LEADING OFF
» After 18 games on the road, Milwaukee will wrap-up its season-opening road trip on Tuesday at Purdue before its home opener on Friday afternoon against the Wright State. Tuesday's game will begin at 2:00 p.m. (CT) while the home opener will take place at 3:00 p.m. to kick off a three-game set with the Raiders.
» Milwaukee went 2-1 this past weekend, opening Horizon League play with back-to-back wins in a doubleheader sweep over the Youngstown State Penguins. Gavin Theis and Logan Schulfer earned wins in the series, while the team hit .319 as a squad and outscored the Penguins by a 29-21 margin.
» Gabe Roessler led the Panthers with seven RBIs this weekend, while Q Phillips had five and Charlie Marion added four, all three Panthers had at least one home run in the series. Teige Lethert hit a team-best .571, with Marion (.462), and Justin Hausser (.417) all hitting better than .400.
» Purdue hosted UIC this weekend and went 2-0 with 7-1 and 9-3 wins before Sunday's contest was lost due to weather. Albert Choi, Lukas Cook, and Brandon Rogers had three hits apiece in the series, with Brandon Anderson and Logan Sutter hitting home runs.
» Wright State opened the Horizon League slate with a three-game sweep over Oakland, 3-2, 13-3, and 17-10. The Raiders went 4-0 overall on the week with a non-conference win over Kent State on Tuesday.
» In the series against Oakland, Wright State was led by JP Peltier with eight hits, eight RBIs, and a .533 average, Peltier and Conlon Daniel each had two home runs in the series sweep against the Grizzlies.
» Milwaukee and Purdue have met only once before in program history, with the Panthers winning by a 6-1 score during the 2019 season in West Lafayette, Indiana.
» The Panthers and Raiders have played 153 times as Division I opponents with Wright State leading the series, 84-69. The teams split their six regular season matchups in 2024, with the home team winning two games in each three-game set.

LOOKING AT PURDUE
Entering the week with a 17-2 record, Purdue is off to its best start since 2022, when the team was 18-1 under current head coach Greg Goff. In six seasons with the Boilermakers Goff boasts a 126-109 record and is closing in on 500 for his career, which includes Division I stops at Campbell (2008-14), Louisiana Tech (2015-16), and now Purdue.

Milwaukee and Purdue met in 2019 with the Panthers winning by a 6-1 score in Indiana. In 2025, the Panthers will play a total of four Big Ten opponents, falling at Minnesota earlier this month before taking on Purdue. Milwaukee will also host Iowa on April 8, before visiting Michigan the last week of the regular season on May 13.

This year's Boilermaker squad boasts the 12th-best winning percentage in Division I at .895 while the team has put together the 14th best scoring offense in the nation with an average of 9.8 runs per game. Logan Sutter has been in the middle of it all driving in 33 runs this season, 11th most in Division I. Brandon Anderson has been hitting in front of Sutter since the Niagara series during the second weekend of the year, and has benefitted by crossing the plate 25 times this year.

Purdue has been just as effective on the mound with the 10th-best earned run average entering play this week, with a staff mark of 3.16. Carter Doom is third in the nation with a 0.36 ERA, while the pitcher scheduled to start against Milwaukee on Tuesday, Cole Van Assen is in the top-100 in ERA at 2.29 on the season. Avery Cook has been a lockdown closer for Purdue with three of the team's six saves in 2025 and has yet to allow a run over 8 1/3 innings this year.

LOOKING AT WRIGHT STATE
Off to an 8-9 start on the year, Wright State has played the fourth toughest schedule in the Horizon League and the 34th toughest in the nation facing the likes of Auburn, No. 24 Ole Miss, and NC State. The Raiders had the chance to right the ship this past weekend with a three-game sweep over Oakland at Nischwitz Stadium, securing 3-2, 13-3, and 17-10 wins over the Golden Grizzlies. WSU will host Toledo before making its way to Wisconsin for the weekend set.

With two key pieces from last year's Raider team picked in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft, the Raiders will need to find a new cogs to build around following the departure of Andrew Patrick from the middle of the lineup and Jake Shirk from the top of the rotation with both being selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After seeing time in just 14 games in 2024 as a freshman, JP Peltier has stepped into the lineup as the regular leftfielder and has already clubbed eight home runs including three multi home run games and has a team-best 18 RBIs. Regular names like Gus Gregory, Boston Smith, Patrick Fultz, and Nate Manley have been regulars for the Raiders, while newcomers Hunter Warren and Conlan Daniel have been establishing themselves early and are both hitting at better than a 1-for-3 clip this year.

On the hill, the Raiders have already handed the ball off to 19 different pitchers in 2025, including likely weekend starters Jarrett Heilman, Cam Allen, and Friday starter Mychal Grogan. With a 7.00 ERA as a staff, Grogan has a 6.91 ERA while Allen has a 5.14, and Heilman sits at 6.91. Grogan leads the staff with 20 strikeouts, while Warren Hartzell has been the most effective weapon out of Alex Sogard's bullpen with 15 strikeouts and a 4.35 ERA over his 10 1/3 innings this season.

UP NEXT
Following the series against Wright State at home, the Panthers will then host River Falls in a non-conference tilt on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Milwaukee will be back on the road for the next seven, beginning with league foe Northern Kentucky in Highland Heights from Mar. 28-30.

THAT'S A TOUGH SLATE
Milwaukee enters the week having played the seventh toughest schedule in all of NCAA Division I, with opponents compiling a winning percentage of .729 this season. UIC has had the fourth-toughest slate entering play this week with opponents compiling a .706 winning percentage this year.

In terms of Horizon League programs, Purdue Fort Wayne has had the 17th, Youngstown State the 26th, Wright State the 34th, Oakland the 50th, while Northern Kentucky has had the 269th toughest schedule of the 307 programs this year.

A PAIR OF FIVES
In the middle game of Milwaukee's road series at Youngstown State on Mar. 14 both Q Phillips and Gabe Roessler had five RBIs apiece in the lopsided 15-7 victory.

Last Four Occurances
Mar. 14, 2025 at Youngstown State – Q Phillips (5) & Gabe Roessler (5)
Apr. 15, 2022 at Youngstown State – Nate DeYoung (7) & Connor Goodman (6)
Apr. 28 2015 vs. Edgewood – Nick Unes (6) & Sam Koenig (5)
Apr. 12, 2006 at Chicago State – Ross McCoy (8) & Zak Rivera (5)

THREE STEALS IN A GAME
Gabe Roessler stole three bases in Saturday's series finale at Youngstown State on Mar. 15, he became the first Panther to swipe three bags in a game since he accomplished the same feat on May 5 last season against Purdue Fort Wayne. Milwaukee has now had 19 instances of a player stealing at least three bases in a game in program history, with the program record of four reached twice.

ON BASE STREAKS
Caden Headlee has the longest active on-base streak off any Panther this season thus far, reaching base in 13 consecutive games, which includes hits in 12 of those contests.

Freshman Tate Schmidt has currently reached base in 11 consecutive games heading into play this week. He became the first freshman at Milwaukee to have an on-base streak of at least 10 games since teammate Justin Hausser had a 10-game on-base streak to close his freshman campaign in 2022.

FASTEST TO THREE HOME RUNS
Charlie Marion had three home runs through the first seven games of the 2025 season, making him the fastest Panther to three home runs in a campaign since 2016 when Daulton Varsho had four round trippers through the first six games of his sophomore season.

FASTEST TO TWO HOME RUNS
With two home runs in the opening series last week, Camden Kuhnke became the first Panther to have multiple home runs in the opening series since the 2022 season when Jake Novak had two in the second game of the season against Alabama A&M.

THREE RBIs IN BACK-TO-BACK DEBUTS
For the second consecutive season a Panther had three RBIs in their Milwaukee debut as Charlie Marion drove in three runs in the team's win over the Mercer Bears on Feb. 14. Three RBIs in the opener matches the debut from teammate Tyler Bickers, who also had three in the Feb. 16, 2024, opener at Fresno State.

SEASON-OPENING WIN
With the team's win on Feb. 14 in the season opener, Milwaukee improved to 3-1 in its last four openers. However, the Panthers are 9-26 all-time in season openers dating back to their inaugural Division I season in 1991.

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.

FIVE YEARS SINCE…
Last season Justin Hausser and Tyler Bickers accomplished numbers that have not been reached in five seasons, 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
This season, Milwaukee is 0-1 in extra-inning games, the Panthers hold a record of 16-17-1 in games needing extra frames dating back to the 2015 campaign.

TOP PROSPECT
D1Baseball announced its Top Prospects list for the 2025 season with Milwaukee right-handed pitcher Logan Schulfer named the third prospect on the list representing the Horizon League.

Schulfer is the younger brother of former Panther draftee Austin Schulfer, who is now pitching in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Austin was drafted in the 19th round of the 2018 draft by the Minnesota Twins.

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.

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.

NEWLY ANNOUNCED ON THE HORIZON
The Horizon League announced the addition of Northern Illinois as the 12th full-time member. The Huskies will bring 14 sports to the league, including baseball beginning in 2026-27.

Milwaukee will play Northern Illinois at home during non-conference play this season on Apr. 29. The Panthers are 35-29 in all-time meetings with the Huskies, including last season's 6-5 win.

PRESEASON POLL
The Horizon League announced its preseason poll with Milwaukee selected to finish fourth in 2025. Wright State took first among the six teams with 33 points including three first-place votes, Northern Kentucky was second with 29 points, followed by Oakland just ahead of Milwaukee with 19 points.

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 both 2022 and 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.

CHECK THAT DIAL
This season, Milwaukee has made the move to one of the leading audio providers in all of college sports with their audio streams now available online directly through the team's home website MKEPanthers.com, as well as on The Varsity Network. Fans can download 'Varsity Network' in the App Store on iOS devices and Google Play and search "Milwaukee" to find the live audio stream of Panther baseball games.