Saturday vs. Northern Kentucky | Alumni Day/Weekend (Register Today)
Sunday vs. Northern Kentucky | Scott Doffek Recognition

LEADING OFF
» Milwaukee enters this week as winners of six of their last nine games including a 3-1 week this past week with a pair of wins over Wright State this past weekend. The Panthers will head to non-conference Iowa on Tuesday evening in Iowa City, before returning home to Franklin Field for a five-game homestand that stretches into the month of May.
» Iowa boasts a 22-15 record and are 9-6 in Big Ten play including a three-game sweep over Rutgers at home this past weekend, after hosting the Panthers on Tuesday the Hawkeyes head to Lincoln to take on the Cornhuskers in an important series at the top of the conference.
» Northern Kentucky has hit the skids of late with losses in four of its last six games, including the last two in this past weekend's series versus Oakland. The Norse will visit Xavier on Wednesday before heading to Wisconsin on Friday.

SCOUTING IOWA
Entering the week off a three-game sweep of Big Ten foe Rutgers, the Iowa Hawkeyes welcome Milwaukee to Duane Banks Field on Tuesday evening. It will be Milwaukee's 23rd all-time trip to Iowa City, with the Hawkeyes returning the favor to Wisconsin just once in 2022.

Iowa is currently on a six-game winning streak against the Panthers, with the Hawkeyes owning a 13-10 record against the Panthers dating back to their inaugural meeting in 1995. The Panthers are 3-7 in their last 10 meetings with Iowa.

The Hawkeyes are 6-2 over their last eight, which has seen Iowa outscore their competition by a 65-45 margin, including a 28-7 run differential this past weekend over Rutgers. Andy Nelson leads the offense with a .408 average, while Raider Tello has a team-best 47 hits and is tied for the team lead with 29 runs scored. Davis Cop is hitting .317 on the year and has a team-best 38 RBIs as he along with Nelson, Sam Peterson, and Kyle Hucksdorf all lead the squad with five home runs apiece.

As a team, Iowa has a staff ERA of 5.95, led by Aaron Savary with a 2.50 ERA in nine appearances out of the bullpen this season. Savary got the one-inning start against Milwaukee in 2023 and got through the frame in 10 pitches to set the tone as Milwaukee was held to just six hits. Iowa has started several different midweek starters throughout the season, most recently Ganon Archer (0-0, 4.82 ERA) against Bradley a week ago, while Elliot Cadieux-Lanoue (3-1, 8.49 ERA), Anthony Watts (1-0, 4.50 ERA)), and Justin Hackett (0-0, 0.00 ERA) are among the pitchers that have made starts in non-conference games for Iowa.

SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Northern Kentucky will visit Xavier before traveling to Wisconsin for the three-game set with the Panthers, as part of the Norse's longest road trip of the season at eight games. NKU currently sits at 24-15 with a 12-6 record in Horizon League games, which includes a sweep over the Panthers from March 22-24.

Narrowly hanging on to a one-game lead over Oakland and Wright State heading into the weekend, the Norse have had a similar season to that of Milwaukee's most recent opponent in Wright State in that the team has one of the top offenses in the league, while their pitching staff has been in the middle of the pack.

Leading the way at the plate has been Liam McFadden-Ackman who leads the Horizon League across all slash lines with a .418 AVG/.849 SLG/.548 OBP/1.397 OPS. He leads the league RBIs with 61, and home runs with 16, while he also leads with 45 walks and is fourth in the league with 15 steals. Treyvin Moss and Cleary Simpson are among the league leaders in numerous offensive categories, with Simpson scoring a league-best 53 runs, and Moss has a Horizon-best 62 hits on the year, one ahead of McFadden-Ackman.

NKU's rotation has been anchored by a trio of veteran arms with Clay Brock (5-2, 6.43 ERA), Ben Gerl (3-3, 6.46 ERA), and Tanner Gillis (4-1, 5.23 ERA) expected to get starts against the Panthers this weekend. Nick McClanahan has been the most reliable relieve out of the bullpen for NKU with three saves in 20 relief appearances and 34 innings pitched. Aaron Massie (3-3, 3.14 ERA) and Jake Johnson (1-1, 5.61 ERA) are also regulars out of the pen for the Norse.

In 47 all-time meetings, Milwaukee owns a 26-21 record, which includes a 14-7 record in home games against the Norse. Last season the Panthers took 2-of-3 from the Norse at Franklin Field, as all three games were decided by one run.

LAST SERIES AT THE PLATE
Milwaukee was outhit in the series with Wright State by a 31-25 margin but were able to come out on top in two of the three games by one run each. The Panthers had nine doubles on the week led by four off the bat of Carson Hansen, while Tyler Bickers also had a pair of two-base hits.

Milwaukee was also 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts including Sean Tillmon, who was 2-for-2 including a steal of home in Sunday's game. Hansen led the Panthers with nine RBIs in the series and hit .462, while Zach Lane hit .571 on the week in just seven at bats with three RBIs.

LAST SERIES ON THE MOUND
Earning wins for the Panthers over the weekend were Johnny Kelliher and Keagon Kaufmann out of the bullpen for the Panthers, Kelliher appeared in two games during the series and pitched 2 1/3 innings with two strikeouts as he earned the win on Friday and his first career save. Kaufmann did not allow an earned run over three innings on Sunday and earned the victory for the Panthers.

Luke Hansel started on Friday and pitched a team-high six innings with eight strikeouts over his outing. Adrian Montilva struck out five Raiders in his Saturday start, while Owen Rice struck out four in his two innings of work to open Sunday's game against Wright State. James Severson tossed 2/3 of an inning and did now allow a run late in the game on Sunday.

DEFENSE STEPPING UP
After committing 29 defensive miscues in their first 22 game (3-19 record), the Panthers have only committed seven errors in games since then helping lead to a 7-7 record.

BATTING AVERAGE BOOSTERS
In 18 Horizon League games this season, the Panthers have upped their season batting average as a squad. As a team, Milwaukee has a .295 batting average in league games compared to a .260 mark overall this season.

Leading the way in bumping that mark is Carson Hansen who is hitting .389 in league games (.294 overall), while Tyler Bickers (.366 in HL Games/.306 Overall), Justin Hausser (.363/.327), Zach Lane (.304/.289), Gabe Roessler (.297/.220), and Q Phillips (.290/.276) are all hitting at least 10 percentage points better in league games than total games in 2024.

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT
With a win and a save this past week in three outings, junior left-hander Johnny Kelliher thrown three innings of scoreless ball while he has not allowed an earned run since March 30 against Purdue Fort Wayne. Since that outing, Kelliher has lowered his season ERA from 15.43 to 8.10.

Kelliher got a key strikeout to end the eighth inning on April 21 against Wright State before getting a double play ball to end the game for his first career save.

CARSON HANSEN: DOUBLES MACHINE
With five more doubles this past week, Carson Hansen now has a Horizon League-leading 17 two-base hits on the season. Hansen has tied the program record twice this season with three doubles at Wright State on March 16, and again on April 20 at home versus the Raiders.

The last Panther to record at least 20 doubles in a single season was Trevor Schwecke, who finished the 2019 campaign with 20. The program record for doubles in a season is 28 set by Jess Hart during the 2008 season.

ROESSLER'S ON-BASE PACE
Gabe Roessler enters the week against Iowa and Northern Kentucky having safely reached base in 21 consecutive games. Since 2006, that is the 28th occurrence of a Panther reaching base in at least 20 consecutive games, as he joins teammate Justin Hausser, who had a 21-game on-base streak in 2023.

Since 2006, only four players have ever had streaks of at least 30 consecutive games of getting on base including Mike Goetz in 2006 (57 games), Daulton Varsho in 2017 (41), Ryan Solberg in 2014 (37), and Rob Brockel in 2007 (34).

HANSEL LEADS THE ARMS RACE
Luke Hansel has arguably been the best starting pitcher among the six Horizon League teams this season as Milwaukee's right-handed ace leads the league with a 2.95 ERA, with teammate Adrian Montilva second in the league at 4.64. Hansel also has held batters to a .207 batting average against and leads the league with 58 strikeouts, while he is second in the league with 61 innings pitched.

Hansel has been named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week once this season, with that announcement made by the league on April 16.

THREE-GAME STRETCH FOR MONTILVA
Adrian Montilva recorded 26 strikeouts over a three-game span with eight against Northern Kentucky, a career-high 10 versus Purdue Fort Wayne before securing another eight against Oakland on April 6. With his total over three games, it was the most since 2018 when Austin Schulfer struck out 32 over a three-game stretch from March 30 to April 21. Schulfer had eight strikeouts against Oakland, followed by 15 against Northern Kentucky before wrapping up the stretch with nine strikeouts versus Youngstown State.

On March 30, Montilva tossed the 42nd game in program history that has seen a pitcher strikeout at least 10 batters in a game. He became the first to reach the 10-strikeout plateau since Riley Frey accomplished the feat on April 6, 2023, with a 10-strikeout game at home against Wright State.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
With 19 runs in the team's Horizon League victory over Wright State on March 16, the Panthers scored their most runs in a game since the 2021 season. Milwaukee scored 21 runs in a home game against Oakland on May 1, while it was the most games the Panthers scored in a road game since March 21, 2021, with a 19-run effort at Northern Kentucky.

With 19 runs against the Raiders, the mark tied the most runs that the Panthers have scored against Wright State. The only other occasion that Milwaukee scored 19 runs against Wright State came back on May 5, 2001, in a 19-2 win in Dayton, Ohio.

FIVE FOR HANSEN
Carson Hansen had five hits against Wright State on March 16, in doing so he joined elite company in program history becoming just the 22nd player to record five hits in a single game, including the first since May 24, 2012. Among Hansen's five hits, three were doubles as the sophomore tied the program mark for double in a single contest, most recently completed in 2018 by Tyler Bordner on May 23 of that season.

LONG-RELIEF WINS
With five innings of relief on March 16, Logan Snow recorded his first win with the Panthers as he struck out five Raiders along the way. The feat of five-plus relief innings and a win occurred twice in 2023 as Nick Gilhaus pitched 6 2/3 innings against Minnesota in a 3-0 win on March 1, while Eliot Turnquist did not allow a run over six innings against Wright State at home on April 8.

FIVE-GAME STRETCH OF RUNS
Over Milwaukee's five games from the second game of the team's doubleheader at Western Kentucky (March 9) through the March 17 game at Wright State, the Panthers scored 46 runs. It was the highest offensive output for the team since Milwaukee scored 47 runs over a five-game stretch from March 19 through April 1 in the 2022 season.

WALK IT OUT
Milwaukee has drawn at least nine walks in two games already in 2024, including a season-high 10 in the team's 19-6 win over Wright State on March 16. In the team's March 5 game at UIC, the Panthers drew nine walks against Flames pitching.

The highest amount of walks that Milwaukee drew in 2023 was eight at Youngstown State on April 30, while Milwaukee has not drawn at least nine walks in a game since May 21, 2022, when they drew 16 walks against Wright State pitching in the final game of the regular season.

FIRST WIN FOR WEGNER
Shaun Wegner earned his first collegiate head coaching victory on March 9 with the team's 6-5 extra-inning win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Wegner becomes the eighth different head coach to record a win since the program's inception in 1957, while he becomes the fifth manager in the team's Division I history (1991-present) to earn a win.

IN EXTRA INNINGS
Milwaukee is 2-1 in extra-inning games thus far in 2024 and have been right around that mark over that .500 mark the last decade. The Panthers are 16-16-1 in extra-inning games dating back to the 2015 season.

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.

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.

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.

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
After the home series with Northern Kentucky, the Panthers will play their final two non-conference home games of 2024 on April 30 versus Division II Parkside, before welcoming Northern Illinois to Franklin Field on May 1. The Panthers will visit Purdue Fort Wayne for the first weekend of May.

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 $10.99 a month (or $109.99 per year) and can cancel at any time. For road games, visit MKEPanthers.com for live coverage links.

BLACK & GOLD ON DEMAND
In addition to live coverage of all Panther home games, Panther fans can also re-live all the action by listening to archived games on the Black & Gold Radio Network. All games are chronicled at mke-panthers.mixlr.com/recordings.