LEADING OFF
» Milwaukee wraps up its first homestand of the season with a non-conference matchup against River Falls on Wednesday afternoon before embarking on a seven-game road trip beginning at Northern Kentucky this weekend.
» The Panthers went 1-3 this week, falling to Purdue on Tuesday in non-league play before winning the opening game of the three-game set against Wright State on Friday.
» MKE is 3-3 in Horizon League games and will face the Norse, who are a game ahead of the Panthers in the standings. Wright State leads the league with a 5-1 mark.
» As a team in league games, the Panthers are hitting .324, led by Tyler Bickers and his team-best .522 average. Justin Hausser is hitting .409, Charlie Marion at .391, Teige Lethert at .385, Gabe Roessler at .380, and Tate Schmidt at .346.
» First on the slate for MKE are the River Falls Falcons who played a doubleheader against Bethel on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Panthers and Falcons, Milwaukee is 6-2 against WIAC opponents, including 4-0 against La Crosse, 2-0 vs. Whitewater, and 0-2 when taking on Oshkosh.
» NKU dropped two of three to Oakland this past weekend in Michigan, salvaging the third game of the series by a 13-3 score on Sunday afternoon. Milwaukee is 28-23 all-time against the Norse, including a 2-5 mark in games last season. The Panthers are 9-13 all-time in games played in Highland Heights, including losses in their last six, with the last Milwaukee win came on May 6, 2022.

LOOKING AT RIVER FALLS
In its first season as a varsity baseball program since 2002, the River Falls Falcons are 5-3 under the direction of Steve Bartlein. Milwaukee head coach Shaun Wegner coached with Bartlein as assistants at Whitewater during the 2018 season where the duo helped the Warhawks to a 33-8 record and a 20-4 mark in WIAC action.

Bartlein's upstart Falcons have nearly doubled their opponents in scoring this season with 61 runs scored to 32 runs allowed. The team's offense is hitting .308 as a unit with JV Castillo leading the way with 10 hits including five doubles and a team-best .435 batting average. Kole Paulsen is also hitting over .400 this year with eight hits, while Max Krebs has been leading River Falls with eight RBIs and has the team's lone home run through their first eight contests.

On the hill, River Falls' staff boasts a 3.84 earned run average led by Kaleb Zabielski, who has tossed a team-best 16 innings with 10 strikeouts and a 1.69 ERA. Cade Bruett has started a pair of games and pitched nine innings with six strikeouts as Connor Weltzien has also made a pair of starts and has a 12.60 ERA over five innings pitched. Entering play this week, River Falls has allowed the sixth fewest hits per nine innings this season at the Division III level, yielding just 6.49 per contest.

With a 39-man rosters, River Falls has 19 players from the state of Wisconsin, while 17 hail from Minnesota. The remainder of the roster includes one player each from Arizona, Kansas, and Washington. Following the team's non-conference matchup at Milwaukee, the team will begin WIAC play this weekend at home for a four-game set against the Stevens Point Pointers.

LOOKING AT NORTHERN KENTUCKY
The defending Horizon League Champions Northern Kentucky is off to a 4-2 start in league games, just a game behind league-leading Wright State and a game ahead of Milwaukee. The Norse are 13-9 overall this year and will host Ohio on Tuesday before welcoming the Panthers to the Greater Cincinnati area.

The Norse offense is averaging 8.41 runs per contest through the first 22 games of the season, which is the 52nd-best mark in Division I baseball and tops in the Horizon League. In home games, the team is averaging 10 runs per contest at home over the team's first eight home contests. Gabe Miranda leads the team with 35 hits, with Logen Devenport second on the team with 33 and Tyler Shaneyfelt third with 30. Miranda also leads Northern Kentucky with 36 RBIs, with Josh Williams close to the team lead with 31.

Milwaukee is expected to face Kaden Echeman, Conner Linn, and Aaron Boster this weekend in the Horizon League series. Echeman is leading the staff with a 3.46 ERA over 26 innings, Linn has posted a 4.34 ERA over a team-high 29 innings pitched with Boster throwing 25 innings with a 5.40 ERA. All three of Northern Kentucky's starters have at least 22 strikeouts, with Echeman's 38 leading the way. In relief, Shawn Parnell has made nine relief outings with a 3.14 ERA, while Evan Fry and Logan Wilson have also been valuable arms for the Norse.

Dizzy Peyton's squad has won six of its last nine meetings with Milwaukee dating back to the 2023 season, which includes wins in all three contests at Northern Kentucky in 2024. The Panthers are 9-13 in games played at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex dating back to the early years of NKUs entry into the Horizon League in 2016.

UP NEXT
Four more on the road will follow Milwaukee's trip to Northern Kentucky this weekend, the Panthers will visit Valparaiso on Apr. 1 before a three-game Horizon League series at Purdue Fort Wayne from Apr. 4-6.

HOME RUN PACE
With 24 combined home runs through the team's first 22 games, Milwaukee is currently on pace to finish the season with 62 home runs this year. The program mark for homers in a season is 77 set in 1999, while 62 would put this year's team third on the single-season mark.

HIT BY PITCH
Six hit batters in a game by Milwaukee pitching was the program record for the Panthers entering play in 2025, last done on Feb. 22, 2008. This season the Panthers have hit seven batters twice in a game, during the nine-inning contest at Purdue on Mar. 18, before doing it again in the seven-inning affair two games later against Wright State on Mar. 21.

DOUBLE-DIGIT HOMERS?
Charlie Marion and Gabe Roessler are currently on pace to eclipse double-digit home runs this season, the duo would be the first pair of Panthers to have at least 10 home runs since the 2006 campaign when Joe Nowikcki and Ross McCoy each had 11 round trippers that year.

HIGH WATER STRIKEOUT MARK
With his eight strikeouts against Wright State on Mar. 21, Gavin Theis set the mark for most strikeouts in a single outing this season over six innings of work. Logan Schulfer previously held the mark with seven strikeouts twice this season.

In 2024, Adrian Montilva had 10 strikeouts against Purdue Fort Wayne, while Riley Frey had 10 against Wright State in 2023 and accomplished the number twice in 2022. Jack Mahoney was the last Panther pitcher to have more than 10 in a game with 11 against Oakland on May 1, 2021.

ON BASE STREAKS
Caden Headlee has the longest active on-base streak off any Panther this season thus far, reaching base in 17 consecutive games, which includes hits in 15 of those contests.

Freshman Tate Schmidt has currently reached base in 15 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.

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 Occurrences
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.

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.

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.

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.

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 19 games away from Franklin Field, spanning over 10,578 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.