MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Panthers return to Franklin Field for a busy week, hosting five of six contests in a six-day stretch.
 
Milwaukee opens the week on Tuesday as the Panthers welcome Illinois State to The Frank for a 4:00 pm first pitch.
 
On Wednesday, MKE will head to Glendale to take on MSOE at 4:00 pm before hosting two doubleheaders over the weekend.
 
The Panthers take on UIC on Friday, April 22 for a 12:00 pm doubleheader followed by Youngstown State on Sunday at 12:00 pm.
 
Five of the six games will feature an ESPN+ broadcast with Scott Warras on the call. Live statistics will be available for all six games this week.
 
All updates and live coverage links for this week can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State opened its most recent series with a win against Valparaiso but then dropped back-to-back games and sit at 13-17 overall. The Redbirds have a pair of ranked wins this season, shocking Division I baseball with a 3-2 victory against No. 2 Arkansas and also earning a 4-3 win over No. 19 Purdue.
 
Ryan Cermak and Jake McCaw pace the offense, each hitting at least .350 this season. Cermak has blasted a team-high 13 home runs while scoring 32 runs. McCaw has driven in 33 runs and scored 25 for Illinois State.
 
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
MSOE opened April winning six of its first seven games but most recently dropped a doubleheader to Aurora, who is ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division III. The Raiders are 11-12 overall and host Edgewood for a Monday doubleheader before taking on Milwaukee.
 
Brandon Beauchamp leads the way for MSOE, hitting .352 with 10 extra-base hits. The senior has driven in 16 runs and scored 18 for the Raiders.
 
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC picked up an important series win over Wright State last weekend, winning two of three games including a 6-5 win in extra innings on Saturday, April 16. The Flames have won four of the last five games to improve to 11-17 overall and 5-4 in Horizon League play.
 
UIC has one of the best pitching staffs in the league and leads with a 5.50 ERA. All three regular starters have a sub-4.00 ERA with Tyler Ingram's 3.24 leading the way. Nate Peterson has struck out a league-best 59 batters in 50 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State snapped a skid and earned two wins over Milwaukee last week to improve to 12-24 overall and 5-7 in Horizon League action.
 
Matt Brosky and Jon Snyder provide a solid one-two punch for the Penguins. Brosky ranks in the league's top 10 in multiple categories while Snyder is tops in opposing batting average (.209). Brae O'Shaughnessy has been impressive at the plate, leading YSU with a .355 batting average. He's driven in 32 runs and scored 25 for the Penguins, both team bests.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee is 10-9 all-time against Illinois State thanks to winning three of four in last year's four-game series. The Panthers are 4-2 at home against the Redbirds.
 
MKE and MSOE have met six times with the Panthers winning each matchup. The Panthers have outscored the Raiders 69-24 in the six games.
 
The Panthers topped UIC 12-5 earlier this season but the Flames own a 91-65 overall record against MKE dating back to 1992. The last time the two teams met in Franklin, UIC took all four games against MKE a season ago.
 
Despite losing two of three against Youngstown State last week, the Panthers have controlled the all-time matchup 67-41. The Panthers have dominated at home, going 32-11 on their home diamond against the Penguins.
 
DEYOUNG DELIVERS
Nate DeYoung had a solid series against Youngstown State last time out, going 5-for-12 at the plate, but it was game two where he really did the damage.
 
The junior belted three home runs to lead the Panthers to a 17-13 victory on April 15. The three homers in one game are the most since Ben Long also hit three against SIU Edwardsville on March 6, 2010. DeYoung finished with seven RBI, the most runs driven in by a Panther since Jesse Hart drove in seven on May 22, 2008.
 
Two of DeYoung's homers were go-ahead shots including a three-run bomb to take a 13-11 lead in the eighth inning.
 
The home runs were also the first of the season for DeYoung. He matched his total from a year ago.
 
BIG RUNS GET THE WINS
Last week, the Panthers added another victory where they tallied a double-digit run total. Milwaukee now has six games with at least 10 runs, going 6-0 in those games.
In fact, Milwaukee is undefeated when scoring at least eight runs (8-0).
 
CAPITALIZING ON THE OPPORTUNITY
Justin Hausser got a pair of starts last weekend and did not disappoint. The freshman finished 5-for-8 from the plate in two games.
 
Hausser is hitting .417 in 14 games this season and has been even more impressive in games with at least two plate appearances. In games where Hausser has multiple plate appearances, he is 10-for-19 (.526) with four walks.
 
IT'S ABOUT TIME
Tuesday's game against Iowa marked the first time in 21 contests that the two will meet outside of Iowa City, but that wasn't the only milestone for the midweek contest.
 
It also marked the first time Milwaukee has hosted a Big Ten team at its own park in 106 total games. It was the first time in 201 games against Power 5 teams that MKE hosted on its own diamond.
 
TURNIN' UP THE HEAT
Transfer Eliot Turnquist has been very impressive out of the bullpen for the Panthers, totaling a 3.63 ERA in 17.1 total innings of work.
 
Turnquist has not allowed a run in his last two outings, scattering just three hits across 5.2 innings.
 
Outside of a tough outing at Arizona, Turnquist has 18 strikeouts in 14.1 innings with a 1.27 ERA.
 
STREAK COMES TO A CLOSE
Milwaukee opened the year 43-for-43 on stolen base attempts before someone finally caught the Panthers.
 
In the bottom of the fifth against Iowa, the Hawkeyes caught Luke Seidel trying to steal.
 
The 43 consecutive successful stolen base attempts is believed to be a program record for the Panthers.
 
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.
 
MKE had seven stolen bases in the third inning of that game, one shy of an NCAA record which was last reached in 1993. It marks the most stolen bases in an inning since April 9, 2014 when Jacksonville had seven against Stetson.
 
Milwaukee currently ranks second in the Horizon League and 48th in NCAA Division I with 1.61 stolen bases per game. The Panthers 45 total stolen bases puts them 91st in the nation.
 
Luke Seidel is tied for the league lead with 13 stolen bases while Aaron Chapman ranks fourth with 11.
 
FINDING A HOME AT MKE
Aaron Chapman got back on track last week, getting a hit in each of the three games against Youngstown State. 
 
Chapman has reached base in 27 of 28 games this season and has at least one hit in 25 of 28 contests.
 
The junior leads the team and Horizon League with a .360 batting average. Chapman is also fifth in hits (40), 10th in RBI (24), and fourth in stolen bases (11).
 
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.
 
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.
 
2021 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.
 
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 47 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 14   select home baseball games this spring on ESPN+. Additionally, all 24 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 open the week with a pair of non-conference games on April 26 (at Northwestern) and April 27 (vs. MSOE) before a three-game series at Oakland next weekend. All updates and live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.