MILWAUKEE – After opening the home season this past weekend against Butler, Milwaukee has a quick trip away from home on Tuesday to face UIC before welcoming Youngstown State to Franklin Field this weekend for the team's first home Horizon League home series of the season.

Tuesday's contest has been moved to a road game and will now begin at 1:05 p.m. at Curtis Granderson Stadium in Chicago. The weekend series with Youngstown State has been adjusted due to weather in the area. The Panthers and Penguins will play a doubleheader on Friday, April 3 beginning at 12:00 p.m. The series finale is tentatively scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Saturday; however, an official start time will be announced following Friday's doubleheader.

The weekend series with be available on both ESPN+ as well as audio stream, with Scott Warras on the call for all the action. ESPN+ links as well as the simulcast audio streams, will be available on the Varsity Network App (App Store / Google Play), and at MKEPanthers.com/Watch. Links for live stats of all the games are also available at MKEPanthers.com.

THE MATCHUPS & GAME LINKS
March 31 | Milwaukee at UIC | Curtis Granderson Stadium | Chicago, Ill.
Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. | Live Stats | Follow Along (on X)

April 3-4 | Youngstown State at Milwaukee | Franklin Field | Franklin, Wis.
Friday Doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. | Saturday at 12:00 p.m. (Tentative) | ESPN+ / Audio Stream / Live Stats | Follow Along (on X)
 
LEADING OFF
» After a 22-game road trip to open the season, Milwaukee was able to play its first home series of the season this past weekend dropping two of three to Butler.
» After playing the Bulldogs at home, the Panthers will be on the road against another former Horizon League foe, heading to Curtis Granderson Stadium for matchup against UIC.
» Dominic Kibler put together a strong performance last week, warranting league player of the week honors, as he was 6-for-9 at the plate with a .750 on-base percentage. He drove in six runs, including four on a grand slam in Saturday's win. He also scored five runs and leads the team with 22 runs scored and 22 RBIs.
» In addition to Kibler, Riley Peterson made a strong case to be Horizon League Pitcher of the Week, tossing five hitless innings in Saturday's win, while striking out a career-high eight batters.
» Gavin Theis was only able to make it through 4 2/3 in the series opener, considering it was a short week heading into Thursday's series opener against Youngstown State. Sotaro Ishida made his first start as a Panther on Sunday and was backed up nicely by Mason Weckler.
» After a 10-game winless streak, UIC has bounced back of late with wins in three of its last six games. The Flames salvaged Sunday's series finale at Belmont, winning 9-7.
» Milwaukee and UIC have had one common opponent thus far on the year as both teams fell to Purdue in West Lafayette earlier this month.
» Youngstown State had dropped seven-straight entering play this week and will head to Akron to take on the Zips before heading to Franklin Field this weekend.
» This past weekend, the Penguins got walked-off twice in the 10th inning by Northern Kentucky on Friday and Saturday, and dropped another one-run game on Sunday, 5-4.

QUICK LOOK AT UIC
Selected third in the preseason poll in the Missouri Valley Conference, UIC is off to a 7-17-1 start to the regular season including a 3-3 mark in games played against Valley opponents. The team took 2-of-3 at home against Southern Illinois to open the league slate and dropped 2-of-3 to Belmont this past weekend in Nashville, salvaging the series with a 9-7 win on Sunday.

UIC is hitting just .254 as a team, scoring 123 runs on the year with 65 extra-base hits including 20 long balls. Jake Busson leads the way with nine home runs and boasts a team-best 24 RBIs, while Ashton Kamps has three round-trippers in just 51 at bats in 17 games. Sean Cody and Thomas Curry lead the team with six and seven doubles apiece, while Cody leads the team with five stolen bases. The Flames have nearly been doubled in stolen bases by opponents at a 39-23 difference.

On the hill, UIC has been more effective as the team is second in the MVC in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 1.98 this season, trailing just Illinois State at 2.33. The Flame staff also allows the second-fewest walks per nine this season among the nine-team league at just 3.94, again trailing Illinois State at 3.81. The team needs to clean up the hits allowed per nine, yielding the sixth-most in the league at 10.84, while the team's ERA is 6.81.

UIC – PLAYERS TO WATCH
Thomas Curry - .292 AVG, .850 OPS, 16 R, 26 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBIs, .427 SLG%, .423 OB%
Jake Busson - .284 AVG, 1.009 OPS, 13 R, 27 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, 24 RBIs, .632 SLG%, .377 OB%
Sean Cody - .247 AVG, .668 OPS, 22 H, 6 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, .348 SLG%, .320 OB%

UIC – PITCHERS TO WATCH
Mason Buss – 0-2, 11 IP, 11.45 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, 7 K, .326 B/AVG
Jake Jakubowski – 0-0, 10 1/3 IP, 6.10 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 8 K, .250 B/AVG
Bobby Barrera – 0-1, 7 1/3 IP, 9.82 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 8 K, .308 B/AVG

QUICK LOOK AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Selected fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll, Youngstown State is looking to prove doubters wrong and avoid the single-elimination play-in game to the 2026 Horizon League Baseball Championship. However, the Penguins are 1-5 to begin league play with a win in its conference opener against Oakland before dropping the next two to the Golden Grizzlies and being swept by Northern Kentucky this past weekend.

The offense has struggled for the Penguins, hitting just .206 on the season with a league-low 78 runs scored, along with league lows in hits (165), RBIs (70), total bases (265), slugging percentage (.331), and on-base percentage (.309). Where the Penguins succeed offensively is on the base paths with 36 stolen bases, second to just Milwaukee, while Youngstown State is also third in the league with 19 home runs including six from Brady Shannon.

Braden Gebhardt has been the best pitcher in the Horizon League in 2026, posting a league-best 1.23 ERA and a .168 opponent batting average, with 57 strikeouts. The issue for Gebhardt has been lack of support, as the team has lost four of his seven starts this season, despite pitching at least six innings in all of his outings. After Gebhardt, Jack Messmore (0-5, 5.23 ERA) and Brandon Mikos (0-4, 9.64 ERA) have been recent weekend starters. As a staff, YSU has the second-best ERA in the league with a 5.67, trailing just Wright State at a league-best 5.24 ERA.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE – PLAYERS TO WATCH
Alex Jang - .288 AVG, .817 OPS, 8 R, 23 H, 4 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBIs, .450 SLG%, .367 OB%
Nathan Beckley - .269 AVG, .856 OPS, 12 R, 21 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, .462 SLG%, .394 OB%
Brady Shannon - .208 AVG, .796 OPS, 13 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 6 HR, 12 RBIs, .500 SLG%, .296 OB%

YOUNGSTOWN STATE – PITCHERS TO WATCH
Braden Gebhardt – 1-1, 44 IP, 1.23 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 57 K, .168 B/AVG
Jack Messmore – 0-5, 32 2/3 IP, 5.23 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 23 K, .283 B/AVG
Brandon Mikos – 0-4, 23 1/3 IP, 9.64 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 18 K, .349 B/AVG

UP NEXT
Milwaukee welcomes Iowa to Franklin Field on Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. before heading back on the road for a three-game conference series at Oakland from April 10-12. The wraparound weekend will see the Panthers take on Central Michigan on April 13.

ON THESE DATES
March 31 – 6-4 Record; Streak: Won 1; Last Win: 2023 vs. Oakland (13-4); vs. UIC on March 31: 1-1
April 2 – 13-9 Record; Streak: Lost 1; Last Win: 2021 vs. Oakland (8-5); vs. YSU on April 2: 2-0
April 3 – 10-9 Record; Streak: Lost 2; Last Win: 2021 vs. Oakland (14-13)
April 4 – 9-4 Record; Streak: Won 6; Last Win: 2025 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (6-1)

CLEAN UP THE DEFENSE
Milwaukee committed nine errors in its home-opening series against Butler, ultimately costing the team a chance a potential series win or sweep. The Panthers have a .949 fielding percentage as a team and are ranked 292nd of 300 Division I baseball teams in 2026 entering play this week.

NO. 2 IS NUMBER ONE
Entering play this week, Milwaukee's #2 Dylan O'Connell is ranked tops in the Horizon League in several offensive categories including slugging percentage (.671), stolen bases (12), and stolen bases per game (0.52). O'Connell is also third in the Horizon League in batting average at .354, trailing teammate Bradyn Horn (.368) and Northern Kentucky's Marcus Harrison (.365).

GOING STREAKING
Milwaukee has three players on an on-base streak of at least 10 games entering play this week including a 19-game on-base streak by Dylan O'Connell, whose streak also includes a 10-game hitting streak. Dominic Kibler and Grant Ross are also on 10-game on-base streaks heading into Tuesday's game at UIC.

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 (2023-25).

EXTRA-BASE HITS
Milwaukee has recorded at least one extra-base hit in all but two games this season. The exceptions were March 10 at Purdue and March 14 at Northern Kentucky.

Through games played on March 29, Oakland has gone just two games without an extra-base hits, followed by Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State (three each), and Wright State (four).

BASE ON BALLS
Through 25 games, Dominic Kibler has drawn 22 walks, leading the Horizon League and ranking just outside the top-100 nationally.

Last season, Tyler Bickers and Caden Headlee tied the single-season program record (46), previously set by Daulton Varsho in 2017. Kibler is slightly ahead of their pace and is projected to reach 49 walks at his current rate.

COMEBACK WIN
Milwaukee erased an 8-0 first-inning deficit against Northern Kentucky on March 15, making it the second-largest comeback in the last 20 seasons (since 2007).

The largest came on April 15, 2015, when the Panthers trailed Chicago State 10-1 before outscoring the Cougars 14-1 the rest of the way, including an 11-run seventh inning, to win 15-11.

HIT BY A PITCHER
Sotaro Ishida recorded a double against Northern Kentucky on March 15, becoming the first pitcher to collect a hit in a game since Camden Kuhnke did so at Wright State on March 17, 2024.

SIX RBIs IN A GAME
On March 15, Dylan O'Connell recorded six RBIs against Northern Kentucky.

Last season, Tyler Bickers and Thomas Otto each had six-RBI games. The last seven-RBI performance came from Nate DeYoung in 2022. The program record is eight RBIs, achieved by Ross McCoy (2006) and Todd Ludwig (1999).

MULTI-HOME RUN GAME
Milwaukee has had back-to-back weekends with a player recording a multi-home run game, Joey Spence (March 13 at Northern Kentucky) and Charlie Marion (March 22 at Wright State).

Spence became the 72nd player in program history to accomplish the feat, with Marion becoming the 73rd.

The last player with multiple multi-homer games in a season was Nate DeYoung in 2022.

LONGEST GAMES SINCE 2004 (BY INNING)
Since 2004, Milwaukee has played seven games of 13+ innings of play and is 5-2 in those contests:
• March 20, 2016 at Illinois State – Win, 4-1 (18 Innings)
• March 15, 2026 at Northern Kentucky – Win, 16-10 (14 Innings)
• May 22, 2010 vs. Youngstown State – Win, 8-7 (14 Innings)
• May 21, 2008 vs. Cleveland State – Win, 10-7 (14 Innings, Horizon League Tournament)
• March 3, 2017 at Evansville – Win, 7-5 (13 Innings)
• May 16, 2024 vs. Wright State – Loss, 4-2 (13 Innings)
• May 15, 2008 vs. Youngstown State – Loss, 5-4 (13 Innings, Miller Park)

POWER RACE
Milwaukee has slugged 25 home runs this season as a team, led by Dylan O'Connell with five.

Breakdown by class:
• Seniors: 7 (Marion 3, Spence 2, Ross 2)
• Juniors: 10; (O'Connell 5, Kibler 4, Holmes 1)
• Sophomores: 7; (Hadley VI 4, Horn 2, Palkowski 1)
• Freshmen: 1; (Glusick 1)

Milwaukee has hit two grand slam this season: Hadley VI, Feb. 21 at Duke; Kibler, Mar. 28 vs. Butler

FIRST DIVISION I HITS
Six Panthers have already recorded their first career hits at the Division I level, S
• Ryan Lemm, February 15 at LSU (Single)
• Max Glusick, February 15 at LSU (Single)
• Peter Visconti II, March 4 at Minnesota (Single)
• Connor Bozak, March 6 at Southeast Missouri (Single)
• Connor Harvie, March 10 at Purdue (Single)
• Sotaro Ishida, March 15 at Northern Kentucky (Double)

IN EXTRA INNINGS
Milwaukee is 1-0 in extra innings in 2026 (1-3 in 2025) and holds an 18-19-1 record in extra-inning games since 2015.

PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was picked second in the Horizon League preseason poll with 18 points. Wright State was selected first with 24 points and four first-place votes. Northern Kentucky, Youngstown State, and Oakland round out the league.

THE MAMMOTH VOID
Non-conference games added to offset the departure of Purdue Fort Wayne:
• March 13-15 – Southeast Missouri State at Wright State
• March 20-22 – Youngstown State at Georgetown
• March 27-29 – Butler at Milwaukee
• April 2-4 – Oakland (no opponent secured)
• April 10-12 – UNC Greensboro at Northern Kentucky
• April 17-19 – Indiana State at Wright State
• April 24-26 – Youngstown State at UIC
• May 1-3 – Milwaukee at UNLV
• May 8-10 – Oakland at Notre Dame
• May 14-16 – Northern Kentucky at USC Upstate

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.