LEADING OFF
» Milwaukee swept its weekend series at home against Purdue Fort Wayne and will be on the road for the final three games of the year against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
» Pitching was the story for the Panthers against the Mastodons, allowing just seven runs over the three-game series. Gavin Theis pitched eight scoreless innings on Friday, while Aric Ehmke allowed three runs over six innings on Saturday, before Matthew Mueller allowed two runs over five innings.
» Milwaukee's bullpen allowed just two runs over eight innings of relief en route to the sweep. Riley Peterson led the way with 2 2/3 scoreless, earning a win and a save.
» Oakland dropped two of three at Youngstown State last weekend, winning the opener by a convincing 13-3 score before falling 13-12 and 4-1 over the weekend. The Grizzlies also dropped a midweek matchup on Tuesday at Central Michigan by a 14-9 score.
» The Golden Grizzlies have won a pair of Horizon League series this season, taking 2-of-3 in both home and road matchups against Northern Kentucky.
» Milwaukee took two of three from Oakland earlier this season and now own a one-game lead in the all-time series against the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland is currently a 1/2 game out from fifth place in the Horizon League standings behind Purdue Fort Wayne.
» The Panthers are looking for their first winning season against Oakland since 2017, when Milwaukee was 3-2 against the Grizzlies that season. Milwaukee had .500 marks against Oakland in 2021 (4-4) as well as 2018 (3-3), and 2019 (3-3).
» Milwaukee was swept in its three-game series at Oakland a season ago, falling by 1-0, 8-3, and 4-2 scores at the Oakland Baseball Field in 2024. The Panthers are just 11-18 in true road games hosted by the Golden Grizzlies.

LOOKING AT OAKLAND
Sitting just a half-game behind Purdue Fort Wayne for the fifth seed heading into the final week of the season, Oakland will look to play spoiler this weekend against Milwaukee while helping their cause and moving up out of last place.

Brian Nelson's squad enters the weekend at 15-38 overall on the season and are 8-19 in league games this season, including a pair of losses in mid-April at Franklin Field. Hunter Pidek (1-5; 6.98 ERA) will get the nod in the opener after going the distance in a run-rule victory over Youngstown State on Friday this past week, while Grant Garman (3-4; 5.91 ERA) and Tanner Ware (1-4; 6.41 ERA) are expected to make the starts on Friday and Saturday for the Golden Grizzlies per the team's rotation against the Penguins.

Statistically, Oakland's pitching staff has the third-best ERA in the league this year with a 7.58 ERA while pitching a league-high 452 1/3 innings. The Grizzlies have struck out 331 batters, just seven behind the 338 struck out by Milwaukee arms. Oakland bullpen has featured 21 appearances out of Ryan Donley (0-4; 5.52 ERA), while Ryan Uhlenhake (1-2; 6.38 ERA) has made 19 relief appearances. Ryan Duley (0-1; 4.18 ERA) and Jaxson Easterlin (0-0; 6.38 ERA) have also been serviceable in relief.

At the dish, three batters have averages over .300 led by John Lauinger's team-best .351 average with 32 RBIs. Matthew McGann has a team-best 42 runs drive in on 54 hits including a team-best seven home runs. Brandon Nigh has 19 doubles this season with 33 runs driven in, while Carter Hain has plated 31 runs with 19 extra-base hits this year.

Where the team thrives is causing havoc on the basepaths for opponents as the Golden Grizzlies are 17th in the nation with 119 stolen bases this year, while the team is 25th nationally at 2.25 swipes per game. Trent Rice leads the way with 30 steals, while Lauinger is second on the team with 22, both players are in the top 85 among Division I student-athletes.

UP NEXT
The weekend at Oakland will round out the 54-game 2025 regular season. Milwaukee will next play in the Horizon League Baseball Championships, hosted by Wright State at Nischwitz Stadium. The Panthers are vying to lock down the two-seed which will allow Milwaukee to bypass the first day of action and begin postseason play on Thursday, May 22.

If Milwaukee clinches the two seed, postseason play will begin at 2:00 p.m. (CT) on May 22, while a three-seed will put the Panthers in the opening game of the tournament at 10:00 a.m. (CT) on May 21.

IN THE CLASSROOM
On Wednesday, the Horizon League announced its Academic All-League teams with Milwaukee featuring a league-best five selections. Keagon Kaufmann earned his second-straight appearance on the team and was joined by Teige Lethert and Gavin Theis. Tyler Bickers and Logan Snow were selected to the Honorable Mention list.

THE RACE TO 200
In the history of Division I baseball at Milwaukee only nine players have gone on to collect 200 career hits, Justin Hausser looks to break into that exclusive club and enters the week with 196 hits for his career. He had a career-best 72 hits as a junior in 2024 and has 47 hits as both a senior and sophomore.

HORIZON LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Milwaukee has had four players earn weekly honors during the 2025 season thus far. Aric Ehmke was named Pitcher of the Week on April 8, while the Panthers swept the awards on April 15 with Charlie Marion earning Player of the Week and Gavin Theis earning Pitcher of the Week accolades.

Gavin Theis repeated as Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on May 13, as he became the first Panther pitcher to win multiple 'Pitcher of the Week' honors in a season since Riley Frey during the 2022 campaign.

HOME RUNS IN A SEASON
Milwaukee currently has 48 home runs this season through its first 51 games, the Panthers are currently on pace to finish with 52 home runs this season, which would place them tied for third on the single-season list…

1. 77, 1999
2. 74, 2001
3. 52, 2000
4. 51, 1998
5. 49, 2006

THE THEIS IS RIGHT
Gavin Theis has been impeccable for Milwaukee during his Horizon League starts this season. The right-hander has 51 strikeouts over 56 innings of work with a perfect 7-0 record. In Horizon League games started by Theis, the Panthers are 9-0, while the team is 10-3 in games Theis has started all season.

A WINNING APRIL
With wins over Northern Illinois and MSOE to finish off the month of April, Milwaukee finished the month with a winning record at 9-8.

WEEKEND WOES
With 20 wins in 2025, Milwaukee has wins in 16 weekday games including a 11-5 mark in games on Fridays. However, the Panthers are just a meager 4-14 in games played on Saturdays and Sundays this year.

ONE-RUN WINS
Milwaukee won their first two one-run games of the season this past week with a 3-2 win over MSOE and a 5-4 extra-inning victory over Northern Kentucky on May 2. Milwaukee has since added a 4-3 win against Purdue Fort Wayne on May 11.

MORE RUNS ON FEWER HITS
Since April 25, Milwaukee has won three games when being out hit by opponents. The Panthers were previously held winless through the first two-plus months of the season when an opponent has outhit the Panthers.

Milwaukee has wins against Wright State (Apr. 25), MSOE (Apr. 3), and Northern Kentucky (May 2).

TOO MANY WALKS
Milwaukee pitching has allowed 286 walks this season entering play this week, that number is already the second-most in a single season in program history. The record for walks in a year was the 313 allowed by Milwaukee in the 2024 season.

TOO MANY STRIKEOUTS
Milwaukee struck out a combined 28 times (14 each game) in back-to-back games against Northern Kentucky on May 2 and 3 earlier this season. It was the most strikeouts for the Panthers in consecutive games since Milwaukee struck out a combined 31 times in back-to-back games on Mar. 1-2 against Long Beach State in 2024.

FIVE-FOR-FIVE
Tyler Bickers has had a pair of 5-for-5 efforts at the plate this season, the first coming on Mar. 29 at Northern Kentucky, and the second in a home game against Northern Illinois on Apr. 29. There have now been 24 instances in Milwaukee program history where a batter has recorded at least five hits in a single game.

DOUBLE-DIGIT HOMERS
Charlie Marion (10) and Gabe Roessler (8) 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.

A PAIR OF TRIPS
With two triples in the team's win over Wright State on April 25, Tyler Bickers became the eighth Panther in the program's Division I history with a pair of three-baggers. He became the first Panther to get two triples in a game since Mitchell Buban did so on Feb. 15, 2020, against Wake Forest.

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 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.

IN EXTRA INNINGS
This season, Milwaukee is 1-2 in extra-inning games, the Panthers hold a record of 17-18-1 in games needing extra frames dating back to the 2015 campaign.

The Panthers played back-to-back extra-inning games against Northern Kentucky on May 2 and 3 this past weekend. It was the first time that the Panthers played back-to-back extra-inning games in over a decade, when the team lost to Wright State on Mar. 22, and Oakland on Mar. 28 of that season.

MKE also had consecutive extra-inning games in May of 2011 against Valparaiso and have now done so three times in program history. The Panthers have never played three-straight extra-inning contests.

MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT
On April 30, former Milwaukee pitcher AJ Blubaugh made his Major League debut for the Houston Astros pitching against the Detroit Tigers. In the outing he had six strikeouts over four innings but was touched up for a pair of earned runs.

Blubaugh's debut made him the second Panther to reach the Major Leagues joining Daulton Varsho, who made his season debut on Apr. 29 after starting the season on the injured list.

The duo are two of five former Panthers to play affiliated ball in 2025. Milwaukee's most recent draftee of Owen Rice is playing for Single-A Palm Beach in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, while 2023 draftee Riley Frey is pitching for High-A Rome with the Atlanta Braves. Austin Schulfer is with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

HOME COOKING
Over the last 21 seasons (2005-25), 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 three-straight seasons 12-7 marks in home games in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

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 36-29 in all-time meetings with the Huskies, including the team's 18-15 win on Apr. 29.

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.