MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee baseball's 36th Division I season kicks off this weekend as the Panthers travel to Baton Rouge, La. to take on the defending College World Series Champions, the No. 1/2 ranked LSU Tigers, at Alex Box Stadium.
 
First pitch on Friday is set for 2:00 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's contests will both begin at 1:00 p.m.
 
All three games of this weekend's series will be broadcast live on SEC Network+, which requires a cable subscription with an ESPN+ login to view, with live stats of the games also available. Links to the broadcast and live stats can be found on MKEPanthers.com. 
 
THE MATCHUPS & GAME LINKS
February 13-15 | Milwaukee at No. 1/2 LSU | Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box Stadium | Baton Rouge, La.
Friday at 2:00 p.m. | Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Sunday at 2:00 pm | SECN+ / Live Stats | Follow Along (on X)
 
LEADING OFF
» Year three of the Shaun Wegner era begins for Milwaukee baseball as the Panthers open the 2026 campaign against the defending Men's College World Series champion LSU Tigers in a three-game series in Baton Rouge from Feb. 13-15.
» Milwaukee finished the 2025 season as the runner-up in the Horizon League, reaching the championship round of the Horizon League Baseball Championship before falling to eventual champion Wright State.
» The Panthers were 24-35 overall in 2025, with a 16-13 mark in Horizon League play, finishing third in the six-team conference. Milwaukee was 1.5 games behind second-place Northern Kentucky and 5.5 games clear of fourth-place Youngstown State.
» LSU concluded the 2025 campaign with a 53-15 record, including a 19-11 mark in the SEC. The Tigers lost just one postseason game to Little Rock in the regional round, before sweeping West Virginia in the Super Regionals, and defeating Arkansas, UCLA, and Arkansas again in Omaha. LSU then won the best-of-three College World Series finals over Coastal Carolina by 1-0 and 5-3 scores.
» The championship was the eighth in LSU's illustrious history and second in three seasons under head coach Jay Johnson.
» This will be the first meeting between Milwaukee and LSU. The Panthers will be facing an SEC opponent for the second straight season after playing at South Carolina last year. It will also be the second straight season LSU has opened its year against a Horizon League team, having swept Purdue Fort Wayne to begin the 2025 season.
» Against SEC opponents, Milwaukee owns a 5-28 all-time record, with four wins  coming against Missouri and one against Tennessee. The Panthers have also faced Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, and Vanderbilt in program history.
 
QUICK LOOK AT LSU
LSU was at the top of the collegiate baseball mountain less than eight months ago, winning the 2025 College World Series over Coastal Carolina on June 22, the program's second NCAA Championship in three seasons and eighth title overall.
 
The Tigers will begin their defense this weekend by welcoming Milwaukee to Alex Box Stadium, opening the season as they did last year with an opponent from the Horizon League. LSU is either No. 1 or No. 2 in most preseason polls and was also projected to finish first in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll with 231 points, 17 points ahead of Texas.
 
Earning Preseason All-SEC First Team honors were outfielder Derek Curiel, and starting pitcher Casan Evans, and reliever Zac Cowan. Shortstop Steven Milam and outfielder Jake Brown were selected to the second team.
 
D1Baseball ranked several Tigers among the top 50 players nationally at their respective positions including catcher Cade Arrambide (15), first baseman Zach Yorke (19), second baseman Brayden Simpson (5), shortstop Milam (5), third baseman Trent Calaway (29), and outfielders Curiel (3), and Brown (15). Curiel was named a Preseason All-American by both Baseball America and D1Baseball, while Evans earned recogntition from D1Baseball.
 
LSU – PLAYERS TO WATCH (2025 Statistics)
Steven Milam – SS – .295 AVG, .904 OPS, 71 H, 11 HR, 57 RBI, .506 SLG%, .398 OB%
Derek Curiel – OF – .345 AVG, .990 OPS, 89 H, 7 HR, 55 RBI, .519 SLG%, .470 OB%
Jake Brown – OF – .320 AVG, .935 OPS, 57 H, 8 HR, 48 RBI, .528 SLG%, ,407 OB%
 
LSU – PITCHERS TO WATCH (2025 Statistics)
Zac Cowan – RHP – 3-3, 52 IP, 2.94 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 60 K, .226 B/AVG
Casan Evans – RHP – 5-1, 52 2/3 IP, 2.05 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 70 K, .228 B/AVG
Jaden Noot – RHP – 2-1, 32 2/3 IP, 4.13 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 44 K, .230 B/AVG
 
UP NEXT
After the season-opening weekend at LSU, Milwaukee will head to Duke for its first-ever meeting with the Blue Devils.
 
LAST MEETING
This weekend will be the first meetings between Milwaukee and LSU.
 
ON THESE DATES
February 13 – 1-2 Record; Streak: Won 1; Last Win: 10-0 vs. Maine (2015)
February 14 – 3-3 Record; Streak: Won 1; Last Win: 6-3 vs. Mercer (2025)
February 15 – 3-5 Record; Streak: Lost 1; Last Win: 8-6 vs. Wake Forest (2020)
 
SEASON OPENERS
In 35 Division I season openers, Milwaukee is 9-26, which includes a 5-23 record in road games and 4-3 in neutral-site contests.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Before its first home game on March 20 against Wright State, Milwaukee will travel a total of 7,840 miles, beginning on Feb. 13 against LSU and continuing through its season-opening 20-game road stretch.
 
The Panthers will begin the year with its longest of the road trip, as Franklin Field to Alex Box Stadium is 997 miles. The team's second trip, to Duke covers 871 miles. The "closest" trip for the Panthers during the 20-game stretch will be on March 10, when Milwaukee visits Purdue.
 
FIRST-TIME FOES
Milwaukee will face two first-time opponents in 2026, opening the season against both. The Panthers will begin the year at LSU before traveling to North Carolina to take on Duke, marking the first-ever meetings with both the Tigers and the Blue Devils.
 
BACK IN THE BLACK & GOLD
Seventeen players are back with Milwaukee this season, including position players Connor Bozak, Tristan Ellis, John Hadley VI, Bradyn Horn, Camden Kuhnke, Charlie Marion, Cade Palkowski, and Tate Schmidt.
 
The returning pitchers include Tyler Andrews, Tristan Arnold, Aric Ehmke, Aiden Fishnick, Matthew Mueller, Riley Peterson, Gavin Theis, Alex Vander Loop, and Mason Weckler.
 
THROUGH THE PORTAL
The Panthers added 10 transfers for the 2026 season including position players Christian Holmes (UIC), Dominic Kibler (Kent State), Dylan O'Connell (Western Kentucky), Grant Ross (Illinois), and Joey Spence (Texas A&M Texarkana).
 
Pitchers joining the program include Justin Breitenstein (Southern Indiana), Tyler Hrin (Howard College), Sotaro Ishida (Cochise), Cullen Riel (Mineral Area), and Lucas Watson (Regis [Colo.]).
 
NEW TO THE CREW
Milwaukee welcomes seven true freshmen to the roster for the 2026 season, this year's incoming freshman class includes position players Max Glusick, Connor Harvie, Turner Kuhnke, Ryan Lemm, and Peter Visconti II, along with pitchers Riley Golden, and Braden Theis.
 
ALL-LEAGUE RETURNERS
Milwaukee returns two players that earned Horizon League honors last season Graduate student Gavin Theis was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and earned All-League First Team honors, whlie Tate Schmidt was selected to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
 
THE THEIS IS RIGHT
Gavin Theis was dominant for Milwaukee during Horizon League play in 2025. He recorded 53 strikeouts over 61 innings of work with a perfect 7-0 record. In Horizon League games started by Theis, the Panthers were 9-1 and 14-4 overall in games he started.
 
HOME RUNS IN A SEASON
Last season, Milwaukee hit 56 home runs, the third most in a season by a Panther squad since joining Division I in 1990-91. The program record is 77 home runs, set in 1999, while the second-most in a season was 74 in 2001.
 
HOME COOKING
Over the last 21 seasons (2005-25), Milwaukee has taken "home field advantage" to another level, posting winning home records in all but two seasons (8-14 in 2022; 0-0 in 2020).
 
The Panthers went unbeaten at home in 2013 (13-0), and have posted three straight 12-7 home records in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
 
IN EXTRA INNINGS
In 2025, Milwaukee was 1-3 in extra-inning games and holds a 17-19-1 record in extra-inning contests dating back to the 2015.
 
PRESEASON POLL
The Horizon League preseason poll projected the Panthers to finish second with 18 points. Wright State was tabbed as preseason favorite with 24 points and four first-place votes. Northern Kentucky, Youngstown State, and Oakland round out the five-team league.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Northern Illinois will join the Horizon League on July 1, 2026, and become a full-time baseball member beginning with the 2027 season.
 
The addition of NIU replaces Purdue Fort Wayne, which announced it was discontinuing baseball and softball following the conclusion of the 2025 season. The Horizon League will be at five full-time baseball members in 2026 before returning to six in 2027.