolina A&T, Evansville, and Belmont to sit at 7-4 overall. It marks the Flyer's best start since 2008.
 
Most recently, the Flyers dropped a midweek matchup at Wright State 14-0.
 
Keagon Calero leads the Flyers with a .378 batting average through the first 11 games. The Dayton third baseman has a hit in eight of 11 games this season and his 14 hits and .500 on-base percentage pace the Flyers. Jay Curtis leads the team with five doubles and is riding a seven-game hitting streak and Henry Strmecki has two home runs to go with his team-leading nine RBIs.
 
Graduate student Andrew Zapka has been strong out of the Dayton bullpen. Zapka has 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings to go with a 1-0 record and a save. Sophomore Anthony Hattrup has been solid as well, posting a 0.79 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.
 
Dayton was predicted to finish second in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, totaling 122 poll points to trail VCU who earned 143 points and 11 first place votes.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee and Dayton have met just one other time with the Panthers earning a 6-0 victory in Clarksville, Tennessee on March 7, 2010. Seniors Jordan Herbert and Lucas Annen combined to throw a five-hit shutout as MKE won its third straight.
 
GILHAUS GEM
Nick Gilhaus earned his first start of the season on Thursday and earned an impressive win at BYU. The sophomore tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and striking out five while walking two. Gilhaus set the pace for Milwaukee, who pitched its first shutout of the year after the bullpen closed with two scoreless frames after the righty.
 
In 10.2 innings this season, Gilhaus has allowed just two earned runs. He has struck out 11 and owns a 1.69 ERA, which ranks second in the Horizon League.
 
For his outing, Gilhaus was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week.
 
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 in all 10 games and is hitting .356 this season. The junior ranks second on the team and fifth in the Horizon League with eight runs scored.
 
Additionally, Chapman has already played three different positions for the Panthers and has recorded 10 putouts and 18 assists with just one error. 
 
PERFECT ON THE PATHS
At BYU, Milwaukee went a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases to improve their mark to 24-for-24 on the 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 25th in the nation with 24 stolen bases. The Panthers' number of 2.4 stolen bases per game ranks 16th among NCAA Division I opponents.
 
CLEAN SHEET
After totaling 10 fielding errors in the four-game series in Arizona, Milwaukee cleaned up the defense and did not have an error in 25 innings at BYU. The Panthers improved their fielding percentage to .959 which ranks third in the Horizon League.
 
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.
 
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 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 next head to University Park, Pennsylvania to take on Penn State for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 18. 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.