MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee baseball team returns home to Franklin Field to open its third full-season of play at the suburban Milwaukee facility, with four games this week beginning with Concordia Wisconsin on Tuesday before a three-game series with Youngstown State from Friday through Sunday.

Milwaukee is 2-0 in Franklin Field openers and will look to extend that run against the Falcons on Tuesday with first pitch slated for 3:00 p.m. Following Tuesday's opener, the Panthers welcome in Youngstown State beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 1:00 p.m. start on Saturday and a 12:00 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

All four games will be featured on ESPN+ with Matt Menzl on the call for Tuesday's opener, with Scott Warras responsible for play-by-play duties for the weekend set vs. YSU. Links to the ESPN+ broadcasts, in addition to live audio streaming and live stat links can all be found on MKEPanthers.com. 

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Concordia Wisconsin is on 8-5 on the season including a 17-7 win in its last game against St. John's (Minn.) on Sunday in Tucson, Arizona.

Jimmy Juergensen leads the Falcons with 24 hits, eight doubles, and 17 RBIs with a .453 batting average and a .736 slugging percentage. Johannes Haakenson has hit .404 on the season with a team-best seven stolen bases and has 21 hits and 16 RBIs, Sean Tillman has 14 RBIs with 11 extra-base hits including a team-leading six triples. Haakenson has scored 19 runs on the year, while Tillman is second with 18 runs scored.

Concordia Wisconsin has a team ERA of 7.93as Luke Bruckner has pitched a team-best 11 innings with nine strikeouts as he is 0-1 on the year. Tyler Bartczak, Jack Hribernik, Beau Wills, and Blake Breon all have one win apiece, with Hribenik has not allowed a run over five innings.

The Falcons have 29 errors on the season with a .935 fielding percentage, as Tillman leads the way with 10 misplays in the field. Catcher Dillan Fike has 57 putouts and has allowed 10 stolen bases while catching two runners on the base paths.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
After a 20-win season in 2022, the Penguins are 4-15 in 2023 so far including a 1-2 weekend at home against Oakland last weekend with a win in the opener before dropping the latter two contests.

The Penguins are hitting .268 on the season led by Trey Law at .355 as he has 27 hits and is tied for the team lead with 16 runs, as Braeden O'Shaughnessy has also scored 16 runs with three home runs and a dozen RBIs. Padraig O'Shaughnessy leads the Penguins with 16 RBIs and has nine extra-base hits. Steven D'Eusanio has a team-best nine doubles with tow home runs and 10 RBIs as he is hitting .289 on the season.

Youngstown State is expected to throw three a trio of right-handers as Travis Perry leads the Penguins with two wins and 27 strikeouts over his team-leading 26 innings of work. Nick Perez is second on the team with 23 1/3 innings with 21 strikeouts over five starts, while Aidan English has one win in four outings as he has tossed 18 1/3 innings and struck out 18 batters. The pitching staff as a whole has yielded a league-worst 153 walks on the season.

Defensively the Penguins have committed 36 errors and have .944 fielding percentage, currently last in the Horizon League.

SERIES HISTORY
In six meetings since Milwaukee has become a Division I program, the Panthers are 6-0 in all-time meetings against the Falcons, including a 15-0 win over Concordia Wisconsin in late March 2022. Milwaukee has outscored CUW by a 125-21 margin over the six all-time meetings, last year's trip to Mequon was the first meeting between MKE and CUW since 2000.

Against Youngstown State, the Panthers are 68-42 in the 110 all-time meetings, including a win in their last head-to-head matchup when the Panthers won by a 17-4 score in game two of a doubleheader at Franklin Field in late April 2022. Over the last five seasons, the Panthers own an 18-10 record against Youngstown State including a 10-game winning streak from March 18, 2018, to May 17, 2019.

Milwaukee's 68 wins are the most against any opponent in program history, while the Panthers have a .618 winning percentage against YSU, the sixth-best mark in program history.

THINGS ARE HEATING UP
After hitting .500 last week, going 8-for-16 in four games, Aaron Chapman has raised his batting average to .360 on the season to lead the team and break into the top-five in the Horizon League. A trio from Northern Kentucky lead the way, while Andrew Patrick of Wright State is just a few percentage points ahead of Chapman.

TWO-FOR-ONE SPECIAL
In the opening game of the series at Northern Kentucky on March 17, Aaron Chapman connected on two home runs becoming the 68th Panther to have at least two home runs in a single game. He joins current teammates Jake Novak and Nate DeYoung with multi-home run games.

Novak accomplished the feat on February 19 a season ago at Alabama A&M, while DeYoung had a three-home run game on April 15 last season at Youngstown State and had a pair of round-trippers on May 6, 2022 at Northern Kentucky. The program record is four home runs in one game set back on March 17, 1999, when Todd Ludwig had four home runs at home against Butler.

LEADING THINGS OFF
Three Panthers have had success when leading off an inning as Aaron Chapman, Mark Connelly, and Jack Thelen have all reached base at least 40% of the time when leading off an inning. Thelen has reached base 63.6% of the time, while Chapman has reached 58.8%, and Connelly 44.4% when leading off a frame.

HELD OFF THE SCORESHEET
For the first time this season Milwaukee was shut out in the second game of the team's doubleheader on March 17 at Northern Kentucky.

It was the first time Milwaukee was shut out since May 10 of 2022 at home against Northwestern, and first time the team was shut out in a conference game since April 23 of 2022 against UIC. It was just the second time in 40 all-time meetings with Northern Kentucky that a Panther team has been held scoreless and first since May 1, 2016, when NKU won by a 3-0 score at Henry Aaron Field.

TOUGH TO STRIKEOUT
Through the team's first 17 games of the season, Marcus Cline has struck out five times in his 62 at bats.

That ratio places him in the top-50 in all of NCAA Division I in the "Toughest to Strikeout" category and is also tops in the Horizon League.

THE STOLEN BASE RACE
In 17 games, Milwaukee's Luke Seidel has stolen 10 bases on the season and is currently 59th in Division I in stolen bases, while he is 51st in the country in stolen bases per game at 0.59. Seidel and Northern Kentucky's Treyvin Moss are the only two in the Horizon League with double-digit steals, as Moss currently leads the league with 14.

In Milwaukee history, Seidel is now tied for fifth on the all-time stolen base list with 41 for his career, with the all-time program record set at 98 by Luke Meeteer from 2012-16.

TOUGH VS. LEFTIES...TOUGH VS. RIGHTIES
Left-handed pitcher Riley Frey is holding left-handed batters to a .176 batting average, on the flip side righty Nick Gilhaus is holding right-handed batters to a measly .171 batting average.

SAVING THE DAY
Nate DeYoung has already recorded five saves as Milwaukee has relied heavily on the senior righty to lock down five of the team's seven wins on the season thus far, including a three-strikeout performance in the team's 3-2 win over Murray State on March 10.

It is the earliest in a season that a pitcher has recorded at least four saves since Cody Peterson had his fourth on March 14 of the 2015 season. Peterson needed 12 games to record his fourth, while DeYoung had five saves in the team's dozen games.

CAUGHT HIM LOOKING
With 27 strikeouts on the year, Riley Frey is third in the Horizon League in total strikeouts. However, Frey leads the league with the most strikeouts looking, getting 13 of his 27 strikeouts glaring at his third strike.

Luke Hansel is tied for fourth in the league in strikeouts looking with seven of his league-leading 32 strikeouts have been looking.

KEEPING IT IN THE PARK
Through the team's first 17 games this season, Milwaukee pitching has only allowed 14 home runs this season. The number is currently tied for tops in the Horizon League with Northern Kentucky.

On the flip side, Youngstown State has allowed 27 home runs this season, while Purdue Fort Wayne, Wright State, and Oakland have all yielded at least 24 home runs this season.

PRESEASON POLL
The Horizon League announced the results of its preseason coaches' poll last week with Milwaukee selected to finish in third position with a total of 28 points, just one behind second-place Oakland.

Wright State was a near unanimous selection to repeat as Horizon League champions, hauling in five of six first-place votes. Northern Kentucky received the final first-place vote, and were fifth in the preseason poll with just 21 points.

PERFECT GAME PREVIEW
PerfectGame.org revealed its Horizon League season preview on February 6, with a trio of Panthers earning preseason all-conference honors. Outfielder Ty Olejnik, and pitchers Riley Frey and transfer Owen Rice were all selected for honors.

PLAY BALL!
Through a marketing agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Panthers have played at American Family Field, home of the Brewers, every season since 2002 (excluding 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

The Panthers are 19-11 all-time in games played at Milwaukee's Major League Stadium, including last season's 5-2 win over MSOE. The Panthers and Raiders will meet on April 26 following the Brewers/Tigers game.

AROUND THE LEAGUES

• Daulton Varsho (Toronto; Major League Baseball).
  • Season Begins March 30 at St. Louis.
  • Spring Training: 16 G, .171 AVG, 1 Double, 6 RBIs
• Austin Schulfer (Minnesota, MLB Non-Roster Invitee).
  • Season Begins March 31 at Kansas City.
  • Spring Training: 6 G, 4.05 ERA, 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7K
• Trevor Schwecke (Buffalo; Triple-A; MiLB Spring Training Call-Up).
  • Season Begins April 1 at Scranton/Wilkes Barre.
  • Spring Training: 4 G, .200 AVG, 1 Double
• AJ Blubaugh (Fayetteville; Single-A).
  • Season Begins April 7 vs. Carolina.
• Brian Keller (Hanshin; Nippon Professional Baseball).
  • Season Begins March 31 vs. Kyocera.
• Jack Mahoney (Milwaukee; American Association).
  • Season Begins May 12 at Lake Country.

CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Thanks to ESPN+, Milwaukee baseball fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. All of Milwaukee's home games will be carried live online at ESPN+, excluding the April 26 game at American Family Field. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN+ platform.

ESPN+ offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content, and original programming not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) and can cancel at any time.

For road games, visit MKEPanthers.com for live coverage links.