MILWAUKEE – For the first time in 16 years, the Milwaukee baseball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers will travel to the Auburn Regional, hosted by the No. 4 overall seed Auburn Tigers, for a scheduled 12:00 p.m. first pitch Friday at Plainsman Park.

Milwaukee rides a seven-game winning streak into the NCAA Baseball Championship, including a perfect 3-0 record in the Horizon League Championship en route to winning its first conference title since the 2010 season.

Horizon League Tournament Most Valuable Player Joey Spence hit the game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against top-seeded Wright State to clinch the championship for the Panthers. The late-game heroics backed an eight-inning performance from starting pitcher Gavin Theis, who allowed just one unearned run and struck out a season-high six batters.

Spence and Theis, along with infielder Grant Ross and outfielders Charlie Marion and Dylan O'Connell, were all named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team.

In just his third season at the helm, head coach Shaun Wegner became the fastest coach in Milwaukee history to lead the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament.

The other three teams in the Auburn Regional were selected as at-large bids, including host Auburn of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In Friday evening's matchup, UCF of the Big 12 Conference will take on NC State of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) at 5:00 p.m.

Milwaukee versus Auburn will stream on ESPN+, followed by UCF and NC State on ESPN2. The remainder of the weekend's broadcast schedule will be determined by the results of games across all 16 regional sites and will air on the ESPN family of networks.

Live stats for all games will also be available online, with links to Milwaukee games available on MKEPanthers.com.

THE MATCHUPS & GAME LINKS
Friday, May 28 at 12:00 p.m. | Milwaukee vs. No. 4 Auburn | Plainsman Park | Auburn, Ala. |  ESPN+ / Live Stats
» With Win vs. Auburn | Saturday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m. | Milwaukee vs. UCF / NC State | Plainsman Park | Auburn, Ala. | Network TBA / Live Stats
» With Loss vs Auburn | Saturday, May 29 at 2:00 p.m. | Milwaukee vs. UCF / NC State | Plainsman Park | Auburn, Ala. | Network TBA / Live Stats 
» Remaining Schedule | To Be Determined | NCAA Baseball Championship Bracket 
 
LEADING OFF
» The 2026 Horizon League Champion Milwaukee Panthers have qualified for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for the fifth time in program history and first in 16 years (2010). Milwaukee, the second seed in the Horizon League Tournament, received the Horizon League's automatic qualifying bid with three wins over three days, punctuated by a two-run walk-off home run by senior Joey Spence, winning the championship by a 5-4 score.
» Milwaukee's first round opponent will be the No. 4 Auburn Tigers of the Southeastern Conference, while daunting the Panthers began their season in "SEC Country" by taking on defending National Champions LSU in mid-February, who were ranked No. 1/2 at the start of the season.
» Auburn is the third-toughest opponent that Milwaukee has opened the NCAA Tournament against, having previously faced the No. 1 overall seed in both 1999 as well as its last trip in 2010. During the 1999 opener, Milwaukee stunned the baseball world by upending the No. 1 Rice Owls by an 8-4 score. The win over Rice is Milwaukee's lone NCAA Tournament win, with a 1-8 record in tournament games.
» This will be the first time in program history that Milwaukee will take on Auburn, in addition to Milwaukee's other potential opponents UCF and NC State.
» In addition to facing LSU earlier this season, the Panthers also played an ACC opponent with Duke during the second weekend of the season. The Panthers picked a win off of Duke in the four-game set, while the Blue Devils upset NC State in the ACC Tournament by a 21-12 score. Milwaukee did not play a Big 12 opponent in 2026.

LOOKING AT AUBURN
Under head coach Butch Thompson, Auburn posted a 38-19 overall record this season with a 17-13 mark in the SEC. Three of those wins came over common opponents with Milwau-kee, as the Tigers began the season with a sweep of fellow Horizon League member to begin the season.

What's not to like about Auburn's impressive pitching staff, the Tigers boast the fourth-best earned run average in all of Division I (3.45), while they allow the 14th fewest hits over nine innings (7.68). The staff is also tops in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.74 as well as walks allowed per nine innings (2.82).

The team's offense is also within the top 60 in the nation, boasting the 53rd-best team bat-ting average at .297, and have the 54th most hits in Division I with 562. The Tigers average 6.8 runs per contest, which ranks 119th entering NCAA Regional play this weekend.

Auburn received an at-large selection to this year's NCAA Baseball Championship, after be-ing the sixth seed in this season's SEC Tournament. The Tigers eliminated the No. 14 seed LSU Tigers, and knocked off No. 3 Texas A&M in the quarterfinals, before falling to the No. 7 seed Arkansas in the semifinals at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala.

LOOKING AT UCF
The UCF Knights of the Big 12 Conference had a 19-11 record in league games this season with a 31-21 mark overall. Rich Wallace, like Milwaukee's Shaun Wegner, is in his third sea-son at the helm of the program. UCF and Milwaukee had two common opponents in 2026, with the Knights playing both at the Live Like Lou Jax Classic in Jacksonville, Fla. UCF beat Notre Dame, 4-2, and fell to LSU by an 11-0 score.

Another strong all-around team entering regional play, UCF has the 26th best earned run average (4.37), and don't allow many hits as they are ranked 17th in hits allowed per nine in-nings (7.90). Limiting walks has also been key for the Knights' staff, allowing just 3.88 walks per game (54th in Division I), and have the 16th best WHIP in the nation (1.31).

UCF was the fourth seed in the Big 12 Championship, and bypassed playing games on both May 19 and 20. The Knights received an at-large selection to the NCAA Baseball Champion-ship in 2026, falling in their quarterfinal matchup against Oklahoma State, 12-6.

LOOKING AT NC STATE
With a 32-22 overall record, and a 14-16 mark in the ACC, head coach Elliott Avent will ride off into the sunset with more than 1,300 wins in his historic 38-year career including the last 30 with the Wolfpack. Associate head coach Chris Hart has been named Avent's successor. This year's Wolfpack team took a three-game series at home from Notre Dame, and 2-of-3 from Duke at home during the regular season before falling to the Blue Devils in postseason play. UND and Duke were both on Milwaukee's schedule, with the Panthers earning a win over Duke early in the season.

NC State loves to walk, steal bases, and score. The Wolfpack offense is 30th in walks drawn with 302 this season, while they have amassed 549 hits on the year including 77 home runs. The offense is 25th in the country, averaging 8.2 runs per game this season, while their 98 stolen bases are 55th nationwide. Not afraid to get it done using small ball, NC State is 13th in Division I in sacrifice flies with 35.

On the hill, the Wolfpack pitching staff strikeouts out 10.6 batters per nine innings, good enough for 14th in the country. They are also 70th in the country with a 2.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio. With patience, teams can score against NC State as the Wolfpack are in the bot-tom half of the country in walks allowed per nine innings at 4.87.

NC State received an at-large selection to this year's championship, the team was the nine-seed in the ACC Baseball Championship in Charlotte, N.C. and were upset by the 16th-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the first round by a 21-12 score.

HORIZON LEAGUE TITLE
Milwaukee won its fifth league championship on May 23, knocking off top-seeded Wright State by a 5-4 score. The win came in dramatic fashion as the Panthers got a two-run walk-off home run from Joey Spence to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Gavin Theis pitched brilliantly over eight innings in Saturday's clincher, throwing a season-high eight innings without allowing an earned run. For the fourth time in 2026, Theis matched his season-high with six strikeouts against the Raiders.

With the win, Milwaukee clinched its first bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship since the 2010 season. The Panthers reached the NCAA Tournament in 1999, 2001, and 2002 as well.

SPENCE WALK-OFF
Milwaukee entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing by a 4-3 score, and after a Christian Holmes walk, Joey Spence sent a ball over the rightfield fence to clinch a league title for the Panthers.

It was the first walk-off to win the Horizon League crown since Jordan DeVoir of UIC defeated Butler with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, clinching the 2003 championship for the Flames.

The walk-off win was Milwaukee's third of the season. The Panthers also knocked off Northern Kentucky 11 innings by a 6-5 score on April 16, and defeated Oakland in 11 innings by a 12-11 margin.

HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
With two home runs and seven RBIs, including the game-winning two-run home run in the championship clincher, Joey Spence earned the Horizon League Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Spence becomes the third Panther to win the award under the Horizon League title joining pitcher Chad Pierce in 2010 and Dave Pudlosky in 2002. During the pre-Horizon League days as the Mid-Continent Conference, infielder Scott Gillitzer was the 2001 MVP, while pitcher Chad Sadowski was the 1999 MVP.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
While Joey Spence was the Horizon League Championship Most Valuable Player, he was also the catcher on the league's All-Tournament Team. Joining Spence were outfielders Charlie Marion and Dylan O'Connell, third baseman Grant Ross, and starting pitcher Gavin Theis.

With five members on the All-Tournament Team, Milwaukee matched its Horizon League mark set back in 2002. The Panthers had seven selections to the Mid-Continent Conference in 2001, and another five in 1999.

POSTSEASON PITCHING PERFORMANCES
Milwaukee has gotten superb pitching both from their starters and relievers in the Horizon League Championship last weekend. The staff has recorded a 1.67 earned run average, while holding their opponents to just seven runs total and a .204 batting average.

Aric Ehmke got the start against Northern Kentucky in the postseason opener and allowed two runs over seven innings with four strikeouts. Aiden Fishnick finished the game with two hitless innings and a pair of strikeouts.

The next day it was Riley Peterson to strike out five Wright State batters and allow just one run over six innings. Mason Weckler worked around two hits in the seventh inning, before Camden Kuhnke struck out three batters over two innings to lock down his sixth save.

In the clincher, Gavin Theis tossed eight innings and allowed an unearned run and struck out six Raiders. Camden Kuhnke threw an inning and earned his fourth win of the year following the winning home run by Joey Spence in the bottom of the ninth.

WINS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Milwaukee is looking for just its second win in its NCAA Tournament history, and first since its postseason debut in 1999. During the Panthers' first appearance in the NCAA Championship, the team knocked off the No. 1 overall seed Rice by an 8-4 score. Ultimately, Milwaukee was eliminated by the Owls two days later.

HORIZON LEAGUE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Last season, Horizon League Champion Wright State was able to win a pair of games in the NCAA Championship, including an elimination game win over perennial power Vanderbilt.

The Panthers are looking to make it two-straight seasons with a win for the Horizon League when taking on Auburn on May 29, followed by a matchup against UCF or NC State on May 30.

The last time the Horizon League had consecutive seasons with wins in the Division I Baseball Championship came during a four-year span from 2013-16. Valparaiso defeated Florida in 2013, Youngstown State defeated Indiana State in 2014, while Wright State got two wins in 2015 over Ohio and Notre Dame and another two wins in 2016 against Western Michigan and Ohio State.

HORIZON LEAGUE IN SEC COUNTRY
2026 will mark the fourth time in the last six seasons that the Horizon League Champion has been placed in a pod hosted by a team from the Southeastern Conference. Wright State played at Tennessee in 2021, Northern Kentucky visited Tennessee in 2023, and last season Wright State played at Vanderbilt.

FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME
Entering the 2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, Milwaukee is tied for the second-longest drought for teams to make an appearance this season, last playing in 2010 in the Tempe Regional.

The 16-year drought is tied with The Citadel of the Southern Conference, Washington State of the Mountain West, and Lamar of the Southland.

The longest drought belongs to Northern Illinois, who last played in the NCAA Tournament in 1972. The Huskies won the Mid-American Conference in their last season as members of the MAC, as NIU will be joining the Horizon League as its sixth member in 2027.

2010 REWIND
While Milwaukee hasn't appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2010, there are two mem-bers on the current edition of the Panthers that appeared in that last championship run.

Current head coach Shaun Wegner was a senior on the team, playing in 47 of the team's 59 games that season. Wegner had the game's first hit against Arizona State, a single on the third pitch of the game against current Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly.

Longtime Milwaukee pitching coach Cory Bigler was also a part of the 2010 NCAA Tourna-ment team, then in his seventh season in the role. Bigler will be wrapping up his 23rd sea-son as the team's pitching coach in 2026.

THE PEARL CONNECTION
Aside from meeting on the diamond this weekend, Milwaukee and Auburn have a common connection in that they are the first and last Division I men's basketball teams that Bruce Pearl served as coached.

Pearl, from Boston, Mass., got his first Division I head coaching job at Milwaukee after serv-ing in the same capacity at Division II Southern Indiana. With the Panthers, he guided the team to 86 wins over four seasons including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2004-05.

After his success with Milwaukee, he took the head coaching position at Tennessee, where he was for six seasons. Pearl finished his head coaching career at Auburn, where he served from 2014-25, winning 244 games over 11 seasons, before taking an ambassador position with the department.

ON THESE DATES
May 29 – 2-4 Record; Streak: Lost 1; Last Win: 2010 vs. Wright State (14-7)
May 30 – 1-0 Record; Streak: Won 1; Last Win: 2010 vs. Wright State (6-3)
May 31 – 0-1 Record; Streak: Lost 1; Last Win: N/A
June 1 – 0-1 Record; Streak: Lost 1; Last Win: N/A

FIVE ON FIRST TEAM
Dominic Kibler, Camden Kuhnke, Charlie Marion, Dylan O'Connell, and Gavin Theis were all selected to the Horizon All-League First team as announced on May 19. The five first-team selections are a new program record, breaking the previous mark of four set in 2025, 2013, 2009, 2001, and 2000.

BACK-TO-BACK FIRST TEAM
With his selection to the All-League First Team, Gavin Theis became the first player to earn multiple All-League First Team selections since AJ Blubaugh, who earned consecutive selections in 2021 and 2022.

RELIEVER OF THE YEAR
Camden Kuhnke was named the Horizon League Reliever of the Year, becoming the fourth individual to earn the award and fifth overall winner. Kuhnke makes it back-to-back selections, following the award being given to Logan Snow in 2025. It marks the first time Milwaukee has had back-to-back seasons with the reliever of the year since AJ Blubaugh won in both 2021 and 2022.

O'CONNELL ON THE RUN
With 40 stolen bases on the season, Dylan O'Connell set the single-season record by a Milwaukee player. Luke Meeteer previously owned the record with 37 stolen bases during the 2015 season.

O'Connell enters postseason play sixth in NCAA Division I in stolen bases, the national leader is Terence Grines of UT Martin (65).

With four stolen bases against Oakland on Apr. 12, O'Connell tied the Milwaukee program record for steals in a game. He later stole five bases in Thursday's game against Northern Kentucky to set a new single-game record. His five stolen bases in a game are the third-most in all of Division I baseball this season, with Alex Laird of Bowling Green recording seven of Akron on Apr. 3, and Terence Grines recording six against Western Illinois on May 3.

TEAM STEALS
Milwaukee has 122 stolen bases on the season as a team, more than any other Panther team in a single season dating back to its inaugural Division I season in 1991. The previous mark was held by the 2016 Panthers with 103 stolen bases that year.

TEAM HOME RUNS
The Panthers now finished the regular season with 59 home runs as a team, which is third-most in a year in program history. The program record is 77 set back during the 1999 campaign.

IN-LEAGUE HOME RUNS
Milwaukee had 30 home runs in Horizon League games this season, the fifth-most in conference games over the past 21 seasons. The most by Milwaukee in league play was 35 during the 2019 season, the Panthers have hit at least 25 home runs in league game five times with 35 in 2019, 33 in 2006, 30 in 2025 and 2026, and 27 in 2021.

POWER RACE
Milwaukee has slugged 55 home runs this season as a team, led by Dominic Kibler and Charlie Marion with 11 each.

Breakdown by class:
• Seniors: 22 (Marion 12, Ross 5, Spence 4, Bozak 1)
• Juniors: 21; (Kibler 11, O'Connell 8, Holmes 2)
• Sophomores: 14; (Hadley VI 7, Horn 4, Palkowski 2, Schmidt 1)
• Freshmen: 2; (Glusick 2)

Milwaukee has hit three grand slam this season: Hadley VI, Feb. 21 at Duke; Kibler, Mar. 28 vs. Butler; Kibler, Apr. 13 at Central Michigan.

KIBLER SLAMS
With a grand slam in the team's win over Central Michigan, Dominic Kibler now has two grand slams this season after hitting one against Butler on Mar. 28. He is the first Panther with multiple grand slams in a single season since Carson Hansen in 2024, when he had slams against Northern Kentucky at home on both Apr. 26, and in game two of a doubleheader on Apr. 27.

MULTI-HOME RUN GAMES
Milwaukee 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). Marion later added another two-homer performance on Apr. 28 at Northwestern.

Spence became the 72nd player in program history to accomplish the feat, with Marion becoming the 73rd and 74th as Marion became the first Panthers with multiple multi-homer games in a season was Nate DeYoung in 2022.

IN EXTRA INNINGS
Milwaukee was 3-0 in extra innings in 2026 (1-3 in 2025) and holds 47-46-1 record in extra innings all-time.

SHUTOUT WINS
On Apr. 12, the Panthers recorded their first shutout win of the season with 12-0 seven-inning victory at Oakland. It was the team's first shutout win since their previous series finale at Oakland, when Milwaukee finished the regular season with an 11-0 victory over the Golden Grizzlies on May 17, 2025. Milwaukee recorded its second shutout of the season against Wright State on Apr. 25, which was the first time that the Raiders had been shutout in a Horizon League contest since May 19, 2022.

EXTRA-BASE HITS
Milwaukee recorded at least one extra-base hit in all but two games this season to lead all Horizon League programs. The exceptions were games on Mar. 10 at Purdue and Mar. 14 at Northern Kentucky.

During the regular season, Northern Kentucky was held without an extra-base hit on three occasions, followed by Oakland and Youngstown State (four times each), while Wright State was held without an extra-base hit five times in 2026.

WINNING STREAK
Milwaukee posted an eight-game winning streak beginning with the series finale against Oakland on Apr. 12 through the team's Apr. 25 win at home against Wright State. The eighth-game streak was tied for the fourth longest winning streak in program history. Milwaukee had a record 13-game winning streak in 2002, while recording a pair of nine-game winning streaks during the 2001 campaign.

COMEBACK WINS
Milwaukee erased an 8-0 first-inning deficit against Northern Kentucky on March 15 and did so again on Apr. 21, trailing St. Thomas by an 8-0 score through 6 1/2 innings, before scoring nine unanswered between the seventh and eighth innings to win, 9-8. The two are now tied for the second-largest comebacks in the last 20 seasons (since 2007).

The largest came on Apr. 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.

LONGEST GAMES SINCE 2004 (BY INNING)
Since 2004, Milwaukee has played seven games of 13+ innings, including one in 2026, 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)

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). In 2026, Milwaukee finished 12-5 in home games.

ATTENDANCE RECORD
In the team's home win over Valparaiso on May 5, the Milwaukee baseball team set a program attendance record with 2,414 in attendance for the game. The previous mark was set last season against Northern Illinois at 2,234.