April 27, 2009

After losing seven of eight scheduled games last week to the weather, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team hopes to get back on the diamond this week for five scheduled contests. First up is a home doubleheader against Northern Illinois Tuesday, followed by a road trip to play Northwestern Wednesday. Both of those games are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Then, on the weekend, UWM heads to Ohio for a Horizon League series with Cleveland State. The Friday opener is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. CST and Saturday's doubleheader will get underway at 11 a.m. CST.

Complete Release in PDF Format

The all-time series has the Huskies with the slight edge, 18-17, after winning, 5-3, April 1 of this season in DeKalb. NIU also owns the upper hand of late, winning five of the past six in the series. The game is scheduled to be one of four that UWM will have broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on Time Warner Cable Sports 32 this season.

The Panthers head south to play Northwestern Wednesday, a series that NU leads 12-5 after Milwaukee claimed a 6-5 victory last year. Milwaukee has more victories against Cleveland State (48) than any school in program history. It is 48-17 all-time against the Vikings after taking four of six games a season ago. The first of two games to be played between these two teams in 2009 was rained out this past Sunday.

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.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Northern Illinois returned six position starters and seven pitchers from last year's team that finished 28-26 overall and 16-10 in the Mid-American Conference. They are 15-25 overall this season, with Jordin Hood leading the way with a .397 average and 33 RBI in 40 games. NIU is batting .300 as a team to go along with its 7.21 staff ERA. The Huskies have dropped eight of their last 12 games, including two of three at Eastern Michigan this past weekend.

Northwestern is currently 12-26 and coming off a win at No. 23 Ohio State. The offense is batting .285, led by Chris Lashmet at .323 to go along with three home runs and 22 runs batted in. Chad Noble is also over .300, batting .302 with 24 driven in, while Tony Vercelli has a team-high eight home runs. Frances Brooke leads the staff (team ERA 5.84) with a 2-1 mark and 4.18 ERA in nine games.

Cleveland State starts the week at 14-22 overall and 6-8 in league play. The team is hitting .298 overall, led by strong showings from Ryan Franks (.441), Josh Hungerman (.361), Josh Lowe (.357) and John Brown (.342). Hungermann is a double-threat, recording nine home runs and 41 runs driven in, while also starting nine games on the mound. He is 3-5 with a 4.70 ERA, leading the league with 71 strikeouts.

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY
Scheduled for a very-busy eight games last week, the Panthers ended up playing just one after the weather and field conditions cancelled a doubleheader at Chicago State and five more games (one versus St. Norbert and two each against Youngstown State and Cleveland State) that were set to be played at Henry Aaron Field. In the one game that UWM did play, junior Tim Patzman finished a triple short of the cycle and scored a pair of runs to lead the Panthers to a 7-3 victory over Cardinal Stritch University Thursday at Henry Aaron Field. The Panthers used a five-run second inning to take control against the Wolves, as six UWM pitchers combined to limit the opposition to just five hits while striking out 13 batters on the day.

A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS
The Panthers were unable to take advantage of the weekend, losing four league games to the rain. That prevented them from making a move up the standings, as the Penguins (8-9 in Horizon League play) and Vikings (6-8) are currently the fourth and sixth place teams. UWM sits at 8-4 and in second place, but, with UIC dropping a pair of games to Wright State Friday, currently sit tied in the loss column with the Flames (11-4) and are 2-1 vs. UIC so far in 2009. Wright State is currently third at 9-7. UWM looks to hold onto the second seed and chase down a league title, as both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will have byes into the third-round of the upcoming Horizon League Tournament.

STOP! ... THIEF!
Senior Andy Gerhartz left his name in the record book April 17 in impressive fashion. He stole four bases against Youngstown State to set a new school mark for steals in a game. He swiped two in two different innings, including the top of the ninth where he stole second, went to third after the ball squirted away from the fielder on the attempt, and then came home on the catcher's throw to first after a wild pitch-third strike situation with his fourth steal of the day. Head coach Scott Doffek called it one of the "greatest jobs of base-running you will ever see." Gerhartz now leads the league with 16 stolen bases.

STAFF K SESSION
The Milwaukee pitching staff tied the school record with 15 strikeouts in it's 16-2 win over Wisconsin Lutheran College April 15. Seven pitchers combined - with five throwing one inning each - on the record. The 15 strikeout standard was originally set in 2003 and tied against Valparaiso in May of last season.

NO APRIL FOOLING HERE
The Milwaukee offense has really been clicking since the calendar turned to April, as seen by its .368 average in the 15 games played this month (UWM is 11-4 in those). Senior Shawn Wozniak has been huge, batting .460 (23-for-50) with four home runs and 15 RBI's in 15 games. Right behind is junior Tim Patzman, who is at .434 (23-for-55) for the month and driven in 17. Freshman Paul Hoenecke has also come around, batting .364 with 17 runs batted in over just 13 starts. On the mound, senior Brad Lusti is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in three April starts.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
Through 35 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 .310 (Wright State is second at .299), slugging percentage at .467 (CSU second at .450) and on-base percentage at .379 (again CSU second, at .366). The team is first in runs per game (6.9), hits per game (10.8) and second in RBI's overall (210, to WSU's 232), despite playing seven fewer games than the Raiders. They are also second in doubles and home runs despite playing fewer games than the league-leaders in both categories.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Panthers are taking the phrase "home field advantage" to a new level so far in 2009. Through 10 games at "The Hank", Milwaukee is 9-1 and sports a .382 batting average and 2.93 ERA as a team. Five regular starters are batting over .400 and two others are over .300 at this point. Junior Tim Patzman (.500) leads the way with an 18-for-36 showing, with senior Shawn Wozniak (.455), senior Johann Andes (.455), freshman Paul Hoenecke (.447) and sophomore Doug Dekoning (.429) also over .400 as well. Hoenecke has driven in 16 runs and Patzman 14 in the 10 games. UWM has hit 14 home runs compared to just one for it's opponents.

On the mound, the staff has compiled a sparkling 2.93 ERA. Seniors Brad Lusti (1.59 ERA, 15 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, 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 (.635) and home runs (7) and is third in total bases (73), sixth in RBI (27) and fourth in average (.348). Senior Andy Gerhartz leads the league with 11 hit-by-pitches and also with 16 steals. 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 13 of 35 would-be base stealers and picked one other off base in 18 starts behind the dish.

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.

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.

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 stays on the road the first full week of May, playing at Iowa midweek before embarking on a key Horizon League road trip on the weekend. The Panthers will play doubleheaders at UIC Friday and Butler Saturday.