March 31, 2009

After 20 games on the road to start the season, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team has its home opener in its sights this week. First off will be one more road game, a Wednesday trip to DeKalb, Ill., to take on Northern Illinois in a 3:05 p.m. start. Then, the home campaign finally begins on the weekend, as Milwaukee welcomes seven-time defending Horizon League champion UIC to Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers will take on the Flames in one game Friday, now scheduled to start at 3 p.m. (originally slated for 1 p.m.), and close out the series with a noon doubleheader Saturday.

Complete Release in PDF Format

The all-time series with the Huskies is all tied up, 17-17, after NIU won, 5-3, in the only matchup in the 2008 season. It also owns the upper hand of late, winning four of the past five in the series. In addition to Gametracker, this contest will have live audio available through "Huskie All-Access" on www.niuhuskies.com.

The Flames lead the series, 48-36, with UWM and have won nine of the last 11 matchups. A year ago, Milwaukee took UIC to a winner-take-all championship at the Horizon League Tournament before it's season came to a close one game away from advancing to NCAA Regionals. All three games in the series will have live statistics available via Gametracker on the UWM website.

The 2009 campaign marks the 45th season of baseball at UWM. It is also the 40th season of varsity play (the program was played at the club level from 1982-1986) and the 19th in the Panthers NCAA Division I era.

GAME ADDED
After losing a couple of games due to the weather this spring, the Panthers have added one contest to their home slate. UWM will now host Wisconsin Lutheran College in one game, scheduled for a 5 p.m. start April 15 at Henry Aaron Field.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
NIU returned six position starters and seven pitchers from last year's team that finished 28-26, with a 16-10 record in the Mid-American Conference, which was good for second in the MAC West. The Huskies return first team All-MAC catcher Justin Behm, who led NIU with 11 home runs in 2008 with a .299 average and 42 RBI. NIU also returns its RBI leader from last season infielder Jordin Hood, who drove in 43 runs, hit .321 and belted seven homers. So far in 2009, Hood is again leading the way with a .409 average and a team-best 22 RBI in 24 games. NIU is batting .286 as a team to go along with its 6.33 staff ERA.

UIC has won seven consecutive league regular season titles and four of the last six league tournament crowns while earning four NCAA Regional berths since 2003. Twenty-three players from last year's 35-win squad return to the diamond for the Flames in 2009, including Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award candidates Brett Schaefer and Steve McGuiggan. Schaefer (.382/10 HR/61 RBI in 2008) and McGuiggan (.370/5 3B/40 RBI in 2008), the team's leaders in batting average last season, are just two of the returning hitters that will anchor the Flames' offense. The mound will be manned by returning starters Derrick Miramontes and Mike Kool and last year's closer in Adam Worthington. They host Bradley Wednesday before making the trip to Milwaukee on Friday. Jason Ganek leads the way in 2009 with a .337 average, with Andy Leonard close behind at .333. Ganek (14 RBI), Leonard (13) and Jake Carr (13) are team RBI-leaders, with Carr adding a team-best three home runs.

WELCOME TO OUR HOUSE
The Panthers carry a 15-3 all-time record in home openers at the NCAA Division-I level. A year ago, Milwaukee beat Bradley, 4-3, after trailing 3-0 early. It had won 12-straight before falling to Butler, 5-2, in the home opener in 2007. The last defeat in a home opener prior to that was a 3-0 loss to Eastern Illinois in 1994. Furthermore, the Panthers are averaging close to 10 runs a game in the past 14 openers, while allowing just under four runs on average.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
The Panthers lost a midweek doubleheader at Northern Iowa due to the weather before opening Horizon League play at Valparaiso Thursday and Friday. Things started out well for the team, taking the first game of a doubleheader, 6-5, on Thursday. Friday was a tough day, dropping the opener, 4-2, before Valpo also took the nightcap with a four-run eighth inning to complete a comeback and win the series.

Offensively, UWM hit .291 and was led by a trio of players that were red-hot: senior Josh Groves led the team with a .545 effort, going 6-for-11 in the series. Sophomore Doug Dekoning was close behind at .500 (6-for-12), while junior Shaun Wegner was next at .455 (5-for-11). On the mound, the staff compiled a 3.60 ERA and recorded 25 strikeouts and just seven walks in 25.0 innings of work.

GROVES REWARDED FOR GREAT WEEK
Senior Josh Groves was tabbed the Horizon League Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

Groves batted .545 (6-for-11) in the three-game series against Valparaiso, including a two-hit, two-RBI effort in Milwaukee's 6-5 win in the opener Thursday to earn the batter of the week accolades. In addition, he had a double, scored twice and stole two bases against Valpo. He has now hit safely in 13 of his last 14 contests, batting .489 (23-for-47) during the stretch. Through 20 games in 2009, Groves leads Milwaukee and the Horizon League in batting average (.404) and on-base percentage (.485).

PITCHING GREAT ON PAPER
The three starting pitchers that UWM threw against Valparaiso all put up strong numbers. Senior Brad Lusti recorded the win on Friday, allowing two runs in 7.1 innings, striking out six and walking just one. Freshman Kyle Schmidt was tagged with the loss in Friday's opener, but gave up three runs in 5.0 innings and also had a great K/walk ratio with six strikeouts and just one walk. Senior Andy Hetebrueg threw a great game in the finale, striking out seven and walking none in 7.0 innings despite the no-decision.

POWER SURGE??
The Panthers and their opponents had combined for 47 home runs in the first 17 games of the season, an average of nearly three long balls per contest. However, in the three games last week against Valparaiso, neither team hit a home run in 204 combined at bats.

LET THE LEAGUE GAMES BEGIN!
Milwaukee is happy to see the start of conference play, as it has posted the best record in Horizon League games of any team since 1995, UWM's first year in the Horizon League/MCC. In that time, the Panthers have gone 179-128 (.583), while posting a 6-8 record in league openers. A year ago, UIC topped the Panthers, 9-8, in winter-like conditions in Chicago.

GOTTA PLAY DEFENSE
Prior to the losses at Central Michigan, the team had played its past seven games with a sparkling fielding percentage of .987, making just three errors in 238 chances. Against CMU March 18, UWM committed six errors on 78 chances (.910).

TOUGH EARLY SCHEDULE
The Panthers sat at 3-8 through 11 games on the season, but if you take a look at the schedule, they played ranked teams in seven of 11 games to that point and had the 36th-highest strength of schedule in the country after those 11 games. The teams that UWM had lost to so far had combined for an overall record of 25-8 at that point. Arizona State (11-1) had risen as high as No. 4 in the polls, Louisville (8-4) remained at No. 25 and Eastern Illinois was 6-3 on the season.

NOW THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL A TEAM EFFORT
Milwaukee did a lot of things right on offense to record the 19-11 victory over #25 Michigan Feb. 27, but one look at the box score will show that it was a true "team" effort. Every starter had at least one hit and scored at least one run, while every spot in the batting order also drove in at least one run.

LONG STREAK COMES TO A CLOSE
Milwaukee was shut out Feb. 22 for the first time in nearly two years. The 11-0 loss to ASU marked the first time the UWM offense had been held without a run since a 14-0 loss at Austin Peay on March 11 of 2007 - a span of 112 games. That established a school record, breaking the former mark of 98 games covering the final 21 games of the 2001 season, all 56 games in 2002 and the first 21 games of the 2003 campaign.

PRESEASON NATIONAL SHOWINGS
Rivals.com predicted the Panthers to finish fourth in the league standings, following UIC, Wright State and Youngstown State. However, they then went on to pick UWM as the league "Team on the Rise" and state that the Panthers could definitely finish third. The site also picked a preseason all-conference squad that included senior Shawn Wozniak.

Collegebaseballinsider.com did not project an order of finish, but did select the Flames as the team to beat. The website polled the league head coaches in late 2008 and came up with the following spots where UWM was represented:

-The hitter you least want to face is: Shawn Wozniak, Milwaukee
-The biggest power threats are: Shawn Wozniak, Milwaukee; Jeff Mercer, Wright State and Brett Schaefer, UIC
-The best pure hitters are: Shawn Wozniak, Milwaukee; Kyle Schultz, Butler; Casey McGrew, Wright State and Brett Schaefer, UIC
-The best base-runner is: Andy Gerhartz, Milwaukee
The most recent issue of Baseball America featured its 2009 College Preview as well. The Panthers were slotted for third in its version, behind WSU and, once again, UIC as the top pick. Wozniak appeared on the Preseason All-Conference Team.

The website CollegeBaseballToday.com projected UIC and Wright State as the favorites and Milwaukee as a "contender". It lists Wozniak, Gerhartz, seniors Ben Long and Brad Lusti and sophomore Doug Dekoning as all-conference candidates.

WOZNIAK SERVING NOTICE
Senior Shawn Wozniak became the second Panther to ever be named to the College Baseball Foundation Brooks Wallace Award Watch List in December. The Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate baseball player.

Wozniak had a breakout season in 2008, setting career-highs in every category while finishing in the top 10 in numerous lists in the Horizon League: doubles (second), walks (third), hits (sixth), total bases (sixth), on-base percentage (sixth), slugging (seventh), runs batted in (eighth) and average (10th). He earned Second Team All-Horizon League honors at first base, leading the team with a .364 batting average, appearing in all 61 games (a school record), while making 58 starts. He scored 42 runs, had 26 doubles, hit six home runs and drove in 51 while leading the team in walks (29) and slugging percentage (.564). He also finished seventh in the NCAA with his 26 doubles.

Wozniak is one of six players from the Horizon League to make the list, joining Brett Schafer and Steve McGuiggan of UIC and the Wright State trio of Jeff Mercer, Alex Kaminsky and Quentin Cate. Wozniak is just the second Panther to ever be named to the list, joining Josh Groves, who made the cut in 2008.

Pingbaseball.com selected its All-Ping! 2009 Preseason Teams in January and Wozniak was an honorable mention selection there as well.

2008 REWIND
Head coach Scott Doffek's squad recorded 25-plus wins for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons in 2008, and he has established new marks for most victories by a first-year head coach (25) and most after his first two seasons (50). The 2008 season ended just one victory away from the Panthers making their first trip to the NCAA Regionals since 2002, with UWM falling to UIC in a one-game, winner-take-all, title contest. Milwaukee rode three upsets and a potent offense to the title game, batting .347 in the six games, averaging almost nine runs and 14 hits per contest.

Eight players earned postseason honors from the Horizon League and the offense ended the season ranked 73rd in the NCAA with its .309 batting average. Its 412 runs scored led the Horizon League and ranked 67th in the country. Its 672 hits were second all-time in program history, led the league and ranked 16th in the country. The Panthers were a doubles machine, recording 156 two-baggers to smash the old school record of 143 and end the season ranked No. 2 in the NCAA.

HART LEAVES IMPRESSION ON RECORD BOOK
Jesse Hart left his name in the UWM record books in numerous spots over the course of his final season a year ago when he became the first-ever Panther to bat over .300 in each of his four seasons in a Milwaukee uniform. The two-time All-Horizon League First Team selection finished his career as the program leader with his 267 hits (old record was 245), 778 at-bats (was 737) and 66 doubles (was 58). He finished second with his 380 total bases (just missing mark of 382) and 149 runs scored. His 66 doubles also tied Adam Casillas of Oral Roberts (1984-87) for the Horizon League career mark in the category. As a senior, Hart led the Horizon League in RBI's, doubles, total bases, at-bats and infield assists and was second in hits and third in runs scored

READY FOR BUS RIDES AND MOTEL STOPS...
The Panthers will be busy waiting for the snow to melt and Henry Aaron Field to be ready for them to play in Milwaukee. While that happens, they are scheduled to play "just" 23-straight road games to open the 2009 slate. The previous record for longest season-opening road trip was set at 30 games a year ago. In 2008, UWM was originally scheduled to only play its first 27 games on the road, but the Wisconsin weather moved a three-game series with Cleveland State to UIC's Les Miller Field to extend it to 30.

The Panthers will travel close to 10,000 miles (approx. 9,375) over the course of the first six weeks of the season via plane or bus, visiting eight different states (Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois) before playing their home opener April 3 vs. UIC.

PRESEASON POLL
The Panthers were picked third in the 2009 Horizon League preseason baseball poll. The Panthers, picked third for the third-straight season, will look to improve on their fifth place finish from a year ago, when they had their season come to a close just one game away from their first NCAA Regional appearance since the 2002 season.

UIC was the unanimous choice for the top spot after winning its seventh-consecutive regular season title in 2008 and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Flames were 35-22 last season and return eight starters to the diamond this spring. They received six first place votes and 36 points. Wright State was second after going 30-23 last season. The Raiders finished second a year ago, but did lose three players to the MLB Draft. WSU tallied the other first place vote and garnered 29 points. UWM sits just behind in third with 26 points after a late-season surge took then all the way to the Horizon League Tournament Championship last season.

1. UIC (6) - 36 points
2. Wright State (1) - 29 points
3. Milwaukee - 26 points
4. Youngstown State - 21 points
5. Valparaiso - 15 points
6. Cleveland State - 14 points
7. Butler - 6 points

THE NAME GAME
A lot has been made of the correct way to talk about the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, especially in the area of athletics. It would be appreciated if you would refer to the athletics teams as either "Milwaukee" or "UWM". Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

ON TAP
Milwaukee plays a midweek doubleheader at Chicago State Tuesday before welcoming Wright State to the Hank for a weekend series, starting Friday.