MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee enters this week on a four-game winning streak as the Panthers knocked off the Wright State Raiders in a three-game set over the weekend, before a non-conference win over Carroll on Monday afternoon.

The Panthers will play a non-conference matchup at Iowa on Wednesday afternoon before a three-game Horizon League series at Purdue Fort Wayne to wrap up the first half of conference play. Milwaukee enters the week with a 14-14 record and have moved up to fourth place in the conference standings, just a half-game ahead of the Mastodons ahead of this weekend's series.

Live video and audio of the Iowa game as well as live stats links for all four games this week are available on MKEPanthers.com.

SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa was projected to finish in third in the Big Ten preseason poll back in February behind east coast foes Maryland and Rutgers. However, Iowa is already at 22 wins on the season against eight losses and are entering off a 1-2 weekend in Bloomington against Indiana.

Brenen Dorighi leads Iowa with a .349 average with 31 RBIs, while Raider Tello is the team leader with 40 hits. Keaton Anthony leads Iowa with six home runs and a team-best .625 slugging percentage and is fourth in the nation in doubles per game. Kyle Huckstorf leads the Hawkeyes with 10 stolen bases in 11 tries.

Pitching has been strong for the Hawkeyes all season as Iowa is currently 30th in the nation and leads the Big Ten in earned run average at 4.13 and is sixth in the nation and leads the conference in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.03. Iowa's staff loves to strike out opponents and is leading the Big Ten and is seventh national in strikeouts per nine at 11.6.

Brody Brecht leads the Iowa battalion of pitchers with a 2.43 ERA over 40 2/3 innings with 66 strikeouts as he is 12th in the country in total strikeouts and seventh nationally in strikeouts per nine innings. Milwaukee is expected to face Aaron Savary, who has only thrown four innings on the season all in relief over three appearances and has a 2.25 ERA in his rookie season with his home- state team. Iowa has also thrown Keaton Anthony is several midweek games this season as the Georgia native has a 4.26 ERA over 19 innings of work with 14 strikeouts, while also in the middle of the Hawkeye lineup.

SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
Purdue Fort Wayne has an 8-25 mark on the year overall but are still 5-7 in the Horizon League, which includes two wins over current conference leader Northern Kentucky, and another win over league-favorite Wright State. However, the Mastodons enter off a three-game sweep at the hands of Oakland this past weekend.

As a team, Purdue Fort Wayne is hitting just .247 on the season and are led by Cade Nelis as the only pitcher above .300 on the year with a .304 average. Ben Higgins in the middle of the lineup has a team-best 33 RBIs with seven doubles and six home runs on the year, while Braedon Blackford is comfortably in the league lead for home runs at the moment with 10 on the year thus far as he has driven in 29 runs and has a team-best .574 slugging percentage.

The area where the Mastodons have struggled this season has been on the mound as the team has allowed at least seven runs in each of their last five games and in 24 of their 33 games on the season. Milwaukee is expected to face Mac Ayers on Friday, Owen Willard on Saturday, and Jacob Myer on Sunday. Ayers has tossed 29 innings and struck out 35 while posting a 6.52 ERA, while Willard has thrown 21 2/3 innings and struck out 21 batters with a 7.06 ERA. Myer has a 9.18 ERA over his 33 1/3 innings with 25 strikeouts. JD Deany has accumulated the most innings out of the bullpen and has a 6.62 ERA over 35 1/3 innings in 12 outings, including seven relief appearances.

While Purdue Fort Wayne has committed 50 errors in 33 games, second-most in the Horizon League, the Mastodons are currently tops in the conference with 29 double plays turned and places them 15th in the nation in double plays turned on defense.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee heads back to Iowa City for the first time since 2019, when the Panthers fell to the Hawkeyes in 12 innings by the score of 5-4. Iowa owns the all-time series lead at 12-10 with Milwaukee's last win coming in 2015, when the Panthers picked up a 5-4 win in a game that saw Milwaukee and Iowa combine to throw 18 different pitchers, nine each side.

Last season, Iowa made its first-ever trip to Milwaukee and registered a 16-2 victory with seven starters in the lineup for Iowa recording at least two RBIs.

In 17 all-time meetings Milwaukee and Purdue Fort Wayne have been even with the Panthers holding a slim 9-8 all-time series lead. However, the Mastodons swept the five-game season series in 2022 including two games in mid-May in Fort Wayne. Milwaukee dropped the opener by a 2-1 score before falling in game two in Indiana by a 14-4 margin.

The Panthers hold a 4-4 record all-time in Fort Wayne and will look for its first win against the Mastodons in over two years with its last win coming on March 28, 2021, in a 14-3 win that saw Nate DeYoung drove in five runs.

HOW SWEEP WAS THAT?
With its sweep of Wright State over the weekend, Milwaukee notched its first sweep against any conference opponent since late March of 2021, when the Panthers swept Purdue Fort Wayne in the team's facility-opener at Franklin Field. The sweep was also Milwaukee's first series sweep against Wright State since May 17-19 of 2012, which also came at home in Wisconsin.

WALK IT OFF
On Friday, the Panthers walked-off the Raiders by a 6-5 score in 10 innings as Luke Seidel connected on a two-run single in the bottom of the 10th inning following an RBI base knock off the bat of Ty Olejnik, who scored the game-winning run.

It was Milwaukee's first walk-off victory since April 11, 2021, when the Panthers had a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning in a 12-8 Horizon League victory over Youngstown State at Franklin Field. Catcher Jack Kraus connected on a home run as he ended the game 3-for-6 with 6 RBIs.

APRIL HAS BEEN KIND
Since the calendar flipped to April, Aaron Chapman has been beyond hot at the plate with a .536 average with 15 hits in 28 at bats with four doubles, a home run and seven RBIs. He leads the team this month with eight runs scored and is a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts with a .552 on-base percentage over the team's first six games in April.

In addition to Chapman in the cleanup spot of the lineup, Mark Connelly has also hit .444 with a dozen hits in 27 at bats with one double, one triple and a team-best eight RBIs over that span.

In April, Milwaukee is outhitting opponents 69-49, and have also scored 43 runs while the pitching staff has only allowed 29 runs over 53 innings of work. The staff has struck out 59 batters, while Panther batters have struck out just 39 times in the six games of April.

THE UNCONVENTIONAL CYCLE
Complete game shutouts, inside-the-park home runs, and no hitters are just some of the things statistically 'easier' to accomplish than hitting a cycle in baseball history. Mark Connelly, however, accomplished the feat in team's March 31 win over Oakland.

The cycle was the first-ever in Milwaukee program history, as Connelly got the more 'difficult' hits out of the way early with a triple in the first inning and a home run in the fifth. He later added the double in the seventh inning and rounded out his cycle with a base knock in the eighth inning.

The four-hit effort was just the second on the season for a Panther batter as Tommy Benson had four hits in a game against Southeast Missouri on March 5.

WALK, WALK, WALK
For the first time this season a Panther batter walked three times in one game as Jack Thelen drew three bases on balls on April 1 against Oakland.

It was the third time in his career that he drew three walks in a game, having done so on April 20, 2019, against Wright State, and again on April 10, 2022, against Purdue Fort Wayne. Ironically, the Panthers have lost all three games that Thelen has walked on three occasions.

DON'T DO IT…HE DID IT
In an impressive showing on March 24, senior Jack Thelen threw our four attempted baserunners against him in the team's doubleheader against Youngstown State. He did so late in both games as well as he got the third out of the sixth and erased a leadoff single in the eighth during the opener against the Penguins, while getting the third out of the seventh and second out of the eighth inning in game two versus YSU.

Thelen hast thrown out a league-leading 13 baserunners against this season. Thelen is fourth in the conference with 209 putouts and is third in the league in total chances with 238.

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 50% of the time when leading off an inning. Thelen has reached base 56.5% of the time, while Chapman at 54.8% and Connelly at 53.5% are in the top-three in reaching base when leading off an inning.

RUBBER-ARM MAN
Newcomer Sam Mathews has appeared in 17 games thus far through the team's first 28 on the season and is currently 28th in the country in appearances.

Mathews continues to pitch in high-leverage spots having not allowed a run over his 15 innings with nine strikeouts and a .231 batting average against. Dating back to his time at Division III Marietta, Mathews has not yielded a run in an outing of three innings or shorter, since April 15, 2022. Over that span since, Mathews has pitched 21 1/3 innings in outings of three innings or fewer without allowing a run.

TOUGH TO STRIKEOUT
Mark Connelly is currently 23rd in all of NCAA Division I in the category of 'Toughest to Strikeout' having struck out in only eight times in 110 at bats. His number is currently second in the Horizon League having struck out in just one of every 13.8 at bats. Aaron Chapman is not far behind and is currently 36th in the nation, striking out just once every 12.1 at bats.

THE STOLEN BASE RACE
In 28 games, Milwaukee's Luke Seidel has stolen 14 bases on the season and is currently 66th in Division I in stolen bases, while he is 51st in the country in stolen bases per game at 0.50.

Seidel is one of five in the Horizon League with at least 10 stolen bases and is currently leading the conference in stolen base percent at 14-for-14, no other player in the Horizon League has more than seven stolen bases without being caught this season.

In Milwaukee history, Seidel is now fifth on the all-time stolen base list with 45 for his career, with the all-time program record set at 98 by Luke Meeteer from 2012-16.

SAVING THE DAY
Nate DeYoung has already recorded a league-best six saves as Milwaukee has relied heavily on the senior righty to lock down six of the team's 14 wins on the season thus far, including a three-strikeout performance in the team's 3-2 win over Murray State on March 10.

DeYoung is currently 16th in NCAA Division I in saves, with the with just 15 pitchers in the country recording at least seven saves, including the national leaders with nine.

CAUGHT HIM LOOKING
With 49 strikeouts on the year, Riley Frey currently leads the Horizon League in total strikeouts. Frey also leads the league with the most strikeouts looking, getting 18 of his 49 strikeouts glaring at his third strike. Luke Hansel is tied for 10th in the league in strikeouts looking with nine of his 45 strikeouts have been looking.

KEEPING IT IN THE PARK
Through the team's first 28 games this season, Milwaukee pitching has only allowed 21 home runs this season. The number is currently tops in the Horizon League, as the other five members of the six-team conference have all allowed at least 27 or more home runs. Oakland has allowed the most home runs this season with 47 given up, while Youngstown State has yielded 46 long balls and Purdue Fort Wayne has yielded 41.

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.

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.