MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee baseball team gears up for its final non-conference matchup on Tuesday followed by a pair of crucial doubleheaders this weekend.
The Panthers will face Northwestern for the second time this season, this time at Franklin Field. First pitch is set for 6:00 pm on Tuesday, May 10. Tuesday's game can be found on ESPN+ with
Scott Warras on the call.
Milwaukee will then hit the road for the final trip of the regular season. The Panthers will face Purdue Fort Wayne in a 11:00 am CT doubleheader on Friday before making the trek to Ohio to face Wright State on Sunday.
The 11:00 am CT doubleheader against the Raiders will also be on ESPN+. Any updates and live coverage links for this week can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Since topping Milwaukee 8-0 on April 26, Northwestern has struggled, winning just one of its last seven contests. The Wildcats dropped a series against Maryland, a single game against UIC, and then were swept by Ohio State.
Patrick Herrera and Jay Beshears have been an impressive punch at the plate, each hitting over .320. Beshears has 23 extra-base hits for the Wildcats including a team-best three triples.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
Purdue Fort Wayne picked up a doubleheader split on Sunday against UIC to move to 10-14 in Horizon League action and fourth in the standings.
Despite ranking sixth in the league with a .257 batting average, the Mastodons have a trio of impressive bats in Cade Fitzpatrick, Jack Lang, and Ben Higgins. Fitzpatrick is top 10 in the Horizon League in batting average (.341), slugging percentage (.574), triples (2), and home runs (7) while Lang is fifth in hits (52) and fourth in run scored (39). The trio has combined for 25 home runs with Lang and Higgins each having nine apiece.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Defending Horizon League Champion Wright State was swept by Oakland on Friday but bounced back with a pair of wins over Youngstown State on Sunday and currently sits atop the standings at 16-6.
The Raiders are third in the league with a .269 batting average but lead the way with 149 extra-base hits including 55 home runs, which is 71st in the nation. Three starters hit at least .300 with Alec Sayre leading the way at .342 with 12 doubles and seven home runs.
SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers are 11-19 all-time against Northwestern after the Wildcats took an 8-0 victory earlier this year on April 26. The last MKE win over NU was a 6-4 triumph on April 17, 2018.
Purdue Fort Wayne earned a three-game sweep of the Panthers at Franklin Field earlier this season, but MKE still owns the all-time series lead 9-6. The Mastodons repaid the favor after the Panthers swept the series 4-0 in 2021.
Milwaukee and Wright State have had a storied rivalry with the Raiders having a 73-61 all-time series advantage. WSU has stretched that lead as of late, winning four straight matchups against the Panthers and five of the last six.
COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE
With a 2-1 record in Horizon League games last season, the Panthers made up a little ground but still have some work to do to make the postseason tournament.
The top six teams reach the Horizon League Tournament with Milwaukee checking in at 7-13 to sit in seventh. The Panthers trail both Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State by one game.
MKE has two against Purdue Fort Wayne (10-14) before ending with five straight against Wright State (16-6). NKU plays Youngstown State (8-13) twice and Oakland six times while YSU has five contests against UIC (12-7).
LIGHTS OUT IN THE 'PEN
AJ Blubaugh tacked on two more scoreless outings last week, picking up a pair of saves and running his streak to 7.2 straight scoreless innings.
Blubaugh has been untouchable since his last start at Youngstown State on April 15 allowing just two hits and striking out 11 in six outings.
This season, he's been near perfect out of the bullpen. In seven appearances, he hasn't allowed a single run in 9.0 innings of work while striking out 14 batters and earning five saves.
Overall, Blubaugh leads the Horizon League with a 2.81 ERA. The sophomore has 46 strikeouts in 48.0 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .206 batting average.
DEYOUNG DELIVERS AGAIN
Nate DeYoung came through in a big way on Friday, belting multiple home runs for the second game this season.
The junior ripped a two-run shot in the first inning and then a go-ahead, two-run homer in the third to help the Panthers top Northern Kentucky 6-5.
It marks DeYoung's second multi-homer game this season with the first coming against Youngstown State on April 15.
The junior belted three home runs to lead the Panthers to a 17-13 victory on. 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.
DeYoung leads the team with six home runs and a .475 slugging percentage.
ANY WAY ON
Although his batting average may rank seventh on the team, senior
Mitchell Buban still finds a way to get on base.
Buban has drawn 14 walks and a team-best 10 hit by pitches for a .368 on-base percentage.
Last year, Buban was hit by a pitch 18 times, which is tied for fourth all-time for a single season in program history.
Buban currently ranks second in program history with 52 hit by pitch for his career, trailing Clay Schwartz (1994-97) who recorded 68 which was a NCAA record upon his graduation.
THE MAGIC 8 BALL
With a 17-4 victory over Youngstown State on April 24, 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.
FINDING A GROOVE
On the mound,
Andy Neu has been putting together strong performances and notched three appearances last week without surrendering an earned run.
The junior gave up four combined runs in his first two appearances this season but just two earned runs in 12 appearances since.
Neu currently holds a 3.68 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched.
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.
Milwaukee has found success at the neighboring park, and that was no different this year. The Panthers topped MSOE 5-2 to improve to 19-11 all-time at American Family Field.
SEIDEL IS SLUGGIN'
Junior
Luke Seidel worked his way back above .300 after hitting .556 (10-for-18) against UIC and Youngstown State. In five games, Seidel had 10 hits to drive in seven runs and score three.
In three games last week, Seidel led the team with a .444 batting average, going 4-for-9 at the plate.
He has taken over the top spot for the Panthers, hitting .315 this season. Additionally, Seidel leads the team and is second in the Horizon League with 14 stolen bases.
In 20 Horizon League games, Seidel is third in the league in batting average (.373) and third in on-base percentage (.472).
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 third in the Horizon League and 85th in NCAA Division I with 1.33 stolen bases per game. The Panthers 56 total stolen bases puts them 103rd in the nation.
Luke Seidel and
Aaron Chapman currently rank third and fourth in the league with 14 and 12 steals, respectively.
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
Milwaukee finishes up the regular season with Wright State. The Raiders come to Milwaukee for a three-game series beginning on Thursday, May 19. All updates and live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
