LEADING OFF
» Milwaukee enters year two of the Shaun Wegner era this weekend as the Milwaukee Panthers open their 2025 season on the road against the Mercer Bears of the Southern Conference (SoCon).
» The Panthers finished the 2024 season with a 19-36 record and earned the four seed in the Horizon League Tournament, knocking off fifth seeded Purdue Fort Wayne in the opening round before dropping back-to-back tournament games to second seeded Northern Kentucky and the sixth seed, Youngstown State.
» Milwaukee returns five starters from its regular lineup from 2024 with catching combination Teige Lethert and Thomas Otto, first baseman Justin Hausser, second baseman Tyler Bickers, shortstop Gabe Roessler, and left fielder Q Phillips.
» Following the graduation of Luke Hansel and Adrian Montilva, with Owen Rice being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, all three of Milwaukee's weekend starting spots were up for grabs. The team will turn to veterans Gavin Theis and Mike Sullivan, with the returning Logan Schulfer back to Milwaukee after a stint at Ball State to start the opening three games of the 2025 campaign.
» Milwaukee will face off against first-time opponent Mercer, who finished 2024 with a 29-29 record and a 6-14 mark in SoCon games.
» Since joining Division I in 1990-91, Milwaukee has only played just one opponent of the current SoCon, with the Panthers owning a 5-1 record all time in meetings against Samford. All six meetings with the Bulldogs took place in Birmingham between the 1998 and 2000 seasons.
» On record, Mercer has only played three games against current Horizon League teams with a 1-1 record against Purdue Fort Wayne (both games played in 1995) and are 1-0 against Oakland (played in 2001).

LOOKING AT MERCER
The Mercer Bears are led by Craig Gibson in his 21st season, who enters the season just seven wins shy of 700 for his career. Since 2010 the Bears have recorded at least 25 wins each season (excluding 2020 due to COVID-19), while Gibson has 25+ wins in 17 of his 20 seasons.

Ty Dalley is the player to watch for the Bears according to the SoCon Preseason Poll and Preseason Awards, as he was named the Player of the Year entering the 2025 campaign. Dalley along with starting pitcher Colton Cosper, reliever Jess Ackerman, and shortstop Bradley Frye were all named Preseason First Team selections.

Dalley is coming off a sophomore season with 21 home runs and 71 RBIs, which were ranked 43rd and 36th respectively in all of Division I. Dalley hit .316 with a .388 on-base percentage as he drew 21 walks in 2024. For his career with the Bears, Dalley has 38 home runs and 124 RBIs, with 85 runs scored over his 109 career games.

Cosper is the ace of the Mercer staff and had seven wins over his 17 outings with a 4.35 ERA as he struck out 58 batters over 93 innings. With Cosper leading the starters, Ackerman is the lead arm out of the bullpen, as he made 23 appearances with 14 out of the bullpen and struck out 71 batters over 66 1/3 innings, while pitching to a 6.38 ERA.

Frye is in his third season with the team after beginning his career at Georgia Tech as a freshman, he had a .282 average a year ago with 61 hits including nine round trippers and 40 RBIs. Senior infielder Parker Lester and sophomore outfielder Ely Brown are the other two regular starters from 2024 back in the Mercer lineup with Dalley and Frye.

The Bears were selected to finish in a tie for fourth place in the SoCon preseason poll, with UNC Greensboro pacing the field with 40 points. Samford was second (38 points), followed by Wofford (34), and then the tie between Mercer and East Tennessee State (30). Western Carolina (25), The Citadel (14), and VMI (13) rounded out the poll for the eight-team conference.

UP NEXT
After the trip to Georgia to begin the season, Milwaukee will head back to the southeast and take on the University of South Carolina for a three-game series beginning on Feb. 21 at 3:00 p.m. (CT).

SEASON OPENERS
Milwaukee has had recent success in their season openers going 3-3 over their last six lid lifters. While .500 may not seem successful, the Panthers only own an 8-26 record in 34 Division I seasons.

HOME COOKING
Over the last 20 seasons (2005-24), Milwaukee has taken the term 'home field advantage' to a new level, boasting winning seasons at home in all but two season (8-14 in 2022, 0-0 in 2020). The Panthers went unbeaten at home in 2013 (13-0), while the team has recorded back-to-back 12-7 marks in home games in both 2023 and 2024.

IT'S BEEN A FEW YEARS
Last season Justin Hausser and Tyler Bickers accomplished numbers that have not been reached five season, as Hausser had 227 at bats, 50 runs scored, and 72 hits, while Bickers drew 28 walks. All four numbers have not been reached since the 2019 campaign.

IN EXTRA INNINGS
After going 2-1 in extra-inning games in 2024, the Panthers hold a record of 16-16-1 in games needing extra frames dating back to the 2015 campaign.

RETURNING HONOREES
Milwaukee returns one player that earned Horizon League recognition in 2024, with Gavin Theis earning Pitcher of the Week honors on May 20. First baseman Justin Hausser was on the All-Freshman Team in 2022.

PORTAL PARTY
This season Milwaukee welcomes 11 transfers to the roster including Connor Bozak (Cuyahoga), Zach Dohrmann (North Iowa Area), Aric Ehmke (Frontier), Aiden Fishnick (McHenry), Tristan Ellis (Minnesota), Caden Headlee (Minnesota-Crookston), Charlie Marion (Madison), Matthew Mueller (Gonzaga), Eamonn Mulhern (Madison), Logan Schulfer (Ball State), Mason Weckler (Stevens Point).

RETURNING TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Among Milwaukee's transfers into the program is pitcher Logan Schulfer, who began his career with the Panthers in 2022 before transferring to Ball State for two seasons (2023-24).

Schulfer is one of just four active players in Division I to return to a school where they had previously played at the Division I level. Outfielder/Pitcher Malachi Lott returned to Houston, infielder Tristan Moore returned to New Orleans, and infielder Chandler Riley returned to Charlotte.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
In addition to the 11 transfers, the Panthers welcome seven true freshmen, all from the State of Wisconsin, to the squad including Tyler Andrews (Whitefish Bay, Wis.), Parker Bleck (Appleton, Wis.), John Hadley (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Nick Heisl (Germantown, Wis.), Bradyn Horn (Wind Lake, Wis.), Cade Palkowski (Oak Creek, Wis.), Tate Schmidt (Waunakee, Wis.), and Alex Vander Loop (Kimberly, Wis.).

WHATS IN A NUMBER?
In 2025 several numbers will be in circulation for the first time in Panther history, Nick Heisl will wear #48, Isaac Wenzel will wear #59, and assistant coach Andy Bergholz will be the first wearer of #81.

Four players changed jersey numbers from what they wore a season ago including DJ Kojis (#21 to #8), Gavin Theis (#35 to #18), Tristan Arnold (#14 to #23), and Isaac Wenzel (#29 to #59).

TRAVEL POINTS
Wisconsin + Baseball + February is never a good mixture based on temperatures and potential snowfall in the Midwest, so the Milwaukee Panthers will once again open the season on an extended road trip. The trip will feature the first 20 games away from Franklin Field, spanning over 10,770 miles.

The Panthers will play in Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and South Carolina during its season-opening trip.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER
Milwaukee will be facing off against five first-time opponents during the 2025 season including Mercer (Feb. 14-16), South Carolina (Feb. 21-23), UNLV (Feb. 28-Mar. 2), River Falls (Mar. 26), St. Thomas (Mar. 6-7). Milwaukee and St. Thomas were scheduled to play in 2024, but the games were postponed due to weather.

ANOTHER DRAFTEE
For the third consecutive season the Milwaukee baseball program had a player selected in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft in June. Owen Rice was selected in the 20th round of the 2024 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, following the selections of Riley Frey in the 19th round of the 2023 draft by the Atlanta Braves, and the pick of AJ Blubaugh by the Houston Astros in the seventh round in 2023.

Milwaukee has had 26 all-time draftees with five of the last six draftees being pitchers. Five players are actively playing in either the Majors or Minor Leagues, including Milwaukee's first ever Major Leaguer in Daulton Varsho of the Toronto Blue Jays. Austin Schulfer signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies entering the 2025 season, while Blubaugh (Houston), Frey (Atlanta), and Rice (St. Louis) are with minor league teams in their respective organizations.