MILWAUKEE – After wrapping up their second trip to California in their first three weeks the Panthers will play their first midweek game on Tuesday afternoon as Milwaukee visits former conference foe UIC at 4:00 p.m. at Curtis Granderson Stadium. Following the single game in Chicago, the Panthers will head to Kentucky for their only four-game set of the season, beginning on Friday, March 8 and will include the team's lone scheduled doubleheader of the year on Saturday, March 9 beginning at 1:00 p.m.

WEEK AT A GLANCE
Tuesday, March 5 | Milwaukee at UIC | Curtis Granderson Stadium | Chicago, Ill. | 4:00 pm
Friday, March 8 | Milwaukee at Western Kentucky | Nick Denes Field | Bowling Green, Ky. | 3:00 pm
Saturday, March 9 | Milwaukee at Western Kentucky | Nick Denes Field | Bowling Green, Ky. | 1:00 pm
Saturday, March 9 | Milwaukee at Western Kentucky | Nick Denes Field | Bowling Green, Ky. | ~ 4:00 pm
Sunday, March 10 | Milwaukee at Western Kentucky | Nick Denes Field | Bowling Green, Ky. | 1:00 pm

QUICK LINKS
ESPN+ (UIC Game Only): mkepanthers.com/coverage
Audio Stream (All Games): mkepanthers.com/coverage
Live Stats (All Games): mkepanthers.com/coverage
Follow Along (On X): @MKE_Baseball

SCOUTING UIC
Milwaukee meets longtime foe UIC for its first midweek matchup of the season, as the Flames enter the matchup at 6-5 overall this year including a pair of wins in this past weekend's series at Ohio. In 159 all-time Division I matchups, the Panthers have won 65 while the Flames have won 94, including last season's 8-4 win over Milwaukee on March 14, 2023. Tuesday's matchup will be the first of three scheduled matchups this season, which includes a return trip to Curtis Granderson Stadium on March 26 before the Flames head north to Milwaukee on April 16.

The UIC offense has a .301 average as a team led by Jackson Bessette, who leads the team with a .452 batting average in his 10 games. Zane Zielinski has started in all 11 of the Flames contests this year and leads the team with two home runs and 12 RBIs with his .349 batting average. Rayth Petersen and AJ Henkle are both one off the team lead with 11 RBIs apiece in the early going.

On the hill, ace Dillon Schueler has been a force for the staff in his 15 innings with a 1.80 ERA but has allowed nine walks over that span while striking out five batters. Brandon Bak (1-1, 3.50 ERA) and Kendall Lyons (1-1, 6.23 ERA) have both pitched more than 17 innings apiece this year to round out UIC's weekend rotation. Last week the Flames started Vincent Gohlke during their mid-week in-city showdown against North Park, Gohlke pitched two innings in his first start of the year with a pair of strikeouts. Ryan Smith made UIC's other midweek start and was touched up for nine runs and seven hits and was unable to make it out of the first inning on the road against Incarnate Word on February 21.

Sean McDermott has been a staple with the program for more than two decades and assumed the head coaching role, following the 2021 season. Now during his third season as head coach, he has accumulated 56 wins against 55 losses. He was previously the head coach at NAIA member Viterbo in La Crosse, Wisconsin from 1996-98, and led the V-Hawks to 74 wins during his time there.

SCOUTING WESTERN KENTUCKY
Western Kentucky was supposed to play on the road at Bellarmine on Tuesday, but the game was postponed due to weather conditions in Louisville. The Hilltoppers will enter the series with Milwaukee on a two-game winning streak over West Virginia over the weekend and with an 8-5 record overall. The team played a familiar foe for Milwaukee as WKU knocked off Purdue Fort Wayne three times in a four-game series before splitting a four-game set with the Mountaineers this past weekend. This weekend will be Milwaukee's first time playing Western Kentucky since the 2006 season, when the Panthers fell by a 14-13 score on March 19 of that season. The two teams have met eight times in program history dating back to the 1994 season, with the Hilltoppers leading the series by a 5-3 margin.

Based off of last week's rotation against West Virginia, the Panthers  face probably starter  Jack Bennett in the opener, who has a 4.91 ERA over his first 11 innings on the season. Jacob Bimbi has made three starts this year and posted a 2.77 ERA while going 2-0 as he leads the pitching staff with 19 strikeouts. Zach Duenas started game three against West Virginia last week and has pitched 4 2/3 innings in his three appearances this year including two starts while pitching to a 7.23 ERA. Dawson Hall is also expected to get a start, and has been the leader of the staff with a team-best 17 innings pitched with a 2-0 record, he has an impressive 0.53 ERA to start the year while allowing just a 0.88 WHIP this season.

With a .274 team batting average the Hilltoppers have been led by a pair who have been in the lineup for all 13 of the team's games. Dylan O'Connell has a team-best 18 hits and has scored 13 runs while posting a .340 batting average, while Blake Cavill has a team-high .395 batting average with 17 hits and leads the team with 11 walks and 13 RBIs. Four other players in the lineup for WKU have at least seven RBIs while O'Connell has been a force on the basepaths with seven steals in 10 tries this year.

Marc Rardin is in his second season leading the team and has a 41-31 record for his career with the program. He previously served as the head coach at Iowa Western Community College for 20 seasons and made 12 National Junior College Athletic Association World Series Appearances while with the Reivers.

LEADING THE PACK
Through his first two starts this season, Luke Hansel leads the Horizon League with 20 strikeouts over his first 17 2/3 innings. Milwaukee is no stranger in having the Horizon League leader in strikeouts at the end of the season as well, since 1999 the Panthers have had five pitchers lead the league in strikeouts, second to Youngstown State, who has had the individual leader in strikeouts six times over that span.

TOP FIVE IN HORIZON
Milwaukee's pitching has been off to a solid start in 2024, with a Horizon League-leading team earned run average of 5.33. Individually, the Panthers are scattered in the top-five in several pitching categories within the league as Luke Hansel leads in earned run average (1.02), innings pitched (17 2/3), strikeouts (20), and is second in opponents' batting average (.167).

Adrian Montilva is second in the league in ERA at 1.76, while Gavin Theis is third at 4.66; Montilva leads the league in opponents' batting average at .145, and is third in innings pitched at 15 1/3, while he is also fifth in the conference with 12 strikeouts.

THRILLER IN EXTRAS
During the team's series opener against Long Beach on March 1, the Panthers held an early 2-0 lead with a pair of scores in the third inning. The Dirtbags of Long Beach evened the score in the bottom of the eighth before Milwaukee took a lead in the top of the ninth. Long Beach was able to tie the score again to send the game to extra innings. Milwaukee took their third lead of the game with another run in the top of the 11th, but Long Beach scored two in the bottom half for their first lead of the game in walk-off fashion.

The loss drops Milwaukee to 0-1 in extra innings in 2024. Since 2015, the Panthers have a 13-16-1 record in extra inning contests.

HITS NOT TRANSLATING TO RUNS JUST YET
Entering the fourth week of the collegiate baseball season Milwaukee has totaled 58 hits through their first nine games, which has only resulted in 15 runs thus far. On the contrary, opponents have also racked up the exact number of hits with 58 hits against the Panthers but have scored 53 runs. Ten of the 53 hits given up by Milwaukee have left the ballpark.

UNABLE TO DIAL UP A ZERO AFTER ONE
Milwaukee has scored runs in the top half of the first inning on four occasions this season but have only been unable to back up the effort with a response from its pitching staff just once. The Panthers scored a run in the first inning during the second game at Fresno State, and both the second and third games at UTRGV, giving up the lead on all three instances in the bottom half of those frames. Milwaukee also scored a run to open the game on March 2 versus Long Beach and the Panthers were able to hang a zero up in the bottom of the first against the Dirtbags.

WEEKEND OF FIRSTS
Seven Panthers recorded their first hits in Milwaukee uniforms against Fresno State in the season-opening series, while Tyler Bickers, Teige Lethert, and Sean Tillmon also recorded their first Milwaukee RBIs. Collecting hits were Zach Lane, Q Phillips, Tai Walton, and Gabe Roessler, including a double for Lane and a Bickers triple.

Also making their collegiate debuts last week were Riley Peterson, who struck out one batter over 1 2/3 innings, while Tristan Arnold went 1 1/3 scoreless innings at Fresno State on Sunday.

BICKERS IN THE OPENER
With his two-run triple in the season opener on February 16 at Fresno State, Tyler Bickers became the first Panther to hit a triple in a season opener since the 2021 season, when Marcus Cline hit a three-base hit in the seventh inning of the opener at the University of Kentucky.

He also became the first Panther to record three RBIs in a season opener since the 2022 opener, when Luke Seidel (4), and Mitchell Buban (3) had three or more RBIs in the first game of the season.

NEW LOOK LINEUP
Milwaukee's lineup needed to be completely revamped and retooled following the departure of one of the largest graduating groups in program history, including nine players that started in at least 30 games for the Black & Gold in 2023. Included in those that left the program were Horizon League All-First Team selection Aaron Chapman, as well as second teamer Mark Connelly, while Connelly along with Marcus Cline were both named to the All-Tournament team as the trio made up three-fourths of the Panther starting infield.

Staples Luke Seidel, Ty Olejnik locked down left and centerfield respectively, while Tommy Benson and Jake Novak split time in right field through the duration of the season. Milwaukee's five-plus season backstop Jack Thelen was a Horizon League Second Team honoree last year and was just as dangerous defensively as he was at the plate. Nate DeYoung was a two-way threat for the Panthers as Milwaukee's primary designated hitter, as well as the top closer in the conference with his league-leading nine saves.

Starting first baseman Justin Hausser suffered an injury in early May, short-circuiting his bid for a spot on the All-Conference team. The junior will be the lynchpin in the Panther lineup to bridge the gap from last year's team to this year's team as he plans to be back at full strength heading into his 2024 campaign.

TRANSFER HAVEN
Milwaukee's incoming class of 15 included 11 transfers from varying levels of baseball, as the crop of newcomers will look to make an impact on the Panther lineup and pitching staff immediately.

Making their way to Milwaukee from Division I programs are pitcher Logan Dobberstein from Kansas State, third baseman Zach Lane from Ball State, outfielders Dallan Quigley from North Dakota State and Tai Walton from the University of Hawai'i, as well as pitcher Isaac Wenzel from Indiana State.

NAIA transfer Logan Snow from Menlo College will wrap up his career with the Panthers. Junior college transfers in infielders Tyler Bickers of John Wood College, and Gabe Roessler from Madison College, along with catcher Teige Lethert from Iowa Central are all expected to see playing time for MKE in 2024.

Infielder/outfielder Sean Tillmon, formerly of Concordia Wisconsin, and catcher Ben Buehring, formerly of Marian (Wis.) were conference opponents in the Division III Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

The 11 transfers join Luke Hansel, Caleb Lorbecki, Adrian Montilva, Q Phillips, Owen Rice, and Mike Sullivan who has all transferred to Milwaukee over the last few seasons.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Milwaukee welcomes in four true freshmen to the team in 2024, three of which hail from the state of Wisconsin. Tristan Arnold is a pitcher from Mukwonago, while Riley Peterson hails from Verona and is a left-handed slinger. Two-way player Camden Kuhnke will play infield and pitch for the Panthers, with Cole Spitzer rounding out the four-man class as a lefty pitcher from St. Paul, Minnesota.

RACKING UP THOSE MILEAGE POINTS
This season, Milwaukee will visit California, Kentucky, and Illinois twice, as well as Texas and Ohio during the first six-plus weeks of the season before playing in their first home game against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday, March 28. In total, the Panthers will travel a total of 14,548 miles from campus to campus before opening the home portion of their schedule.

NEW ON THE DOCKET
Milwaukee will meet several opponents for the first-time ever in their Division I history beginning with the season-opening series at Fresno State. The Panthers will also meet Texas Rio Grande Valley from February 23-25, Long Beach State from March 1-3, and St. Thomas at home on April 1 as first-time foes in 2024.

SOME BIG OPPONENTS
After going 2-2 against their four Big Ten opponents last year, the Panthers will take on both Iowa and Northwestern for the third consecutive season, while also facing Michigan for just the second-ever occurrence and first time since 2009.

Last year the Panthers split a home-and-home series with Northwestern, as the home team won each time, while the Panthers fell to Iowa on the road. Milwaukee blanked Minnesota early in the season by a 3-0 score on March 1.

DOUBLEHEADER WITH THE CREW
Through a marketing agreement between the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Brewers, the Panthers have been able to host 31 games at American Family Field, formerly Miller Park, since the 2002 season. During the team's 31 games, Milwaukee has gone 20-11, including last season's win over Milwaukee School of Engineering.

This year, the Panthers will meet the Raiders on April 17 with first pitch slated for 5:05 pm, earlier in the day the Brewers will host the San Diego Padres in a clash of National League foes beginning at 12:10 pm at American Family Field.

NO CHANGES ON THE HORIZON
This is the second consecutive season that the Horizon League will be comprised of six teams following the departure of UIC in 2022. The membership has fluctuated going back to 2016 with the additions of Northern Kentucky in 2016, and Purdue Fort Wayne in 2021, while Valparaiso departed in 2018 and UIC left following the 2022 season.

PRESEASON POLL
The Horizon League announced its preseason poll prior to the start of the season with Milwaukee projected to finish in fourth place in the six-team league accumulating 16 points.

Wright State was named league favorite with 34 points, followed by Northern Kentucky with 28 and Oakland with 22. The Panthers finished ahead of Youngstown State (15 points), and Purdue Fort Wayne (11) to round out the league projections.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will open Horizon League play next weekend as the Panthers will head to Nischwitz Stadium for a three-game series against defending league champion Wright State. The Panthers and Raiders will begin their series on Friday at 2:00 p.m. followed by a 1:00 p.m. start on Saturday, and a 12:00 p.m. start on Sunday. All times are central time zone starts.

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 17 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.