MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee baseball team gears up for another busy week highlighted by a trip to American Family Field on Wednesday when the Panthers will host MSOE.
 
MKE opens play on Tuesday with a 3:30 pm first pitch at Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois before returning to the Major League ballpark on Wednesday, April 27, for the first time since 2019.
 
First pitch from American Family Field is set for 6:00 pm. Gates will open at 5:00 pm and the parking lot will open at 4:30 pm. Fans coming to the game should park in the Brewers 2 lot and enter at the home plate gate.
 
The Panthers then open a three-game road swing at Oakland beginning on Friday, April 29. First pitch from Rochester, Michigan is set for 1:30 pm CT followed by a 1:00 pm CT start on Saturday. Sunday's finale will begin at 12:00 pm CT.
 
All updates and live coverage links for this week can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northwestern has won three of its last four including a 2-1 series win over Michigan State and currently sit at 18-17 overall.
 
Jay Beshears paces the offense as one of three Wildcats hitting at least .300. The sophomore is hitting .355 with 28 RBI and 25 runs scored. Ethan O'Donnell provides the power with a team-high 28 extra-base hits. O'Donnell leads the Big Ten and is third in the nation with 19 doubles.
 
Sean Sullivan has been lights out for Northwestern on the mound with a 5-0 record and 2.68 ERA in 10 starts.
 
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
After dropping a midweek contest to Milwaukee last week, MSOE earned a pair of doubleheader sweeps over Wisconsin Lutheran and Illinois Tech to move to 17-13 overall. The Raiders outscored the opposition 65-15 in the four games.
 
The Raiders tout a potent offense with six regular starters hitting at least .300. Micah Overley owns a .402 batting average with a team-high 31 runs scored in 30 starts.
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland, who was predicted sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll, currently sits at 19-20 overall and 9-7 in league action after picking up a sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday. The Golden Grizzlies also took a 2-1 series win over preseason favorite Wright State earlier this season.
 
The Golden Grizzlies are active on the base paths, leading the league and ranking 11th in the nation with 82 total stolen bases. Brad Goulet has 17 swipes for Oakland and leads the team with a .333 batting average to go with 16 extra-base hits, 33 RBI, and 31 runs scored.
 
On the mound, Jacob Wosinski has been strong for Oakland with a 3.67 ERA in nine starts. The redshirt senior has a team-high 40 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Northwestern owns an 18-11 all-time lead over Milwaukee but the series has been even since 2004 with each team winning eight contests. The Wildcats triumphed 6-1 the last time the two met which was on April 9, 2019 at Kapco Park.
 
With a 12-6 last week over MSOE, Milwaukee improved its overall record against the Raiders to 8-0. MKE has scored at least 10 runs in five of the eight matchups.
 
Milwaukee owns a 26-17 overall record against Oakland after splitting the eight contests last season. The Panthers took three of four in Rochester but Oakland responded to take three of the four matchups at Franklin Field.
 
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 on Wednesday to host MSOE.
 
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.
 
THE MAGIC 8 BALL
With another big-time win on Sunday, the Panthers improved to 10-0 when scoring at least eight runs this season. When MKE fails to reach that number, the Panthers are just 4-20.
 
In fact, in the last 13 years, Milwaukee is 165-18-1 when putting up at least eight runs. The Panthers are 23-0 in the last three years with at least eight runs on the board.
 
THELEN ON A TEAR
Jack Thelen put up big numbers last week, finishing with a .650/.696/.900 slash line in six games. The redshirt junior went 13-for-20 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, five RBI, and seven runs scored.
 
With the 13 hits, Thelen raised his average from .214 to .298 this season.
 
He was also perfect behind the plate, totaling 49 putouts and five assists without an error behind the dish in the six starts.
 
BACK IN THE BULLPEN
Following his last start at Youngstown State on April 15, AJ Blubaugh moved back into his role in the bullpen and has been untouchable.
 
In the last two appearances out of the pen, Blubaugh has racked up seven strikeouts in just 3.0 innings.
 
This season, he's been near perfect out of the bullpen. In three appearances, he's allowed just one run in 4.1 innings of work while striking out 10 batters and earning one save.
 
SEIDEL IS SLUGGIN'
Junior Luke Seidel is finding his grove and worked his way up to a .317 batting average after hitting .556 (10-for-18) last week. In five games, Seidel had 10 hits to drive in seven runs and score three.
 
In the doubleheader against UIC, Seidel went 6-for-8 to pace the Panthers. He capped the week with a 3-for-4 performance on Sunday against Youngstown State where he delivered a grand slam as well as a two-run single to help MKE top the Penguins 17-4.
 
In 14 Horizon League games, Seidel leads the team and ranks third in the league with a .385 batting average. He is second in the league with a .492 on base percentage.
 
TURNIN' UP THE HEAT
Transfer Eliot Turnquist has been very impressive this season for the Panthers. On Sunday, he picked up his first win for the black and gold, taking the start into the sixth inning and allowing just two earned runs.
 
In 23.0 total innings of work, Turnquist owns a 3.52 ERA which ranks second among Panthers' pitching.
 
Turnquist has not allowed a run in his last two bullpen outings, scattering just three hits across 5.2 innings against Purdue Fort Wayne and Youngstown State.
 
Outside of a tough outing at Arizona, Turnquist has 20 strikeouts in 20.0 innings with a 1.80 ERA.
 
DOUBLE MACHINE
Mark Connelly put together a solid week at the plate, finishing 10-for-20 with four doubles and a triple. The transfer drove in five and scored five and raised his season average to .330 which ranks second on the team.
 
Connelly currently leads the team with 10 extra-base hits including a team-best seven doubles, two triples, and one home run.
 
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.
 
IT'S ABOUT TIME
MKE's game on April 12 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.
 
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 62nd in NCAA Division I with 1.50 stolen bases per game. The Panthers 51 total stolen bases puts them 83rd in the nation.
 
Luke Seidel and Aaron Chapman currently rank third and fourth in the league with 13 and 12 steals, respectively.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 are scheduled for three doubleheaders next week beginning with a non-conference matchup with St. Thomas on Tuesday, May 3. MKE will then head to NKU on Friday before taking on Oakland at home on Sunday, May 8. All updates and live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.