April 13, 2009

After an undefeated week, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team returns to action with five games, starting with a road trip to play Minnesota Tuesday. The Panthers make a quick turnaround for a home game versus Wisconsin Lutheran College Wednesday before hitting the road again for a weekend series against Youngstown State. Milwaukee and the Gophers get things started for the week at 3 p.m. Tuesday before facing a 5 p.m. start time at Henry Aaron Field Wednesday against the Warriors. UWM closes out the week with a trip to Ohio to play YSU, playing a 1 p.m. CST game Friday before closing it out with a noon CST start for a doubleheader Saturday.

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Minnesota leads the all-time series with UWM by a 6-1 count, but the two teams have not played since the 1998 season. That year, the teams split a doubleheader, with the Panthers winning the second game, 5-3, to snap the Gophers' six-game winning streak in the series.

UWM is a perfect 7-0 all-time against Wisconsin Lutheran College, but it has also been quite some time since these two opponents squared off. The squads have played on just one date since 2000, with UWM taking both ends of a doubleheader in 2002 by scores of 6-1 and 18-5.

Youngstown State and Milwaukee have had a back-and-forth battle in the all-time series and sit tied, 17-17, all-time. The Penguins definitely had the upper hand in 2008, winning four of the five meetings a year ago.

Follow along to all five games this week on the UWM website via Gametracker. Also, the Panther/Gopher game Tuesday does have live audio available on Minnesota's website - www.gophersports.com.

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.

SCHEDULE UPDATE
After losing a couple of games due to the weather this spring, the Panthers have added two contests to their home slate. UWM will now host Wisconsin Lutheran College in one game, scheduled for a 5 p.m. start April 15. The Panthers will also host Cardinal Stritch for one game, starting at 4 p.m. April 23rd at Henry Aaron Field.

Also, Milwaukee and Chicago State flip-flopped venues and dates for their two series this season. With the April 7 doubleheader being played in Milwaukee, that means the April 21 doubleheader that was scheduled for Henry Aaron Field will now be played in Chicago.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Minnesota is 20-10 on the season and slowly creeping up the national polls. They have been ranked for the past four weeks and have climbed to No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 25 in the Baseball America poll after sweeping Northwestern this past weekend, winning by scores of 6-4, 5-1 and 5-4.

Minnesota returns two-time First-Team All-Big Ten centerfielder Matt Nohelty, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball Draft, but elected to return to the program for his senior season. Nohelty had the most hits of any Gopher player since 1999 and the highest single-season batting average at Minnesota since 2001 last season (batting .344 in 2009). The Golden Gophers also return several other key position players in Derek McCallum (.361/4 HR/32 RBI in 2009), Eric Decker (.309), Kyle Knudson (.357/26 RBI) and Michael Kvasnicka (.369/31 RBI). AJ Pettersen leads the team at .382 and has 24 RBI. On the mound, Tom Buske is 5-2 with a 2.15 ERA and the staff is at 4.33 overall with 204 strikeouts in 266.0 innings of work.

Wisconsin Lutheran, an NCAA Division III school in Milwaukee, will bring a 5-18 record into play Wednesday. The offense is batting .293, led by Kyle Edlhuber at .433 and Shawn Glasel at .407. Seven total regulars are batting .300 or better. The pitching staff carries a 10.67 ERA, but was brilliant in the last outing, as the Warriors down Maranatha Baptist in a doubleheader, winning 18-1 and 18-0.

Youngstown State is 9-21 this season but warming up of late. The Penguins have won five of their last six and took two of three from Cleveland State this past weekend. They finished 23-33 overall and 13-12 in the Horizon League in head coach Rich Pasquale's first season in 2008. The third-place finish in the standings helped Pasquale earn co-coach-of-the-year honors. John Koehnlein is healthy and has returned to all-league form and leads the team with a .350 average as of Monday. Eric Marzec is hitting .306 and has five home runs and 23 RBI. Newcomer Jacke Healey is batting .296 with five home runs and also has driven in 23. On the mound, a solid trio of Cody Dearth (2-1, 2.84 ERA), Phil Kelin (2-1, 4.05 ERA) and Aaron Swenson (3-3, 5-.24 ERA) lead the way. Swenson is the reigning league pitcher of the year.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
The Panthers had a fantastic week, winning all five games they played, including a big sweep of Wright State on the weekend - their first weekend sweep of the Raiders since the 2005 season. They batted .400 as a team, collecting 68 hits in 170 at bats and scoring 59 runs (an average of 11.8). Also just as impressive was the pitching staff, recording a 2.63 ERA in the five games.

At the plate, senior Shawn Wozniak and freshman Paul Hoenecke formed quite a dynamic duo, as Wozniak batted .667 (10-for-15) with nine runs scored, two home runs and eight runs batted in. Hoenecke was close behind at .579 (11-for-19) with eight runs scored and 10 RBI. Three others batted .467 or better: junior Tim Patzman was at .500 (8-for-16) and both senior Johann Andes and Cole Kraft batted .467 (each was 7-for-15). On the mound, all five starters earned decisions, with four of them ending the week with ERA's of 0.00. Senior Brad Lusti (8.0 scoreless, 2 walks, 9 K's) and freshman Kyle Schmidt (no earned runs in 8.0, one walk, 6 K's) led the way. For their efforts, Wozniak was named Horizon League Player of the Week and Lusti was tabbed Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

SOMETHING TO KEEP AN EYE ON
The Panthers have two impressive statistics that have coincided with their recent winnings ways: the pitching staff has walked two or fewer batters in seven of the past 10 games and the offense has pounded out 10 or more hits in seven-consecutive games - its longest streak of the season.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
Through 29 games, the Milwaukee offense is definitely making a name for itself among the league leaders. The Panthers lead the Horizon League in overall batting average at .295 (Cleveland State is second at .291), slugging percentage at .450 (CSU second at .440) and on-base percentage at .366 (again CSU second, at .362). The team also leads the league in runs scored per game (6.6) and RBI's per game (5.8). Milwaukee is second in doubles, triples and home runs as well.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Panthers are taking the phrase "home field advantage" to a new level so far in 2009. Through eight games at "The Hank", Milwaukee is 7-1 and has a .367 average and 3.31 ERA as a team. Four regular starters are batting over .400 and three others are over .300 at this point. Senior Shawn Wozniak leads the way with a .462 clip, with senior Johann Andes (.450), freshman Paul Hoenecke (.448) and junior Tim Patzman (.448) also over .400 as well. Hoenecke has driven in 12 runs and Patzman 11 in the eight games. UWM has hit 12 home runs compared to just one for it's opponents.

On the mound, the staff has compiled a sparkling 3.31 ERA. Seniors Brad Lusti (1.59 ERA, a5 K's in 17.0 IP) and Andy Hetebrueg (2.93 ERA, 15 K's in 15.1 IP) are both 2-0 in two home starts.

DOUBLE IT UP
The Panthers came close to a school record on Friday, pounding out eight doubles in the 16-6 victory over Wright State April 10. The school record is nine, set twice, set in 1999 and tied in 2001. Freshman Paul Hoenecke had three of his own, tying the school mark for a game held by numerous players.

TOPPING THE CHARTS
The Panthers have several named among the league leaders as we hit the middle of April. Junior Tim Patzman is currently leading the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.670) and home runs (7) and is second in total bases (67), fourth in RBI (23) and fifth in average (.350). Senior Andy Gerhartz leads the league with 10 hit-by-pitches and is second with 10 stolen bases. Senior Johann Andes is in first with four sacrifice flies.

A REAL GUNNER
Junior Shaun Wegner has done a very impressive job in challenging base runners when he gets the start behind the plate this season. He has now thrown out 12 of 29 would-be base stealers and picked one other off base.

DOUBLE-DUTY
Senior Andy Hetebrueg showed off his skills at the plate and on the mound April 4 against UIC. In game one, he entered the game as a substitute and went 2-for-2 with two line-drive base hits. Then, in game two, he helped give UWM the series win with a brilliant performance on the mound, striking out eight and walking just two in seven strong innings on the hill.

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.

WELCOME TO OUR HOUSE
After posting a 6-3 victory in the 2009 home opener over UIC, the Panthers are now 16-3 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.

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.

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

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 will hit the busiest stretch of it's season, playing eight games in the next week. It starts Tuesday with two at Chicago State, followed by six-consecutive games at home: St. Norbert Wednesday, Cardinal Stritch Thursday and then doubleheaders against Youngstown State and Cleveland State on Saturday and Sunday.