MILWAUKEE – Following a 2-3 homestand, including a win in its most recent game on Tuesday night against Northwestern, the Milwaukee baseball team is on the road for the final time this season with a four-game trip beginning with a weekend series at Wright State on Friday. The trip will conclude with a return visit to Northern Illinois, after the Huskies opened the month at Franklin Field on May 3.

The Panthers are currently 22-24 on the season with a 10-13 mark in the Horizon League and are currently in fourth place heading into the final two weekends of the regular season.

There will only be live stats available for the weekend set at Wright State, while live stats and live video will be available for the Northern Illinois contest on May 16. All links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Wright State is coming off a key three-game sweep over second place Northern Kentucky, as the two sides entered last weekend tied for first. The three-game sweep moved the Raiders to 18-6 in Horizon League games and in the driver's seat to clinch the top seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament.

The Raiders are 31-18 on the season overall and have just six games left on the schedule with Milwaukee this weekend and Youngstown State on the road to close the season. Wright State rides in on a six-game winning streak, which includes non-conference wins over Ohio State, Dayton, and Central Florida.

Andrew Patrick has been one of the top offensive performers all season in the Horizon League with a .332/.422/.690 slash line, while also recording 34 extra-base hits with a team-best 16 doubles, three triples and 15 home runs. He leads the team with 45 RBIs, 56 runs scored and 24 stolen bases, as the offensive unit is second in the Horizon League with a .275 average with 450 runs scored but are tops in the league with 62 home runs.

Jay Luikart at .304 and Sammy Sass at .293 have both amassed over 50 hits on the season, while the pair have combined for 14 home runs and 60 RBIs. Dane Thomas is one of the top batters in the conference in getting on base with 29 hits, 21 walks, and 10 HBPs for a .444 on-base percentage.

One of the most consistent rotations in the conference, the Raider pitching staff has been led by Sebastian Gongora and his 7-1 record with a 3.01 ERA and is tied for the conference lead with 70 strikeouts. Luke Stofel (3-4, 3.93 ERA) has tossed 55 innings over 10 starts, while Jake Shirk (4-4, 4.52 ERA) leads the team with 69 2/3 innings this season. The Raider staff is second to Milwaukee's in team ERA with a 5.23 mark compared to the Panthers' 5.10 team ERA.

Wright State and Milwaukee are the top two teams in the league in fielding, as Milwaukee has a league-leading .973 fielding percentage with Wright State in a close second place at .972.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois is 8-38 on the season and sitting in last place in the MAC. The Huskies will play a weekend set against conference foe Bowling Green, before welcoming the Panthers to DeKalb, Illinois on Tuesday.

The Huskies are hitting .268 on the year led by Colin Summerhill as the only player on the team with a .300 or better batting average at .301. Summerhill leads the team with 52 hits, 13 doubles, 10 home runs, and 46 RBIs, while slugging .572 and has a .368 on-base percentage. Aaron Harper is second on the team, just one off Summerhill's pace for the team lead in hits and has 36 RBIs on the year with a .291 average. Eric Erato is a threat on the base paths with 22 swipes in 27 chances as he is the team leader with 39 runs scored.

Northern Illinois has an inflated team ERA at 8.90, Mason Ruh leads the staff with a 5.59 ERA in 46 2/3 innings with 40 strikeouts including a hitless inning as he recorded his second win of the season over the Panthers on May 3. The staff held Milwaukee to just three hits over nine innings on May3, but the Panthers will look to bounce back against a team that has a .328 batting average against and has yielded 99 doubles, 25 triples and 66 home runs this season. Matt Salomonson, who started against Milwaukee has the second most starts on the year with six, while posting a 7.18 ERA over 36 1/3 innings.

Defensively, Northern Illinois is tied for the worst fielding percentage in the MAC at .955, while committing 81 errors on the year in 1265 chances.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee fell to 34-28 all-time against Northern Illinois on May 3, and looks to return to its winning ways after its six-game winning streak over the Huskies was snapped earlier this month. The Panthers have won their last four visits to DeKalb, Illinois dating back to the 2015 season.

After the team's three-game sweep over Wright State in early April, the Panthers are now 66-76 against the Raiders all-time. The Panthers are just 3-6 in their last nine games in Dayton, Ohio, with a 25-40 all-time mark on the road against Wright State.

INSIDE THE PARK
In Tuesday's win over Northwestern, Ty Olejnik recorded an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the eighth inning in what proved to be the deciding run in the team's 3-2 win over the Wildcats.

Olejnik is not the only man in the Panther dugout to record an inside the park home run, as Associate Head Coach Shaun Wegner accomplished the feat on May 8, 2010, against Wright State at Nischwitz Stadium in Ohio. Wegner's inside-the-parker went for two runs and gave Milwaukee a 7-0 lead en route to a 10-7 win over the Raiders.

NOVAK'S NIGHT
With three hits and five RBIs in a start on May 5 against Oakland, Jake Novak doubled his season output in RBIs, which included a three-run triple against the Golden Grizzlies in the fourth inning to put Milwaukee ahead by a 3-2 score early in the game. Novak later had an RBI single in the sixth before driving in the game-winning run in the 10th inning.

Not only did Novak become the first Panther to have five RBIs in a game, but he also became the first to have at least four in a single contest for Milwaukee this season. The team has had 12 three-RBI performances, including two apiece by Luke Seidel, Marcus Cline, and Carson Hansen.

HOME COOKING
With an 8-2 record at Franklin Field, and 9-2 record in home games to start the season, the Panthers were off to their best home start since the 2021 season when the Panthers were also 9-2 mark in home games. Milwaukee was a perfect 13-0 in home games during the 2013 season, the only season in program history the Panthers defended home field throughout the season.

Under the direction of Scott Doffek, Milwaukee is 193-95 in home games for a .670 winning percentage. Doffek's predecessor, Jerry Augustine posted a 129-60 home mark for a .683 winning percentage. Combined the duo are 322-155 (.675), while the program all time is 342-185 (.649) in home games since the program moved to Division I, competing in its first home season in 1991.

TOMMY'S TURN
Milwaukee junior Tommy Benson has turned it back on of late at the plate with 10 hits in Milwaukee's last 10 games, including seven doubles, four RBIs and six runs scored. Benson boosted his season batting average by 31 points this past week as he leads the team with a .333 average during the team's most recent 10-game stretch.

WALK IT OFF x4
Milwaukee has had four walk-off wins over the last three homestands, with wins coming on April 7 against Wright State, while also picking up last at bat wins against Northern Kentucky on both April 21 and 22. Luke Seidel had the game-winning hits in both the April 7 and 21st contests, while Justin Hausser had the game winner with a double against the Norse on April 22.

The most recent walk-off came on May 5 in extra innings against Oakland when Jake Novak singled home the game-winning run with the bases loaded in the 10th inning.

After going walk-off-less in 2022, the three walk offs this year were 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.

STEPPING IT UP IN LEAGUE PLAY
The Panthers offense has picked up in league play with some drastic swings in games overall versus games against Horizon League opponents. Aaron Chapman is hitting .355 on the season but when facing conference competition, he has a .402 batting average. Mark Connelly is also hitting 34 points better against league foes, while Marcus Cline has seen one of the bigger jumps on the team as he is hitting .217 overall on the year but owns a .284 average in 23 league games.

ONE SWING, MULTIPLE MARKS
With his home run in the top of the ninth inning at Purdue Fort Wayne in the series finale on April 15, Aaron Chapman recorded his 100th hit and 50th RBI in a Panther uniform, just two seasons. Fittingly, he accomplished his Panther marks against his former team in the Mastodons in his final at bat in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

HOW SWEEP WAS THAT?
With its sweep of Wright State from April 6-8, 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.

THE UNCONVENTIONAL CYCLE
Mark Connelly recorded the first-ever cycle in Panther baseball history during the teams win on March 31 over Oakland. 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.

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. On the season, Thelen has thrown out 22 baserunners against this season and currently leads the Horizon League. Thelen is fourth in the conference with 323 putouts and is second in the Horizon League in total chances with 371. He is the top defensive catcher this season with a .995 fielding percentage.

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.

RUBBER-ARM MAN
Sam Mathews has appeared in 29 games thus far through the team's first 46 on the season and is currently fifth in the country in appearances, four shy of tying the national leaders. He currently leads the Horizon League in pitching appearances in his final collegiate season.

The program's single-season appearance leader is Matt Freisleben, who appeared in 37 games during the 2002 season. No pitcher for Milwaukee has appeared in over 32 games in over a decade, with the last coming in 2012 as Kaleb Engelke pitched in 32 games that season.

TOUGH TO STRIKEOUT
Mark Connelly is currently 21st in all of NCAA Division I in the category of 'Toughest to Strikeout' having struck out in only 14 times in 178 at bats. His number is currently leading the Horizon League having struck out in just one of every 12.7 at bats. Aaron Chapman is not far behind and is currently 35th in the nation, striking out just once every 11.1 at bats.

THE STOLEN BASE RACE
In 46 games, Milwaukee's Luke Seidel has stolen 16 bases on the season and is currently 150th in Division I in stolen bases, while he is 137th in the country in stolen bases per game at 0.38. He currently leads the conference in stolen base percent at 16-for-16, no other player in the Horizon League has more than 11 stolen bases without being caught this season.

In Milwaukee history, Seidel is now fourth on the all-time stolen base list with 47 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 ninth saves as Milwaukee has relied heavily on the senior righty to lock down eight of the team's 22 wins on the season thus far. DeYoung is currently 15th in NCAA Division I in saves, with the with just 14 pitchers in the country recording at least 10 saves, including the national leaders with 12.

CAUGHT HIM LOOKING
With 70 strikeouts on the year, Riley Frey is currently leading the Horizon League in total strikeouts. Frey also leads the league with the most strikeouts looking, getting 27 of his 70 strikeouts glaring at his third strike, including five in his start against Northern Kentucky on April 21.

KEEPING IT IN THE PARK
Through the team's first 46 games this season, Milwaukee pitching has only allowed 36 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 44 or more home runs. Oakland has allowed the most home runs this season with 80.

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.